NEW MEXICO
More internal fire at
the Forest Service
The list of resignations in
the Forest Service’s Southwest region is growing (HCN, 3/30/98).
Renee Galeano-Popp, a career agency biologist, stepped down from
her position at Lincoln National Forest in late April, saying in a
letter to the incoming regional forester that “the Forest Service
has trouble doing what it knows is right and best.”
“We’re still defending every last cow out here,”
said Galeano-Popp in an interview. “There’s no sense of urgency.
There’s no sense that we need to recover endangered species.”
Galeano-Popp, who spent 20 years working for the
Forest Service in the Southwest, also criticizes internal
management at the agency. “It’s truly earned the phrase “Forest
Circus’ to me,” she says. “There’s too much tolerance for
incompetence.”
“In some cases, the allegations
might be true for the Forest Service as a whole,” responds Forest
Supervisor Jose Martinez, “but as for some of the allegations made
about the Lincoln National Forest, I’d say they are not accurate.”
Galeano-Popp will join Leon Fager and Jim
Cooper, two Forest Service biologists who resigned earlier this
year, in a visit to Washington, D.C., at the end of June. Their
meetings with agency administrators and environmental groups will
be sponsored by the nonprofit group Public Employees for
Environmental Responsibility.
“I’m not interested
in headhunting, but I do think there need to be some shake-ups,”
says Galeano-Popp. “I want to see an active reform, something that
would make a difference. I don’t want to make enemies with this. I
want to make serious change.” “Michelle
Nijhuis
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline More internal fire at the Forest Service.
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