In wake of firing U.S.F.S. chief, stand to protect public lands

I’m a retired employee of the U.S. Forest Service with nearly 40 years of service in the agency. I am not a hard-core enviro and do support the agency’s mission of wise “Multiple Use.”

I was saddened, but not surprised, by The Herald article reporting the departure of Forest Service Chief Randy Moore. The agency has been fortunate that most of its leadership, including Mr. Moore, came up through the ranks. These dedicated and knowledgeable Forest Service, and other federal agency, employees are characterized by the MAGA crowd as “deep state.” Such hogwash!

The Forest Service’s motto is “Caring for the Land and Serving People.” It’s highly predictable that the Trump administration’s chief replacement will be a corporate timber executive, or some such. Citizens who value our public lands should be prepared to speak up against the extremists whose agenda is “Extracting from the Land and Serving Corporations.”

Stuart Lovejoy

Camano Island