“That's where the work gets done,” he said.
Tidwell sat down with a number of them recently and listened.
Tidwell wanted his employees to know that help may be on the way in the form of a new regional restoration strategy the agency plans to roll out in the near future. The new plan will focus restoration efforts on areas where there will be multiple resource benefits.
“We want to be able to focus our efforts on the areas with the highest priority,” Tidwell said.
Tidwell's hope is the new strategy - designed to restore fisheries, wildlife habitat and forest health - will win public acceptance and pave the way for new projects on the ground.
“I'm optimistic,” Tidwell said. “This will be another good opportunity to engage the public.”
The general public's perception of the Forest Service is shifting. For the most part, people don't think the agency's main focus is on timber harvest anymore, Tidwell said.
“Personally, I think things are going to get better,” Tidwell said. “We want to be able to work together to find areas of common ground. There are pockets of success that we can point to. ... We need to build on those. I believe this restoration strategy is going to be another good tool to help us in those efforts.”
There are projects occurring on national forest lands that haven't been appealed or litigated, he said.
“We have a tendency to talk about the decisions that were appealed and litigated, but the ones that were successful we don't hear that much about,” Tidwell said.
There may be ways to reach out and resolve these issues before they end up in court, he said.
“I want to look for ways to reduce the amount of litigation,” Tidwell said. “I also don't expect that we can get everyone to agree with everything we do. ... I do want to reach out to communities and talk with them.”
Wildfire and the growing costs of suppression continue to be a concern.
“Until we can make changes on the ground and restore forests to a more natural state, we'll continue to get the tremendous stand replacement fires that we've seen over the last few years,” he said.
In some cases, the wise use of fire can help restoration efforts. In other places, it might require some mechanical manipulation - thinning - of the vegetative cover.
“This region is very, very sound in its use of fire on the landscape,” Tidwell said. “We want to be able to let fire be part of the landscape wherever possible.
“I feel lucky to be able to move into a region that has been very well managed in the past. It doesn't need any drastic course correction. I'll work to build on its successes after I have a better feel for the issues and concerns.”
Fire suppression costs continue to consume a larger proportion of the Forest Service's total budget every year.
This year, Tidwell said, fire suppression costs are expected to be nearly 45 percent of the budget. Ten or 12 years ago, it was closer to 13 percent.
Last year, fire suppression costs across the nation ran about $1.5 billion.
As fire suppression costs continue to climb, Tidwell said, the agency's other programs take a hit as their budgets tighten.
“There have definitely been impacts on other programs,” he said.
Those rising fire suppression costs are the result of the
2 percent of fires that escape initial attack.
“Our initial attack crews catch 98 percent of the fires that start every year,” he said. “Everyone gets to read about the 2 percent that get away and get large. They often don't hear about the ones our crews catch.”
This fire season is shaping up to be another hectic one.
“Unless we get some favorable weather, I expect we'll see another busy fire season,” he said.
Tidwell's priorities for his first few months will be to get out of his office in Missoula.
“I feel a strong need to get out on the ground and meet employees and community leaders,” he said. “I want to get a feel from them about what we're doing right and what we can do better.”
Before signing on as the Northern Region's top forester, Tidwell was forest supervisor on the Wasatch-Cache National Forest in Utah. He also served as district ranger on the Uinta National Forest in Utah for nine years. He held acting forest supervisor assignments on the Fishlake National Forest in Utah and Sawtooth National Forest in Idaho. He also worked in the agency's Washington office on the legislative affairs staff.
Tidwell replaced Gail Kimbell, who became chief of the Forest Service in February.
Reporter Perry Backus can be reached at 523-5259 or at pbackus@missoulian.com
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