On a snowy Saturday, seven former U.S. Forest Service employees gathered to reflect on their collective firings. They lamented the end of their service, which contributed significantly to forest preservation and trail maintenance. Over the years, they undertook crucial tasks, from clearing trails to assisting in search-and-rescue operations, all while earning low wages and maintaining high performance standards. Their gathering highlighted the importance of camaraderie, shared experiences, and the pressing need to recognize humanity's interconnectedness with the environment, underscoring a significant loss to environmental stewardship in the wake of their firings.
These stories are our oral history, our institutional knowledge - a record of a way of life, one dedicated to service and stewardship, that our country is on the verge of losing.
Every summer, my trail crew cleared thousands of downed logs from hundreds of miles of trail, often in burned forests. We used dynamite to blast away backcountry rockslides.
The more time I spent doing trail work, the more convinced I was that becoming aware of our interdependence with the land and with each other is crucial to humanity's survival.
We made a pyramid of Rainier beers on the coffee table and picked them off one by one. We shared brownies, chips and dips, and stories.
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