On October 24th there was a Forest Service meeting that I attended that discussed past and future activities in the Pikes Peak National Forest. The meeting was led by Samantha Gooch. She and Jake Elliston are filling the office of Outdoor Coordination. That office accepts information of tasks that need to be performed to keep access open to areas of the forest and they also have the task of preventing areas to be destroyed by users without good intentions.
As you may know there was a $500 million reduction on the National Forest Service budget. How that affected the local forest is the non-employment of seasonal employees such as Josh Von Loh who was our contact last few years.
I have been in regular contact with Samantha concerning the Christmas Tree Cutting Patrol. I received the following from Samantha on Monday the 18th of Nov.
"DAVID - Looks like we may get approval to patrol during the Holiday Tree Permit weekends, but not sure yet.
Starting tomorrow afternoon, I will be out of town until Dec 9th and Jake is on Leave until Nov 26th. Kim Wilkes will be managing the schedule this year. "
So bottom line is "Stand by to Stand by". As soon as I find out more information I will get it out to you.
Just because the Forest Service doesn't have a formal presence out in the forest does not mean that we can't set up our own patrols using the same protocols that we have used in the past.
I have attached the Agenda and the Partners sheets from the meeting. FYI, As a club we logged 328 hours of community service last year,
.
As you may know there was a $500 million reduction on the National Forest Service budget. How that affected the local forest is the non-employment of seasonal employees such as Josh Von Loh who was our contact last few years.
I have been in regular contact with Samantha concerning the Christmas Tree Cutting Patrol. I received the following from Samantha on Monday the 18th of Nov.
"DAVID - Looks like we may get approval to patrol during the Holiday Tree Permit weekends, but not sure yet.
Starting tomorrow afternoon, I will be out of town until Dec 9th and Jake is on Leave until Nov 26th. Kim Wilkes will be managing the schedule this year. "
So bottom line is "Stand by to Stand by". As soon as I find out more information I will get it out to you.
Just because the Forest Service doesn't have a formal presence out in the forest does not mean that we can't set up our own patrols using the same protocols that we have used in the past.
I have attached the Agenda and the Partners sheets from the meeting. FYI, As a club we logged 328 hours of community service last year,
.
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