“Tell your story, whatever it is. If you do not, someone else will.”
Chris Wye
Director, Center for Improving Government Performance
National Academy of Public Administration
July 29, 2005
Quote for the Next Century #1
July 19, 2005
Cultivate the Doers
My Second Centennial Project:
My First Centennial Project was, and still is this blog site and I am very pleased with the results so far. I hope that I have stimulated others to think about the future of the Sierra National Forest. If you recall (or scroll down) one of my first blogs was “The Doers and Sewers will Control Recreation Management on the National Forest.” My last blog was about what I have learned about dealing with the Sewers. Right now, I am starting my attempt to further develop the Doers on the Sierra National Forest. Here is my blog describing my Second Centennial Project:
My Partnership Mission:
“Partnership Programs on the Sierra National Forest will cultivate a sense of personal responsibility for maintaining a healthy environment. “Caring for the Land and Servings People” will be in the hearts and in the minds of the people of the United States of America. America will become an ecologically aware democracy by having an intimate experience with the natural, physical and biological world. Responsibility to environment and accountability for the environment will become a social, a political, and a personal commitment to our nation and our planet. The charge is to engage the general public in active ‘hands-on’ participation of the short term, and long term management of the Sierra National Forest. In return, partnerships, volunteers and eco-tourism are viable tools to implement the Forest Service Mission. ”
The Product:
A Framework for Tourism, Partnerships and Volunteerism
On the Sierra National Forest
On Sierra National Forest, a visitor can be amazed at unique geologic resources and experience a piece of a greater Sierra Nevada network of natural biological systems. The Sierra NF is the American ideology of the big open Wild West in California. It also just happens to be within a short drive from the major metropolitan areas of Los Angeles and San Francisco. Recognizing this great responsibility and opportunity, the Sierra NF has started the development of a Partnership and Tourism Plan. The plan will outline a broad framework for the promotion and management of sustainable recreation uses and the development of Partnerships and volunteers on the Sierra National Forest. This plan will help guide the further development of programs and partnerships to support the Forest Service Mission. This framework will promote an integration of research, interpretive themes, marketing, visitor services, resource conservation, education, volunteers and monitoring. To complete the plan the forest is seeking assistance for the funding of staff time, training, travel and consultation for this project.
The Sierra National Forest has developed several Partnerships and Volunteer Programs. For example, the High Sierra Trail Crew started while I was the Recreation and Wildlife Officer on the Pineridge Ranger District. After I left, the District Staff picked up the program and ran with it and thanks to everyone’s support, the Trail Crew was recently the recipient of the Centennial Award for Best Partnership (2004). Also around that time, Nancy Woolsey, Assistant Special Uses Officer completed a Clemson University project on developing partnerships with Special Use Permittees. There are also long standing productive alliances with the Upper Merced River Watershed Committee, the San Joaquin River Parkway Association, the Sierra Vista Scenic Byway Association, the Mariposa Chamber of Commerce and the Yosemite Sierra Visitors Bureau, as a few examples. We are interested in building on what we learned from the development of these relationships and expanding our repertoire of volunteer opportunities.
My Training Plan:
As part of the development of this Framework, I am interested in stepping out of the box. I would like to combine my personal interest in international affairs and world biodiversity with my responsibilities on the Sierra National Forest. I would like to have the time to go on an “eco-tour” with Earthwatch Institute. From the Earthwatch Mission:
“ Earthwatch Institute puts people in the field where they can assist scientists in their field work. They are part of the action, they learn new skills, and develop a deeper understanding of their role in building a sustainable future. We believe that teaching and promoting scientific literacy is the best way to systematically approach and solve the many complex environmental and social issues facing society today. These volunteers are ordinary people doing extraordinary things, providing labor, ingenuity, financing, and insight to solve these problems.”
I like their philosophy and want to learn from their experience and success to better equip the Sierra National Forest in our Next Century of Service. After my trip, I will prepare a PowerPoint presentation on what I learned and I will write a paper on what opportunities I see from my experience. You can also be assured that you will read all about it right here on my blog. My intent is to incorporate these lessons into the Framework for Tourism, Partnerships and Volunteers on the Sierra National Forest.
I’m ready to be a Doer, not a talker! There are opportunities out there just waiting for us to discover. Check out: Dollars for Doers (WPS Resources Corporation) and KODAK: Dollars For Doers Program: U.S.
Play the Doers MP3 @ The Doers Debut Release “Ready, Set… Do”
Are you a talker or a Doer? Fight Aging!: Talkers Versus Doers
Are you ready to be a Doer? Robert Putnam A Nation of Doers Needs to Do More
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July 8, 2005
Where Were You on August 24th 1994?
Or What I Learned from Being Questioned by Two Attorneys
As the ” Sewers” begin to establish their position in the management of public lands, more and more Forest Service employees will be facing an attorney or two across the table. They will ask you strange, bizarre, unusual, and totally unrelated questions. You will be amazed. You will be challenged. You will be confused. But take heart, there is hope. You are not stupid, no matter what they say about you. You can emerge with your moral values, your self-esteem, and your sanity in tact. Sit back, relax, and take a deep breath. OK, I admit that I am not a seasoned expert witness, but I learned a thing or two last month. Below is my list of lessons learned from my short experience with the Alien World of the American Legal System.
Know thyself; know thy history, know thy work experience, know thy dates, know thy employees, know thy college classes, know thy certifications, know thy everything about thyself.
Knowing what you don’t know is more important than knowing what you know.
Before answering a question, take the time to think. They can wait.
If they ask a vague or ambiguous question, make your point.
Don’t help them ask their question. Just answer the question.
Drink lots of water and take lots of breaks.
If it’s not on paper, it doesn’t exist.
Stick to the subject, all else is a waste of everyone’s time.
If is on paper, be prepared to explain what it says, and why.
Mean what you say, and say what you mean.
The devil is not only in the details; he also ISN’T in the details.
If is has a name, it needs a definition.
Conversations mean shit nothing.
“I get by with a little help from my friends, I’m gonna try with a little help from my friends.” It is good to have support from above and below, co-workers you trust and respect. Thank you, Annette. Thank you, Bob.
If your name is on it, be prepared to explain.
Bad maps are a curse. Good maps are a blessing.
If it isn’t important, please throw it out. Keep the gems, and trash the trash.
Neat files are golden. Messy files are hell waiting to happen. Slop can suck the life from you.
“Are they really talking about me in the third person? ” Don’t take offence when the discussion appears to neglect that you are sitting in the room right next to these people.
Prepare, read and study, until you can answer with your heart.
“Let’s go off the record…” is when things get really interesting, and you sit quiet and wait.
No matter how hilarious, jokes are NOT funny.
Don’t become concerned when you can’t understand a single word anyone else is saying.
The shorter the answer, the sooner you are done.
Shakespeare was right on, “Be true to thyself.”
Enjoy the learning experience. There is no cosmic trip like visiting ‘Plant Attorney.’ Attorneys really aren’t evil, just alien, so enjoy your visit to outer space.
See the whole collection of the 1962 Mars Attacks! trading cards at http://www.tradercracks.com/gallery/non-sports/Mars_Attacks/
July 1, 2005
Why Even Bother? Why Even Care?
Sometimes, I get frustrated and I really wonder…
Why make the effort to do quality work, when crap is acceptable?
Why schedule, plan and focus to be on time, when late is not a problem?
Why try to lead, when it’s easier to follow?
Why be responsible, when you can blame others?
Why tell the truth, when it’s easier to lie?
Why show up to work, when AWOL has no repercussions?
Why even care, when apathy can get you by?
It frustrates me so when it really appears that others around me have chosen apathy.
Why aren’t they making the effort to care?
Why care?
The Staff and Students participating in the Forest Service Central California Consortium
Rob Mason, the future of the Forest Service,
Aldo Leopold, Gifford Pinshot and Theodore Roosevelt,
John Lennon and Yoko Ono, Imagin,
Captain Kirk and ‘The Final Frontier”
“Funny Girl,” “The Man from Le Mancha,” and “Spartacus,”
“Mr Smith Goes to Washington” and “Casablanca”
The French Revolution, the Boston Tea Party, and Ben Franklin,
The fall of the Berlin Wall, and the end of the USSR,
The brave men and women dying in the Iraqi war
SETI, Neil Armstrong, NASA, and the crew of the Challenger Space Shuttle,
We all know stories of people who cared enough to love, and risk, and do what they knew was right. Because they cared, they had only one choice. They heard the voice in their head that made their decisions clear.
Working for the Forest Service is not a job, it’s a calling. You either hear the calling, or you don’t.
When visiting the Louvre in Paris, France, I got it. I experienced Eugene Delacroix’s Romantic and inspirational painting : Liberty Leading the People (1830, Louvre).
I also learned about caring from my children.
I care because they are the future, and the National Forest will be my legacy to them. They will enjoy clean air, clean water, open spaces, and wild places because I (and others like me) chose to make the effort to care; to “Care for the Land and Serve People.”
I learned caring while sharing the fall of the “Evil Empire” with my children in Red Square, Moscow, Russia
On this day, the first day of the Second Century of the Forest Service, I will continue to care and make and effort because I know where I stand.
I Stand
I stand by my work.
I stand for the Land.
I stand with the People.
I stand in the future and I remember the past.
I stand next to my co-workers.
I stand proud.
I stand strait and strong.
I stand with conviction.
I stand with purpose.
I stand as a member of my community, a member of our world.
I stand on the ground when making decisions.
I stand to get something done with my life.
Ask yourself, why bother, why care? Do you know your answer?
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Cindy’s Sidebar Comment:
Consider Lee Iacocca who advised “Lead, follow or get out of the way.”
Which do you choose?
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