msn.com
Some 3,400 US Forest Service employees are being fired. It is unclear how many of those jobs are in Colorado, but the terminated positions include those responsible for wildfire mitigation, range and timber management, habitat conservation, and outdoor recreation management. Colorado has 11 million acres under USFS
My burning question is, who is going to rake our forests and prairies to prevent fires? Not me. I already have a job.
And here is an interesting stat....national forests produce $400,000 in economic activity for every USFS employee. I know our youngest son has spent a ton of money on mountain biking, kayaking, and cross country skiing and snowshoeing. If trails or waterways are closed for safety reasons due to lack of personnel, he won't be spending that money. A side consequence will be possibly increased depression which is managed in large part by those activities.
Our oldest son has helped build and rejuvenate trails. And our daughter has worked on the prairies doing fire mitigation and tree maintenance. Whenever they do those things, they are also spending money in the surrounding small towns buying food and gas and novelty items, sports equipment, etc.
None of them use drugs/alcohol, so I have to wonder if more kids/young adults had access to such activities if we might not put a dent in the epidemic of drug abuse.
But let's keep musk employed building exploding rockets with the hope of soon reaching Mars, which if and when it happens, will be for only an elite few. ROI be damned |
