Forest Service May Merge Additional Ranger Districts

The Idaho Panhandle National Forests, still on a bureaucratic diet, are considering another merger of ranger districts.

The Fernan office in Coeur d’Alene and the Wallace office might be combined at one of the locations, with a smaller field office created in the other, Forest Supervisor Dave Wright said.

Consolidation has joined the menu of proposed budget cuts because of the departure of Fernan Ranger Don Bright, who has accepted a position in Fort Collins, Colo.

Wallace Ranger Steve Williams will add Fernan to his responsibilities on at least an interim basis, Wright said.

Two years ago, the Avery and St. Maries districts were combined.

“We can consolidate, but we still need to have a field office,” Wright said. “The Forest Service histori cally has a presence in smaller communities. We don’t want to let that presence go.”

Bright, 38, ran Fernan for nearly six years. He will head the ecosystem management team at the ArapahoRoosevelt National Forest after his departure Feb. 5.

“It’s a natural,” Bright said of a Fernan-Wallace merger, which is only being studied at this point.

For a few years the districts have shared a fish biologist, hydrologist, road engineers, timber markers and recreation specialists.

Fernan and Wallace both lie in the Coeur d’Alene River Basin, which makes a merger logical from an ecological standpoint, officials said.

“It would help us set priorities on a bigger scale,” Wallace ranger Williams said. “There’s a wave across the country where people want more for the dollar.”

The Forest Service since 1993 has been paring down its work force with buyouts, early retirements and not filling vacant jobs.

A Wallace-Fernan merger could eliminate through attrition up to 10 jobs and $500,000 a year in savings, Wright said.

The Panhandle already has cut 120 of its 600 workers and is expected to trim 30 more positions from the payroll.

Bright, a champion of opening up national forests to a variety of public uses, said he’s leaving Coeur d’Alene to expand his work experience.

He eventually wants to be a forest supervisor.

After battling environmentalists, Bright turned Canfield Mountain on the northern outskirts of Coeur d’Alene into what some people consider a monument to urban recreation. Money gained from controversial small Canfield timber sales was used to create or improve hiking trails. The mountain is also a playground for mountain bikers, motorcyclists, horseback riders and four-wheeldrive enthusiasts.

Environmentalists have accused Bright of overemphasizing timber harvesting.

Bright said he just did his job.

“I know people have called me a timber beast,” he said. “I’m a strong believer in multiple use. That does include some commodity use, as long as it’s very carefully planned.

“This area does grow trees very, very well.”

Bright’s vision is that moderate citizens eventually will come forward and take the timber debate away from the fringes.

“I don’t like either extreme. Both sides have done a disjustice to each other. They’ve tried to make the Forest Service the bad guy.

“Both sides need to come together and work it out.”

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