The Oregon Department Of Forestry Got Ripped Apart In The Mainstream Media This Week...
Here is what managers inside the agency actually have to say about it.
I did not want to write this article… but over the last few days, multiple high-level managers inside the Oregon Department of Forestry (ODF) contacted me and expressed how they felt about the situation. All three were women; I confirmed their positions and spoke to them for a total of 1.5 hours. These are not employees who run an engine or a module; these women hold very high-level positions with ODF and have decades of combined experience in forestry and wildfire.
I want to stress that these are their personal opinions, and they are not speaking for the agency.
They wanted to express what actually happened, and I promised them I would convey the story to the wildfire world. I could have easily avoided this political minefield, but a promise is a promise.
I asked why ODF didn't just put out a press release to clarify the situation, and they said they didn’t think ODF was allowed to.
So… here we go.
If you are unaware, ODF has been absolutely dragged through the mainstream media the last two weeks due to the Deputy State Forester being put on administrative leave after an alleged conflict involving a Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI) staffer. I’m not going to give the accused names. If you want to know, they are plastered all over the mainstream media.
All three of these female managers reached out independently, saying they felt like the agency was getting undue backlash because of this incident, which they all called an internal conflict between employees that had been blown way out of proportion. They expressed that DEI is implemented inside the agency, but, as managers, they had never been told who they could or could not hire, and they all informed me that they hire on merit. Is DEI brought up during the hiring process? They said yes, but it was not the final decision maker.
I was told the DEI staffer involved no longer works for ODF and allegedly resigned after she was given the choice to resign or be let go. All three managers said the DEI staffer, “Was a known problem; she had an agenda,” and added that the staffer was entirely out of pocket for her actions. They also all expressed that the new hire for the DEI program inside ODF has been great to work with and is very respectful in her position.
They said the meeting in question, now the topic of this international news story, was a manager's meeting, and the DEI staffer had no reason to be present. Time and time again, they said she was a known problem, not the program.
It has also come to my attention that since this story went into the mainstream this week, the staffer’s personal phone number was leaked online, and she has been receiving calls daily to “kill herself” from random people in the public. Not only is this not okay, but it’s criminal. I can’t emphasize enough how this has been blown out of proportion and spiraled out of control.
The managers were very aware and made it a point to tell me that they understood the reality of why wildfire and forestry are male-dominated industries. However, they also saw the benefits of having a program in place to support those in the workforce where it was needed, as long as it was being run properly. They wanted a program that was intended to bring employees together, not separate and divide them, which is what they felt was happening before the staffer left.
They all expressed support for the Deputy State Forester, who has been put on administrative leave. One of the ODF managers said that he was a mentor to her and supported her with anything she needed. Another who supported him said she was not even sure he was put on administrative leave for the above reasons, but the mainstream media assumed it was.
They all agreed vehemently it had been blown way out of proportion and ultimately boiled down to an internal conflict between employees, with one party, the staffer, being a known problem inside the agency.
I asked if they thought the Deputy State Forester would lose his job. They didn’t know but added they had never seen anyone return from administrative leave.
They also all agreed that this was a major distraction from the real issues with ODF right now. They are coming off a record wildfire season in Oregon and have major budgetary issues. Last month, they had to ask the state for emergency funds to continue funding the agency for a total of $42 million. Their employees just finished a rammer season, and the first week back in the office, they are all being bombarded with this story instead of focusing on close out, end of season duties, and decompression.
They saw this as an opportunity for media folks on both sides of the political aisle to use this story as ammo during a very contentious election cycle, and they were not very happy about that. Quite frankly, the timing couldn’t have been worse for the agency and their employees.
And that’s it. That’s the story from three managers inside ODF who feel like the agency they love and have spent their lives working for has been dragged into the mainstream media for political gain on both sides. So much so that they reached out and asked me to tell their story.
Don’t kill the messenger.
I contacted ODF for an official comment; they said they couldn't comment on the matter while the internal investigation was happening. That’s not a surprise and totally understandable.
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Appreciate you reporting this. It should not have been politicized either way.
Problem employees should always be dealt with internally, and usually are.
It’s sad when these types of things occur.
It consumes people and often leads to costly lawsuits.
Thank for sharing. Thank you ODF for all the good work that you do.
Hang in there.