The Forest Service appears to be having an internal fire sale, with the heart of our national forests put out for bid on eBay. We may soon see the Weyerhaeuser National Forest patrolled by rent-a-rangers, overseen by private consultants.

For decades, this agency has invoked the phrase 'Forest Service family' to connote a cohesive, close-knit organization, but this plan puts whole branches of the family on the auction block. This whole misguided effort is an example of mindless management by slogan lacking in any analysis as to how to make the Forest Service actually run better or more efficiently.

Fire departments across the State of Maine provide an essential and irreplaceable service to our communities,

I joined the fire service on July 1, 1946. And I was an active volunteer for 53 years.

If our national parks are going to be reduced to performing only the bare minimum of ?core operations,' the public ought to be given some say as to what is considered essential.

It's precisely the opposite of the purpose of the land.