"...They're just making excuses."

In the Los Angeles Times today Paul Pringle publishes a well-researched article about that internal Forest Service review that cited rugged terrain as a reason not to order water drops on the second day of the Station Fire. Mr Pringle has been diligently on the case since the beginning of the fire and he is the only one in mainstream media that is trying to shed light on the mismanagement of The Angeles. But I will give myself a pat on the back here (actually a shameless self-promotion to keep you coming back) and tell you that I have been providing information. I sent the reporter my post on the so-called rugged terrain [here] along with some names and e-mail addresses. On November 24th I got a return email from him that simply said: "This is great. Thanks very much."

From the article: "It just irks me to see . . . that they're blaming the terrain for why no action was taken," said Don Feser, a former fire chief for the forest who retired in 2007. "They're just making excuses." Don Feser is the man that left The Angeles because of Jody Noiron's attitude [story here]. Some, namely Jody, may say that Feser's contributions to Pringle's article is just sour grapes. It's true that Don can't stand Jody, but he knows what he is talking about. He was a great asset to the forest and losing him was just one more example of how Jody Noiron is screwing-up this forest.

The article also says (please read the article) that the Forest Service is still denying that the cost-cutting memo had anything to do with the decision to wave-off helicopters. Naturally, they are lying, unless they are saying that they ignore the direction of the Regional Forester. But Jody could easily have blamed the whole thing on Randy Moore and his memo if she has nothing to hide. Something else is going on. The way this whole thing is being handled is fishy. It is a case of "the lady doth protest too much, methinks." Why is Jody Noiron so obstinate? Could it be that she has a feminist chip on her shoulder? The Forest Service does have a chauvinistic past, but that's not the case anymore. It's true that her employees call her a "bitch" because she is a woman, but if she were a man they would call her an "asshole", so it really has nothing to do with her gender. I offered an explanation of pride in a previous post, but that's not the whole story. In my next post I will tell you what is really going on.