Blog Update - March 2nd, 2010

I just spent two weeks at a family home in Three Rivers, California, with no internet access and no cell phone reception. When I got back I found out that a friend of mine is upset with me (which is something I was worried about), and a few others, too. The introduction to this blog has said for months "...with the backing of some knowledgeable and trusted friends, it is time for a concerted effort to have [Forest Supervisor Jody Noiron] removed from her post." This is one of those friends. He knows as well as anybody what a mess Jody has made of the Angeles National Forest and how awful she is to her employees. He knows that Jody has put fear in the hearts of those she "manages" and he knows that she needs to be removed. But now he's chickened-out also. There's a reason I've brought up The Wizard of Oz here a couple of times.

This goes back to the fact that I asked the authorities to investigate the legality of the new reservoir at Mount Baldy (Baldy Notch), and when they started asking questions Jody suspended an employee because she suspected this employee of ratting her out. I did not hear the suspicions about the reservoir from this employee, I don't even know who it is.

Let me first say that Forest Service employees are not the only ones that know the details of the reservoir, so do the owners and employees of the ski resort. Secondly, I will remind you just how small the forest community is. News and rumors travel fast. I could have heard tales of the reservoir from lots of people. For instance, I have met quite a few Forest Service volunteers over the years and it could have been from one of them; it wasn't, but it could have been. Maybe I overheard something when I went to Baldy Village and stopped in for a burger. I went on a field trip to Baldy Notch where the class stopped for lunch, served by loud-talking restaurant employees, just a hundred yards from the reservoir. I'm not telling where I heard something that made me report the reservoir, but there are many possibilities.

That being said, there are several points I need to make. The first is that if Jody Noiron had nothing to hide, she would not have gotten so upset. In fact, we have learned here that she allowed construction of the reservoir without doing a NEPA study or an Environmental Impact Report. The second (more important to this topic) is that Jody's reaction demonstrates just how unprofessional she is, and how she will throw anyone under the bus to keep herself out of trouble. Third, the reason I posted news of this suspended employee is to protect the employee from Jody. When I made my report to the Center for Biological Diversity, I had no idea that Jody would take it out on an innocent employee. It would otherwise be easy for Jody to make up a reason to terminate the employee, but now, with public attention on the matter, she is less likely to conjure up some bogus infraction.

I didn't just defend the suspended employee here, I reported the incident to the FSEEE (Forest Service Employees for Environmental Ethics). My thinking was that I don't know if all Forest Service employees know about this avenue for grievances, and it would be more eyes on Jody. I am now going to upset more people and paste in part of the return email: "I'll see what else I can do proactively on the employee issue. Marty Dumpis asked me outright when I submitted the FOIA where I had heard about the Mt. Baldy issue and I tried to make it as clear as possible that it was not a Forest Service employee, and I will have no problem re-iterating this as it is simply the truth, which you also point out in your blog. Since this employee did not come to us as a whistle-blower, then it makes me wonder what the FS will claim was an illegal or disciplinary worthy action. There must be something else that the FS is trying to use, not that such a claim would be valid, we have had cases of retaliation where the management was searching for anything they could possibly find to punish an employee for an otherwise legal act." Jody is fully capable of pulling such an under-handed move.

So back to my friend. He doesn't read my blog because he doesn't do computers, but the content does get to him. In fact, most of it I have run by him before posting it. A few weeks ago he called and asked me to remove references to the suspended employee, that he heard that the employee was worried that Jody would read it and fire the employee. I told him that Jody already read that post a long time ago, and I explained to him how I know (thanks, Google). If that is the only fear, it wouldn't do any good to take it down. I argued that it is better for the employee to keep light on the subject, and reminded him that that is why he encouraged me to post it in the first place. Besides, I would lose any credibility I might have if I start taking a virtual black marker to my blog. He said "Please just take it off." Without actually lying, I made sound like I would, to get off the phone with him, but I had no intention of removing the truth, and now that he is upset with me, I am even more sure that it should stay. Jody needs to know that we are all watching her. The employee is still at work, and I'm not so sure that they would be if I hadn't intervened.

I guess what really annoys me is that my friend (and others) has demonstrated that he is all talk. You see, the reason I am writing this blog, or rather, the reason that others are not writing it is because I don't have much to sue for. I explained to my friends that as long as we tell the truth, there is nothing to sue over, and that since we know Jody Noiron has a lot to hide, she wouldn't dare air her laundry in court. I guess that should have been an indication that I am the only one that has the fortitude to stand up to Jody.

Actually, that is not true. There is another person in the know that has stood up to Jody: Sally Feser. Sally is the wife of former Angeles National Forest Fire Chief Don Feser. Don is the one that quit because of Jody. Sally has posted comments here on this blog that say exactly what she feels. It really made Jody mad and she was ready to stick it to Sally. Jody has the Forest Service Law Enforcement monitoring this blog because in one comment Sally said "That witch should be burned at the stake!" Clearly it's just a figure of speech, but I guess we are to believe that the big, bad Jody, who likes to pick on her innocent employees, is in fear for her safety. Of course, we know that's not true, it's just another example of how childish and vindictive she is. She would actually have Sally arrested, or me, for some trumped up charge; just like what she's doing to the suspended employee. Well, I'm not afraid. I haven't made any threats, only a promise to do my best to get Jody out of The Angeles.

In a future post I will describe how her second-in-command, someone who I used to think would be good for this forest, seemed to try to start an altercation with me. It didn't work, if that's what he was up to. I am not a violent guy.

Quoting the FSEEE employee again, from one of my email correspondences, "Hopefully I will be able to untangle what is going on. You are right, this forest seems to be quite a mess."