Jeff Ruch Quotations

I feel like I?m in downtown Beirut. The employee paranoia level is through the roof.

It doesn't necessarily mean anything, because it has no more standing than if you or I asked for an investigation.

We think it?s very ironic this is happening under an administration that was re-elected because of its values. The larger challenge for the vast majority of (public employees) is: How can they do their jobs faithfully, and survive?

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.

It's going to hamper the ability of EPA staff to do their jobs.

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

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.

How are EPA scientists supposed to engage in cutting edge research when they cannot find what the agency has already done?

Before the election, that information (that scientists were making public) could have been the straw that broke the camel?s back.

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.