Letter: scarred landscapes

So a forest service supervisor spouting trendy epithets: "anti-federal fervor," "irresponsible fed bashing," "public inquisition," and so forth decided to resign because she lives in fear. I think she left out "mean spirited."

How often bureaucratic control freaks fall back on routine litany to rationalize their positions. You could assemble a compendium of their slogans and cliches for standard reference purposes. Do they really believe that resentment of Big Brother Government came out of a vacuum, and there is no reason for not accepting their imperial dictums? There is ample evidence, in the form of scarred landscapes, of some of the consequences of their modern management techniques. Visit Yellowstone and see the results of letting nature take its course. A natural fire was left to do its own thing and suddenly it went berserk. Thereafter the fact, convoluted explanations are a marvel to contemplate.

There used to be a notion that these people were public servants. The public certainly pays their salaries. How often in dealings with bureaucrats do we feel like Oliver Twist asking Mr. Bumble for a little more gruel? Are they the masters and we the supplicants?

This does not mean that the ordinary person off the street should tell them how to do their job. It does mean that they should be guided by good judgment tempered with common sense and not be guided by some superior ideology of their own invention.

Those public employees who treat the public with courtesy and respect are like a breath of fresh air. Respect usually begets respect.

ED HARRIS

Dayton