Study finds US public land workers facing assaults, threats

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — Federal employees overseeing U.S. public lands were assaulted or threatened at least 360 times over a five-year period marked by heightened tensions with anti-government groups and dwindling ranks of law enforcement officers, a congressional watchdog agency said Monday.

The Government Accountability Office in a new report highlights anti-government tensions that at times have boiled over, including a six-week armed occupation of a federal wildlife refuge in Oregon in 2016 and other standoffs with armed protesters in Montana and Nevada.

The clashes have been rooted in a deep distrust of government on the part of the protesters, who view the federal bureaucracy as unlawfully impeding people from using public land for grazing, mining and other economic purposes.

Even a routine traffic stop or the collection of a park entrance fee can be enough to trigger an assault or threat, according to GAO investigators.

https://www.apnews.com/6bad5bd1faa54804990dd1cb587651ee

[2naSalit]

1. I will add to that my encounters

which could get pretty testy at times. In a National Park a ranger can be easily overwhelmed by crowds of disrespectful and unruly "visitors" with no recourse other than to call for help which might actually show up or just leave while the unruly bunch violate the rules and trash the park resources. Happens several times a day. We were always warned to be aware of our safety and to choose our battles wisely. Park rangers do not carry sidearms, only the LEOs do and they are loathe to write citations since the current reporting system is a major hassle and costs so much time that it's a toss up as to whether it's better to just talk to someone who doesn't give a shit what you say or spend precious time in the reporting process. Did I mention the parks are severely understaffed? Groups of unruly people will surround and play whack-a-mole with the ranger while taking video of how the ranger responds then show it to other staff and try to get the ranger fired. That happens hundreds of times a day in our National Parks.

I encountered as much in the USDA-FS when in training for FPO classification. I had a ticket book, a camera and had discretion as to whether to write a citation but the reporting process was far easier to use and followup actually happened. But I still had to on my guard when approaching a "situation".

There is little to no respect for our wild places, at least from a large portion of those who use them from what I've seen in my years of public service.

[Bayard]

2. Thanks for posting your experience

I think the people who trash national parks are the same ones who don't believe in climate change. They view the parks like Disneyland. They think someone else will clean up their garbage.

Classless as tRump. They see him trying to cut into these areas for profit, so think they can do whatever they want as well.

[2naSalit]

3. Thay's pretty much it.

I wouldn't have taken a position where I had a firearm but having some actual, recognized authority was better than being set upon as a paper tiger.

Tourism needs to slow down. people in places near parks and such now have become so ingrained into renting out their homes on VRBO and whatnot has left the workers in the hospitality industry with no place to stay, year-round residents get priced out of their opportunities for housing and then all these people who can't even do a little research to learn about where they are going and that they need to be aware of their diminished safety in wild places... and you're correct, too many expect it all to be like Disneyland. But I digress...

It would be nice if respect was a thing in our social makeup.