AUGUSTA, Maine - Anxiety has been running high at the Maine Forest Service ever since the release of Gov. Paul LePage's state budget, which proposes the elimination of 25 ranger positions, including 12 that have been vacant for months.
The administration also today outlined its plan - which would also create new law enforcement positions - to several legislative committees.
Meeting with members of the Legislature's Appropriations Committee and Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry Committee, Commissioner Walter Whitcomb explained the reasons behind the plan to cut some forest ranger positions and create new ones.
The idea, he says, is to separate the duties of those who primarily fight forest fires from those who enforce the state's forest harvesting laws.
"Right off the bat, our budget separates - and a lot of those position changes you see reflect that - the firefighting component of forestry and all other," Whitcomb said. "We want to create a clear division of duties there."
The division of duties for rangers has been a regular topic of discussion since last year, when Gov. Paul LePage vetoed a bill that would have allowed rangers to carry firearms. Often deployed in remote regions of the state, rangers are sometimes the only law enforcement agents on the scene of what may be criminal activity.
But opponents say that arming forest rangers would deter them from their primary mission: enforcing Maine's forestry laws. Whitcomb, who oversees the state's Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry departments, says the administration would provide additional resources to local efforts to maintain a healthy forest. He says the department's reorganization plan is geared toward creating better trained firefighting and law enforcement divisions.
"We fight the big fires with helicopters," Whitcomb said. "We have resources, as we have for some years, to improve that capability, but we also want to reorganize the effort of our ground forces to make sure that they're even more involved in the significant resources that we have in the communities, and take advantage of the training that we do across state lines for that major catastrophic event that we all hope never happens in this state."
"What are we actually saving for money from the reorganization, versus just eliminating positions in this reorganization?" asked Sen. Linda Valentino, a Saco Democrat.
Valentino says she has seen plenty of instances over her legislative career in which state programs are reduced in size and renamed without producing tangible results for the state or the taxpayer.
But Whitcomb says money is not the driving force behind the proposal. And he says the reclassifications have a larger purpose. "We don't just sit there and think, 'Well, I'll give it a new name,' " Whitcomb said. "There's a reason some of them are detailed with different responsibilities."
Democratic Rep. John Martin, of Eagle Lake, questioned Whitcomb on the department's decision to cut a pilot's position that had formerly been assigned to northern Maine's vast forest region. Whitcomb says the position was swept from the budget last year when it went unfilled. Martin suggested that Whitcomb consider deploying some of the department's assets to cover areas underserved. Whitcomb said that could happen.
"I know that as this process continues there will be a shifting of human resources," Whitcomb said. "I mean, obviously, attention has been drawn to that in terms of the folks who got notices in other capabilities. Any position that was attempting to be filled or in the interview process, that was continued. So I have no doubt in my mind that some of those will reconfigured over time."
"Well you could transfer the one from southern Maine to northern Maine?" asked Martin.
"I'm sure that will be noted by those who might be listening right now," Whitcomb said.
Whitcomb said the state employees who currently hold the 13 ranger positions that are being eliminated in the reorganization are being encouraged to apply for any of the new law enforcement or forestry positions that have been created within the proposed budget.