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48 °F Forecast | Road Cams Wednesday, February 18, 2004 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find a Rental Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Email Story to a Friend January 14, 2004 Federal forest jobs move to private sector Two Klamath National Forest jobs are the first in the region to reflect the Bush administration’s ‘competitive outsourcing’ process By PAUL FATTIG Mail Tribune Last week’s announcement by the Klamath National Forest that two fleet maintenance jobs held by employees will be contracted out may be a harbinger for national forests locally. The decision resulted from the Bush administration’s push to improve efficiency and cut government costs through a process it calls "competitive sourcing." Basically, that involves studies by the Washington, D.C.-based Office of Management and Budget to compare existing costs to similar work done by the private sector. The two Klamath forest positions are the program’s first impact on that forest, said spokesman Brian Harris. Previous OMB-based studies have resulted in jobs being retained by agency employees, he said. The study also calls for "restructuring" four maintenance jobs in the forest, although it hasn’t been determined what that will entail, he said. Advertisement More changes may be in the offing, Harris said. "We’ve got a bunch of studies coming up through fiscal year 2007." The results of future OMB studies probably will be felt in the Rogue River and Siskiyou national forests, according to Eric Hodnett, administrative officer for both forests. "Right now, a full study on information technology functions being done nationally will likely impact people here," he said. The study is expected to be completed this spring. "The outcome will be to award the work to a contractor or internally to the most efficient organization. "There will be changes," he added. OMB studies thus far have resulted in the loss of the equivalent of 25 percent of one position in the two forests, he said. That change was in the forests’ water and wastewater operations. Cost-effective studies in the two forests’ road maintenance, fleet maintenance, trail maintenance and building and ground maintenance have resulted in keeping the work in-house, Hodnett noted. "Historically, we have always contracted a lot of work out," he said, adding that the OMB studies are part of a rigid process to find the most efficient and cost-effective way to accomplish forest-related work. Even before the OMB studies began, contracting had increased in recent years, officials said. In Oregon, the number of private fire crews with agency contracts rose from 88 in 1998 to more than 250 in 2003. During that time, the agency’s permanent staff in Region 6, which includes Oregon and Washington, dropped from 6,533 in 1998 to 5,530 last year. Future OMB studies may further change agency employment, officials said. Locally, the agency’s financial management in the Rogue River and Siskiyou forests is expected to be studied in fiscal year 2005, which begins this fall, Hodnett said. "The most interest to a lot of folks will be the study on portions of fire management in fiscal years ’06 and ’07," he said. While some job losses will be handled through attrition, others could impact employees, he said. "There will be some people affected," he said, adding that some may be required to change jobs within the agency. "Some may have to go outside the federal government," he said. "But there are lots of efforts internally when someone is impacted." Cost-cutting measures by the Forest Service are nothing new. The staffs of the Rogue River and Siskiyou forests, which numbered nearly 1,000 employees in the 1980s, has been dramatically reduced in the past 15 years. The two forests now have 385 permanent employees. In an effort to reduce costs, the agency named one supervisor to oversee both forests beginning in 1999. Other staff changes the following year included combining several districts under one ranger and establishing new leadership roles in forestwide positions. Reach reporter Paul Fattig at 776-4496 or e-mail him at [email protected] Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2004 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback 3 WEEKS FREE! 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