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Ashland ranger gets job back Regional boss overturns Duffy's reassignment By PAUL FATTIG ASHLAND -- Ashland district ranger Linda Duffy, whose controversial transfer was to go into effect Dec. 5, will remain at her post. Acting regional forester Nancy Graybeal on Tuesday sent a letter to Rogue River National Forest Supervisor Mike Lunn informing him that she was rescinding his decision of last week to transfer Duffy. Graybeal praised Duffy for her leadership in collaborative efforts with the community and cited the need to continue that work. Graybeal also called for a regional review of the case. Citing the public controversy that arose out of Duffy's reassignment, Lunn said Wednesday evening that he concurred with Graybeal's decision. However, no one would discuss specifics in the original decision, noting it was a personnel matter. But Duffy had said she was told by Lunn that she was being transferred because of "unacceptable performance." Her new job was to have been serving as liaison between the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management for the Applegate Adaptive Management Area in the Applegate Valley, a job many saw as a demotion. Duffy expressed relief at her reinstatement, as did community members who had launched a petition drive in support of her. "This is the Forest Service I believe in, one of integrity and trust and respectful relations," Duffy said of her reinstatement. "It's the agency I want to work for." It's also the agency that local residents want to work with, addedRichard Hart, staff ecologist for Headwaters, an environmental coalition based in Ashland. Hart is a member of the Ashland Watershed Stewardship Alliance, a broad-based group which has been working with Duffy for nearly a year on ways to reduce the fire hazard in the Ashland Creek watershed. "We feel that a very important piece of our work has been put back in place," Hart said. "She's important to the step we are trying to take in collaborating with the Forest Service on our local land to do what is needed and what is right. "We want to be able to work with the Forest Service," he added. "We want to continue to build on this process that we have started with Linda." In a prepared statement released Wednesday morning, Graybeal said she also wanted Duffy to continue working with the community. "Both Mr. Lunn and myself agree Linda Duffy has carried out her collaborative efforts in superb fashion," Graybeal said. "She has been a leader in working with civic groups and special interest groups in the Ashland area. We need her to continue these efforts." Graybeal also called for a regional review of the circumstances involving the transfer. "I want to ensure the Forest Service and the Pacific Northwest Region continue to treat all employees in a fair and equitable manner, and I remain committed to respecting the rights and privacy of our employees," Graybeal added. Lunn, who is retiring from the agency at the end of the year after more than 30 years of service, agreed with Graybeal's decision. "I think it's an appropriate thing for Nancy to do, given how this has unfolded," Lunn said of the public controversy. "It's very appropriate for Nancy to make sure everything is proper and necessary. Having a review is fair to all involved." Lunn also concurred with Graybeal's assessment of the community work being done by Duffy. However, he said her reassignment job had also been extremely important. "Right now, I think it's important that this is all reviewed," he added. In her letter to Lunn, Graybeal noted she was taking the action as part of her responsibilities for monitoring and reviewing management activities in Region 6 which includes Oregon and Washington. Lunn's actions were within his delegated authority, she noted. "As reviewing officer, I am responsible to ensure that such actions are technically correct and done in a manner of fairness to all concerned," she wrote. Moreover, she indicated that she was concerned about the effect the transfer would have on community groups in Ashland and with the Applegate Partnership with whom Duffy would have been working. "It is critical to the Forest Service to continue both these efforts with the full support of the communities," she said, adding, "our credibility must be beyond reproach." The agency does not discuss specifics in personnel issues because of privacy concerns, according to Al Matecko, spokesman for Region 6. As the term suggests, a regional review will include a review of the situation by regional-level officials, he said. "It means the region will look at the entire matter, and decide where we go from here," he said. Although most Forest Service employees opted not to comment publicly about the case, Neil Benson, who retires Tuesday after 27 years with the agency, said Duffy's reinstatement was the right action for Graybeal to take. Benson works in fire management for the district. "It was very upsetting, very confusing," Benson said of the transfer. "From what I've been hearing and seeing, what the Forest Service chief (Mike Dombek) wants is what Linda has been doing. That's the way the Forest Service is going these days. "I've been pleased with the work Linda has been doing with community collaboration," he added. "She has built a level of trust in the community that is well respected. That's why the action taken last week confused me." The controversy and resulting public debate hasn't been good for the agency, Benson noted. "I felt bad for the damage done to Linda and to the reputation to the agency," he said. "It's going to be tough to build back up. It takes time and energy." Hart agreed. "We're helping to build a process that is very new, although it's not totally unique to us," he said. "The public wants shared responsibility (for federal lands)." Although there is both a mandate for the collaborative effort by the public and agency leaders at the national level, it has been met with opposition by some in the Forest Service, Hart said. "It's not the same old-line forest politics," he said, adding, "And some people in the Forest Service are opposed to it." Duffy, who took over the post five years ago, said she simply wanted to get back to work. "This was a bit of an interruption for me," she said. "But it was an issue that was larger than any one person. It was an issue around truth and trust and integrity." 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