- Production Versus Social and Educational Goals
- Problems With Gender, Work Culture, and Generation Gaps
- Helping Volunteers and Hosted Workgroups With Personal Problems
- Coordinator Problems With Different Types of Workgroups
Other Problems Faced by Coordinators
Production Versus Social and Educational Goals
In the last 10 to 20 years, field crew supervision has changed in the Forest Service, and supervision continues to change. Traditional seasonal crew leaders have had to switch gears and adjust to new situations. One coordinator from the Southern Region reflected, "There's always going to be a need for leadership. The leadership role is changing and it's becoming a little bit more dynamic, more complex." Another coordinator from the Pacific Northwest Region expressed his views about the effects the shift toward educational and social goals has had on crew leadership:
"It is nothing you can put your finger on because it's [leadership] in a state of flux. It's like we were discussing, you have the good ol' boys who have the skills base, and you have the newer different ways of viewing cultural groups and the ideas that maybe just the work project itself is not all that's going on there, but there's the education of groups of people that may affect the future of the forest and whatever else. Twenty years ago you could tell me this is what a crew leader is, this is what a crew leader does, and this is the way you respond in a given situation. It's not that way anymore because you have so many different situations. You need to be able to respond, and like I said in the beginning, switch gears. It's not always going to be the same. So a crew leader is nothing you can really define right now."
The same coordinator said that coordinators today need to learn to be open to change and to roll with the punches:
"So I think that becomes really pertinent with crew leaders that as the expectations change you have to be a changeable being. You can't learn the job and then say, 'I've got it learned and I don't have to learn anything anymore.' That was kind of the traditional fire crews and the old trails crews…. You worked your way up and once you became the top dog everybody else had to learn from you. That's not the way it is anymore. You have to keep learning to stay up there and know how to deal with the new situations."
Most traditional Forest Service coordinators were hired for production and were trained to get the job done. They referred to this as reaching hard targets. Now they are having to adjust to new crews and new social and educational goals, which they refer to as soft targets. Traditionally, Forest Service seasonal crewmembers were not easily able to get away with slacking off or failing to follow orders to accomplish hard target goals.
Today, the main goals of working with many of the hosted and volunteer crews are educational or social welfare goals, soft targets. The Senior Community Service Employment Program, which is found in nearly every region, is set up to aid seniors with job skills and experience. Often senior citizens cannot produce as much as traditional trail crews. Production is not the primary intent for the SCSEP program. Projects with YCC, Jobs Plus, youth groups, schools, church groups, and other groups are set up for educational or community welfare purposes. A coordinator from the Pacific Northwest Region described his difficulty when shifting to soft targets:
"I work with some of these youth crews. They're [old timers] really upset because they don't get as much done in a day as one of the old trail dog crews would. We consider maybe we're educating some city people, some inner-city kids about what the woods are about and some of the funding that's going on for that project may relate to that. And we may have taught them how to get up regularly and go to work on a daily basis, being dressed, prepared for work. What kind of social value does that have for our society and for people being put back into the criminal justice system 5 years from now. So there's a whole lot of things that go on that are not production."
The coordinator concluded by stating the need for balance between soft and hard targets and the need for the Forest Service to remain geared for production.
Problems With Gender, Work Culture, and Generation Gaps
Historically, field crews in the Forest Service were mostly made up of young, white men. Field crews have always had personality problems, but with increasing diversity, more issues have appeared. The multicultural issues that come up when working with diverse crews have made it difficult for many coordinators to communicate, teach, and supervise. A coordinator from the Southwestern Region discussed his concern with multicultural issues when he was working with hosted groups:
"Well, you need to be able to be directing somebody how to do a work project, but then if all of a sudden you realize you may have a cultural issue going on because you have somebody from a different background, you need to step back and think, 'Okay, am I communicating right?'…Now all of a sudden you need to be aware that that person may have other issues on how you're telling them to do the work and you need to make sure that you're communicating in an appropriate manner [with] somebody who may have a totally different background."
Different types of personalities and slang create problems for some coordinators. For example one coordinator said that, when working with senior volunteers, "My complaint would be…you have to be a psychologist to pull this off. You have to deal with all these different personalities." Another coordinator told a story about learning to communicate with inner-city youth. He dealt with language barriers due to different styles of speech. He would often have to explain things several times to the young workers:
"It's just like, my god, dealing with some of these youth crews, the language changes. They are not speaking English, not the English that I thought I learned…. And if I just said, 'Speak my English or I don't want to talk to you,' I wouldn't get very far with them. The respect would go away. That doesn't mean I have to learn to speak the same slang that they do, but I at least need to realize that they've got their rights to talk their way."
Female coordinators have expressed having difficulties with older male employees. Senior male volunteers and members of hosted workgroups were identified by several female coordinators as an added and irritating difficulty. A coordinator discussed gender problems on her district and the response when she was first hired: "When I first came aboard, it was completely negative kind of vibes…. They would go to my supervisor and just go right over my head."
A Southern Region coordinator explained why she believes she has had difficulties with male seniors on her district. She also talked about how she confronts gender issues:
"The seniors have been doing the same job for years and then I come in…. With your seniors you may have some folks that have been to the old school and…[it] is kind of hard for them to take directions from a female. So you have to kind of learn how to do that with, I guess, not offending and getting the job done and pleasing them at the same time. That's difficult. Sometimes you just don't get the respect."
Gender-based problems are serious because they can escalate to dangerous situations. A coordinator from the Pacific Northwest Region discussed a situation where a SCSEP employee presented a risk to his female supervisor. She said he "had an issue with women supervisors...and at times would just have outbursts, angry, angry outbursts…to the point, that [it] was definitely workplace violence." The coordinator said that the supervisor did not deal with the situation. "It had become a safety issue and it should never have gone that far," she said. Another coordinator expressed the quick and to-the-point way she handles gender-based difficulties with senior citizens:
"I say, ‘You can either listen to me or…you have a choice. You can do it my way or you have the alternative of going back to camp, going home, or wherever, because the work here has got to be done and I'm the one that's passing it on.' You cut to the chase and get right to the point and say, 'This is it.'"
Understanding the Forest Service Work Culture
Historically, most seasonal trail and timber crews understood the work ethic and commitment that came with working for the Forest Service. They were trained in the Forest Service and became part of what several coordinators called the "Forest Service family." These crews understood how the Forest Service worked and they developed a sense of loyalty and responsibility to the Agency.
Hosted and volunteer groups have little-to-no experience working in the Forest Service. Therefore, these groups frequently have difficulty understanding and following safety regulations and accepting how the Forest Service undertakes projects in the field. A safety coordinator from the Pacific Northwest Region explained what she saw happening:
"What we've found with the hosted crews, particularly like the Bulta County work crew, the con crews, or crews that come up with their own supervisor, that it takes a lot of work working with them so that they understand our work ethic in terms of safety behavior because they kind of come with a whole different—maybe—outlook. Or maybe they've never done the project before and they are just going to implement the "bull through it" type of stuff. So what we've tried to do with those crews is have the Forest Service project manager meet with their supervisor and work with them for the first week or so, ideally."
Several coordinators indicated problems with youth crews due to differences in generational values, especially the way youth perceived their work in the Forest Service. A coordinator from the Pacific Northwest Region discussed how she copes with the environmental concerns of some young crewmembers:
"It's a different generation than when I came into the Forest Service 23 years ago…. They've been raised with the environmental movement from their adolescent years all the way into their early twenties. They are raised in the Northwest media and what they've heard from the media about the environmental movement. One of the things that I try to do is to let them have their opinions, but they come to work for the Forest Service and this is our job…. You are American, you can think anything that you want to think. But you signed on the dotted line to a certain job…. This is the job and this is what the job requires. If it goes against your ethics and your morals then that's your problem…. You have to decide. Can you do this job or not?"
Young people sometimes have a different understanding of what is acceptable and unacceptable in a working situation. A coordinator from the Northern Region said, "These younger attitudes come in here and think they can say or do whatever they want, and that's totally inappropriate." Some coordinators believe that youth today expect more for less in a work environment. A coordinator from the Pacific Northwest Region said, "They are raised in a different generation where they expect more from an agency who they work for. They expect to be— what's the word I'm looking for—coddled."
Helping Volunteers and Hosted Workgroups With Personal Problems
Most of the Forest Service coordinators expressed difficulty with the "emotional work" that is inherent when working with seniors and persons enrolled in employment programs. Outside issues come up that have to be worked through. Nurturing and taking care of members of volunteer and hosted groups is often considered part of a coordinator's job. One coordinator from the West Coast explained how she nurtures the volunteers on her district:
"It seems to me, and I've certainly experienced that, a lot of taking care of volunteers is just flat out listening to them, showing concern for them. 'How are you doing today? How is that daughter? How is she doing at home?' That kind of thing. That's been the biggest thing here."
The same coordinator explained some of the ways she found she could help the members of the SCSEP program in her district get back on their feet:
"When you are 55 years old and you are looking for a parttime job at minimum wage, you've had some things happen to you, you really have. So it's trying to help them get back on a track or encourage them or something like that to get going again…. They were down and this was something that they grabbed onto, and our job then is to go right there with them, right side by side and make sure that we can give them all we can give them, whether it's emotional support or if you need the glasses or the boots or whatever. Making sure that they can get those so that they can do a good job here and then looking for things, looking for training for them…. Getting them involved in even little things like first aid, CPR, just getting as much training as we can get to them…. That's the kind of thing I'm talking about. Just helping them get back on their feet again."
Coordinators say that emotional work with hosted groups and volunteers takes up valuable time and energy, which they do not have. Their focus must be on the work. However, they feel some time must be set aside for meeting the emotional needs of the hosted employees and volunteers.
Coordinator Problems With Different Types of Workgroups
The common troubles coordinators have with volunteer and hosted groups manifest themselves in a variety of ways. Many of these problems occur simultaneously, creating a lot of confusion and stress for coordinators.
Using increasing numbers of volunteers seems to be the wave of the future for the Forest Service. One coordinator from the Southwestern Region said, "It's getting harder and harder to do our job, and I think volunteers are more and more important." Another coordinator from the Pacific Northwest Region stated, "Our doors would not be open if it weren't for volunteers." Coordinators are grateful for the volunteers on their districts. Volunteers are able to do work that cannot be completed by the downsized staffs and seasonal employees on districts.
The Forest Service fully supports this volunteer movement, but many coordinators said they have more volunteers than they can handle. Frequently, only one person on a district is in charge of coordinating and working with volunteers. Because working with volunteers is one of many additional duties assigned to Forest Service employees, they are unable to find the time, and often, the resources, to set up projects for all the groups that want to volunteer. A Forest Service employee from the Southwestern Region described his situation:
"I have, I think, six groups, volunteer groups I work with and… I'm the only contact. I work with them and there's no such thing as a volunteer coordinator here, not even at the supervisor's office. Yet there is a vast number of people out there that are willing to work for free, and we don't even take that seriously as a way to tap into that and really use that. I try to coordinate that amongst my other duties."
Another problem for coordinators is the tremendous variety of volunteers. A coordinator from the Pacific Northwest Region said, "What I think about volunteers, it's one of the hardest programs ever to run because of the nature of the people involved in it." One coordinator discussed common assumptions made about the type of people that volunteer and described volunteers on her district: "Some people have often thought that it's older people, Caucasian people, rich people, wealthy, well off, and it's not true. You have more volunteers from the lower socioeconomic classes than you do from the upper ones."
All sorts of organizations and groups volunteer for the Forest Service. Volunteer groups come from churches, schools, youth groups, such as the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, environmental organizations, recreation clubs, and many other sources. A coordinator from the Southwestern Region described the volunteer groups on his district:
"I've got the Back Country Horsemen, which are all middle aged, some of them retired even, the Los Alamos Nordic crosscountry ski club, they are all a bunch of gray beards, same thing at the Norski, [a] cross-country ski club, they each have a little trail head they volunteer and work on, and all of those groups, there is not new blood coming into them. The Tough Rider Mountain Bike Club, they are pretty young, well, I'd say some young, middle aged, and they are a real active bunch, done a lot of volunteer work with them. It's hard finding the time really to coordinate more, like I'd like to."
One of the differences between volunteers and hosted groups is that volunteers do not get paid a wage and have more free choice about working—they can leave at any time. A coordinator from the Southwestern Region explained how the differences between hosted groups and volunteers affect supervision:
"The difference I can see…is that our volunteer groups do not have to be with us…. With a convict crew…they want to be out there getting work skills, they want to be out of jail, they want to be out doing. There's different motives…. With the convict crews there's real limited choices that they could be making."
The same coordinator expressed the need for taking the time to understand individual motivations for volunteering:
"You have to know why those folks are up there and you usually do that because we interview them before. We don't just say, 'Yeah, if you want to volunteer go on up there and we'll take care of you.' It's like why are these people volunteering? Are they volunteering because they want to work with the Forest Service some day? Or are they retired and had always wanted to be ranger so it fulfills some kind of dream for them? Do they just truly love the mountain? Are they there to learn new skills? All these different things. So you're kind of trying to figure that out in their conversation and gear them toward something."
Volunteers want to feel respected and part of a team. They need to know they are doing something important and relevant. Meeting these expectations can be difficult when planning projects for volunteer groups and placing individual volunteers. As one volunteer coordinator said, "[You have] to try to match the right group to the right project." Another coordinator who supervises 40 volunteers discussed the importance of relevancy and team membership when working with volunteers:
The volunteers are volunteering because they want to work, and it has to be relevant work. They have to be learning, they have to be feeling that they are a part of your team because they are a part of your team and that is really hard to get across to people [Forest Service representatives], and it's probably the hardest thing. But one of the most important things is the relevancy of what they are doing.
Another coordinator explained how giving respect and creating a sense of team membership are important factors for maintaining the interest of volunteers:
"If you want to keep the volunteers coming back, you need someone from the upper ranks coming down. I'm just the supervisor of this group, but quite often I'll get the ranger to come out and work part of a day with us. Because that's showing our commitment to them, also. It's a chance for them to watch the ranger swing a tool and interact. But you know, if we can get a 10- or 12-person crew, we can compound our labor force by four or five times, and that's pretty cheap. The half-day the ranger spends or the day I have to spend from doing some other…what other people might think is important, I can compound my labor by about four or five times. That's a pretty good deal."
Some coordinators prefer to use volunteers for specific projects because of limited budgets. One coordinator described volunteers by saying, "They're a cheap source of labor, obviously, they're volunteers…. They're able to do the grunt work, they actually get a whole lot of trail built." Another coordinator said he decided to use volunteers because he had problems with the work ethic of previous paid crews: "I soon realized that I could go out with a volunteer group on a few weekends a summer and get more work done than my paid crew got done all season…. I don't think that's proper use of funds."
Volunteers are used to augment the work of the seasonal and full-time crews. However, some Forest Service employees do not see it this way. Downsizing in the Forest Service has led to the loss of many seasonal and full-time positions. Many seasonal employees see volunteers as the people who took their jobs because the volunteers are doing work previously carried out by paid Forest Service employees.
Employment Programs: Senior Citizens and Jobs Plus
Hosted programs, such as the Senior Community Service Employment Program, Jobs Plus, and many others were created to help people gain job skills and job placements. SCSEP is a federally subsidized senior citizen employment program for part-time work (between 20 to 25 hours a week) at minimumwage rates. The goals of the program are to create part-time community-service jobs in both the public and private nonprofit sectors for able-bodied elders. Jobs Plus is another employment program that provides training and employment for people of all ages who are in financial need.
Employment programs are advantageous for local communities and Forest Service districts. But they do present problems for coordinators. Some of the individuals employed by these programs have personal problems, which inevitably become problems in the working environment. Many of the individuals employed in these programs do not live in environments that support changes in their lives. A Pacific Northwest Region coordinator discussed one such situation:
"I mean we really, really tried to get her to go back to school… because she could've gotten Pell grants. She could've gotten everything and she was bright. She was good with numbers, and we just about had her enrolled. But when you live in that kind of an environment where there's no support, it's really scary. You're here for 6, 8 hours, but then you go home for the rest of the day and night to a family that doesn't support that, and it's real hard to buck that system."
Some of the individuals participating in these programs have little previous work experience and do not understand what an employer expects from an employee. A coordinator discussed a situation in which a woman was consistently missing or leaving work because of childcare issues:
"The woman with the four kids, there were a lot of childcare issues with her and we had to finally come to the point with her in saying, 'Look, if you had a real job nobody would put up with this. You need to learn how to deal with your children and come to work. If you have a babysitting issue you need to take care of that. You can't just stay home for that day.' So she had to learn how to prioritize her life basically and her time…. Actually have a plan B. Who's your second-in-line babysitter? If your kids get sick who do they call? You've got to get that lined up so that you can work at a job. Because it's not going to work for you to leave all the time or not show up."
The Federal Corrections Institute program is a partnership between the State and the Forest Service. Both youth and adults who have committed nonviolent crimes make up crews and complete field projects for local districts. Working for the Forest Service is voluntary. The offenders make a small wage and are heavily regulated.
Working with FCI crews can be very difficult for Forest Service coordinators. The programs can be confusing for other Forest Service employees as well. A coordinator described how the corrections program on his district was abolished because of a personnel problem: "The office of personnel management couldn't figure out how to do job descriptions, so it became such a nightmare that we finally gave it up." Another coordinator from the Pacific Northwest Region explained giving up his coordinator position because of the high pressure of the job. He was constantly having to cope with safety, political, financial and training issues that came with FCI crews:
"They're screened, they're nonviolent offenders, but there's still a potential of violence and things going wrong, and training people how to work with these crews. That got kind of stressful, especially the political parts…. I ended up giving up that job and getting into trails patrol."
One coordinator summarized sensitive issues that coordinators need to know about:
"They have to understand that these people had been screened, they were nonviolent offenders, they were there voluntarily and what you would do if they decided not to work because you didn't have to force them to work. You would just inform the crew boss and then later on they would be taken out of the program and have to go back and deal with the judge. But you would also be explaining some of the racial issues, cultural issues, and explaining terminology."
The coordinator emphasized the need for heightened sensitivity when working with convict crews and suggested a more thorough training program for coordinators of such crews. Further study is necessary for a full and accurate understanding of the difficulties coordinators face with FCI crews because the project team gathered just a limited amount of information.
