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Volume XXXXVVI No. 1

February 2017

OLD TIMERS’ NEWS

FOREST SERVICE INTERMOUNTAIN REGION, OGDEN, UTAH

2017 OFFICERS

President

Jeannette Hartog

801-479-9213

<golfjhart@aol.com>

President-elect

Brian Ferguson

801-710-9781

<ferg605@msn.com>

Editor

Pat Roether

801-721-0488

<groether@comcast.net>

Treasurer

George Roether

801-721-5241

<groether@comcast.net>

Directors

Frank Elder

208-369-4043

<frankelder8@gmail.com>

Wes Carlson

801-479-5352

<wes@ce-o.com.

Carl Pence

208-468-9318

<pencavi@gmail.com

Past President

Dee Sessions

801-475-6397

<dee.sessions@gmail.com>

Historian

Richa Wilson

801-622-2336

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

Greetings Old Timers

Here we are, the beginning of a new year in our lives with so many possibilities on the horizon. Lots of folks like to travel – present company included – see new places, have new experiences, meet new people and visit old friends. I have found that as I get older friendship and family mean even more to me, and I take every opportunity to visit with as many as I can.

Our Intermountain Region Old Timers Organization pro-vides this opportunity to us as Forest Service Retirees. We gather at the Golden Corral in three locations – Ogden, UT; Boise, ID; or Twin Falls, ID, to have lunch, to hear interesting, in-formative speakers, and to visit with folks who share the common bond of former Forest Service employment. It’s fun to catch up with friends as they come and go and share their experiences. It amazes me how much we learn from each other.

I want to thank Dee Sessions for a successful 2016 as our President of Old Timers. He did an excellent job of providing leadership not only to our monthly meetings but also to our annual gathering on the Dixie NF in St George. Best wishes to Dee and Donnie on their new endeavor.

We have a challenge before us this year and that is to find ways to interest new retirees to join with us and become a part of this great organization. With all the methods of communication available to us, we are not doing a very good job of inviting or sharing the values of belonging. I would encourage each of you who reads this message to search out a retiree – recent or not – and invite them to come “with you” to next month’s meeting at whichever location is best for you. Let’s continue to preserve the traditions of the Forest Service and maintain good fellow-ship to keep alive the family feeling among our retired and present employees.

I welcome our new President-Elect, Brian Ferguson, who joins me in the leadership of Old Timers again this year. I say “again” because Brian has and continues to be a valuable member that keeps the Organization on track. Thanks to him, and his wife Linda, for their faithful at-tendance and attention to detail.

Looking forward, we will once again meet in September for an Intermountain Region Annual Meeting. Your officers are busy searching for the perfect location to gather. If you have sugges-tions or hear of somewhere we would enjoy visiting, please let one of us know.

Also, you may note that we have a “Volunteer” Editor for our Newsletter for February. Thank you Ed Waldapfel, retiree from the Sawtooth NF, for giving Pat Roether a much needed break. It takes more effort than most of us realize to produce this very informative publication three times a year.

I wish you all a great winter season wherever it may find you – at home or off to warmer places.

Jeannette Hartog, President 2017

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DATES TO REMEMBER

Luncheons in Ogden, UT, are held the first Tuesday of each month

(except July) at 1:00 p.m., at the Golden Corral 988 Washington Blvd.

No reservations are needed for a great buffet lunch. Please come and

join us!

Luncheons in Boise, ID, are held the 3rd Wednesday of each month

September through May, at 12 noon, at the Golden Corral, 8460

West Emerald Street, Boise. The annual picnic is the 3rd Wednesday

in June in the Municipal Park, at 12 noon. All Old Timers are welcome!

Luncheons in Twin Falls, ID, are held bi-monthly on the first Monday of

each even-numbered month, at 12:30 P.M. at the Golden Corral,

1823 Blue Lakes Blvd. North, Twin Falls. Join them!

Old Timers’ News is printed three times a year in

February, June and October. It is the official news-

letter of Forest Service Old Timers Club of the Inter-

mountain Area. Old Timers' was organized in 1950

to preserve the traditions of the Forest Service, to

maintain contact and good fellowship among re-

tired, former, and present employees of the Forest

Service, to keep alive the family feeling among For-

est Service employees, and to advance the interest

of the Forest Service. Any retired member of the

Forest Service, former employee with 10 years or

more of service, or current employee with 30 years

of government service shall be eligible for member-

ship. Dues are $7 annually, $50 for a life member-

ship, and $75 for a sustaining membership, which

includes a surviving spouse. Dues are payable in

January.

Letters, pictures, obituaries, address changes or

additions may be sent to the Editor: Pat Roether,

2790 Buchanan Ave., Ogden, UT 84403. Dues

may be sent to the Treasurer, George Roether at

the same address. E-mail <groether@comcast.net>

FOREST SERVICE OLD TIMERS CLUB APPLICATION FOR MEMBERSHIP

We hope you will join our organization. Information about Old Timers’ Club is included in the box above this application.

Dues are $7.00 annually, $50.00 for your lifetime, or $75.00 for sustaining lifetime (which includes surviving spouse).

If you wish to join, please complete the following application.

Name:________________________________ Home Phone: ______________My spouse’s name is___________________

Home Address: ____________________________________________E-mail:___________________________

City:___________________________ State:_______________ Zip:_______________

Title of last working position:_______________________________________________________________

For use of birthday card committee, my date of birth is: __________(month and day)

Enclosed is my remittance of $_________________ Date:________ Signature:______________________

Please send to Old Timers’ Club 2790 Buchanan Ave. Ogden, UT 84403

LET’S ADD SOME NEW MEMBERS!

Do you have a Forest Service retiree

friend that would enjoy membership in

Old Timers?

Please tell them about Old Timers, and

offer the application blank below. We

have acquired several new members us-

ing this application.

OGDEN PROGRAMS

The March 7, 2017 meeting will feature a presentation

by Paul Ries and Joel Holtrop. They will discuss their

trip to Mongolia where they were involved in developing

conservation strategies for this country.

NEW ANNUAL MEMBERS

Marcia Thomas 2729 Taylor Avenue Ogden, UT 84403 <Studio360@aol.com>

George Starr 1130 N Allumbaugh Boise, ID 83704 <gstarrboise@gmail.com>

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OCTOBER 2016 DIRECTORY

CHANGES

The following corrections are for the member

directory published in the October 2016 issue

of R-4 Old Timers News. We apologize for the

oversights and errors.

Delete: Darrol Fluckiger (deceased 3/2015)

Add: John Amundson

1171 Silver Creek Way

Twin Falls, ID 83301

<jcamundson@msn.com

William (Bill) Anderton

3541 Cresswind Pkwy SW

Gainesville, GA 30504

<williamanderton1@gmail.com>

Annrose Cochrane

810 Cambridge CT

Palmyra, PA 17078

ELECTION RESULTS 2016

The ballots have been counted and the results are final. All the candidates on the ballot were approved and the By-Laws change re-ceived unanimous support. Unfortunately, the Chair-elect position re-mains vacant for lack of a volunteer to take on the job. Brian Ferguson has agreed to substitute as Chair-elect until the position can be filled.

2018 FOREST SERVICE RETIREES

NATIONAL REUNION

The national reunion for Forest Service Retir-

ees is scheduled for September 24-25, 2018

in Asheville, North Carolina.

“Reunion in the Cradle” will be hosted by the

Southern Forest Service Retirees Association.

Registration will begin in the spring of 2017.

Details are available at: 2018.fsreunions.org

Shirts, hats and other reunion items can be

viewed and ordered from:

https://forestservice2016.itemorder.com/

NOTHING NEW UNDER THE SUN……

The following article appeared in The Recorder

Herald (Salmon, Idaho) on December 29,

2016. It seems like when President Obama

announced his creation of several new monu-

ments in Utah and other places, many citizens

of those states expressed the same displeas-

ure as those in the Salmon/Challis area over

110 years ago. Thanks to Carl Pence for shar-

ing this article with us.

110 Years Ago

THE PEOPLE MOST VIGOROUSLY PROTEST!

—The President and Our Member in Congress

will be Presented with a Monster Petition Pro-

testing Against the Salmon Forest Reserve—A

Gigantic Humbug— The feeling of remon-

strance is very general...an informal meeting

of a few citizens laid plans for covering the

county with copies of a petition...We the under-

signed citizens and residents of Lemhi county,

state of Idaho, hereby protest against the ac-

tion of president Roosevelt in creating the new

forest reserve in Lemhi county. We regard the

step thus taken as ill-advised, unjust and di-

rectly contrary to the best interest of the state

and its people. The petition included the fol-

lowing points:

a) This is not a timber country: there are no

valuable tracts of timber which require protec-

tion.

b) The indigenous trees will never be of com-

mercial value. Any timber in the reserves will

be needed for local wants.

c) The country is so precipitous that the

sources of the streams can never be denuded

of timber. The forest belts are generally on

high rocky, precipitous land that is practically

inaccessible.

d) The stock ranches here are all small and

the ranchers unable to afford the expense of

permit grazing.

e) The restrictions of the reserves will hinder

prospectors and miners.

f) The fees imposed for maintenance of the

reserve is purely local, while the benefits, if

any, are for the country at large.

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UPDATE ON FRIENDS….

The following was received January 15, 2017.

As many of you know, Stan Tixier has been in the hospital with pneumonia. He’s been await-ing heart surgery for a while (valve replace-ments), but the doctor(s) wouldn’t operate until the wound on his leg healed, for fear of infec-tion. It still hasn’t and he’s still on the wait list. Meanwhile, Jan continues to recover from her auto accident and broken sternum. She’ll drive Stan home in the next couple days. They would no doubt appreciate cards and/or calls. Wes Carlson is in rehab and is making good progress on recovering from his broken hip. He’ll maybe stay where he is for a while, until he can put weight on the affected leg. His son will come down to stay with him when he’s finally able to return home. Keep these folks in your thoughts and be thank-ful for your own health.

MJ Brackmann

WANTED: News, Stories, Photos….

June is the next issue of “R-4 Old Timers News” Please submit news, stories and photos no later than May 19th. Send to: edandpatwald@gmail.com or snail mail: 2606 Meadowbrook Dr, Twin Fall, ID 83301

ARE YOUR DUES DUE?

Please check your mailing label. If you see the

letters LF or SLF, you are paid up for life.

If you find a date, that is the last date you paid

dues. If you are behind, or owe for 2017, please

send $7 per year to George Roether, Treasurer,

2790 Buchannan Ave, Ogden, UT 84403. If you

don’t want to bother with yearly dues, you can be-

come a life member for $50, or for $75 your sur-

viving spouse will remain a member.

SPECIAL THANKS TO FEBRUARY ISSUE

CONTRIBUTORS

Thanks very much to the following for their con-tributions to this issue of “Old Timers News”: Jeannette Hartog, Brian Ferguson, George & Pat Roether, Richa Wilson, Brian Harris, Julie Thomas, David Neeley, Jeff Luff, Merrill & Nikki Saleen and MJ Brackmann.

HERE’S A GREAT GIFT IDEA!

Looking for a wonderful gift that will not only

be pleasing to the recipient, but the purchase

goes to support the National Museum of Forest

Service History.

“Gifford Pinchot and the First Foresters” by Bibi

Gaston is the untold story of the brave men and

women who launched the American conserva-

tion Movement. Gaston’s newest book shares

the narratives of the first class of American For-

est Rangers to serve under Theodore Roosevelt

and the first Chief of the Forest Service, Gifford

Pinchot.

Receive a free autographed copy with any new

or upgraded Contributing Level or above Muse-

um Membership! Call for more information

(406) 541-6374.

Cost of the book is $22.95 plus shipping. An

order form is available on the Museum’s website

www.forestservicemuseum.org

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The U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree loaded and on it’s way to Washington D.C. aboard the Gary Amoth Trucking

(Twin Falls, Idaho) equipment.

PAYETTE NF TREE IS 52ND U.S. CAPITOL CHRISTMAS TREE

The 80-foot Engelmann Spruce selected to be the 2016 U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree was cut on November 2nd from the Little Ski Hill—Payette NF—just outside of McCall, Idaho .

In July 2016, the Superintendent of the U.S. Capitol Grounds in Washington D.C. came to the Payette NF to make the final selection from about a dozen candidate trees chosen by Forest Staff.

This year’s “The People’s Tree” was cut down by Payette NF workers using a crosscut saw. This was done to honor traditional logging skills and tools used in Idaho. This process had never been used before to cut down previous national trees.

Payette employees Jared Schuster and Chris Nicolli

begin the cut to harvest the 2016 Capitol Christmas

tree.

The 26-foot tree branches had to be bent to fit the trailer. An 80 gallon bladder was attached to the base of the tree. Chris Niccoli, McCall smokejumper, cared for the tree along the way, refilling the bladder each day. The tree used between 20 and 40 gallons a day.

Gary Amoth, owner and operator of Gary Amoth Trucking Inc. of Twin Falls, purchased a brand new truck for this job. He also drove the 105-foot truck and trailer to Washington

DC. According to Amoth, it was the longest driving trip of his 35-year career. More than 10,000 people viewed the tree during the 30 stops along the 3,925 mile cross country trip. “The people were fantastic,” said Amoth. “It renewed my hope in America.”

Amoth Trucking also sent a second truck to haul nearly 70 8’ Fraser Fir trees and 12,000 hand-made ornaments made by Idaho school children. The companion trees, from northern Idaho tree farms, were delivered to congres-sional, USDA, Forest Service and other gov-ernment offices in Washington D.C. There was 25’ tree for the USDA Whitten Building and a 12’ tree for the Chief’s office.

Kim Pierson, District Ranger—New Meadows Ranger District, accompanied the tree back to the West Lawn of the Capitol. Along the way, Kim coordinated the public events. “It brought joy to thousands of people. I am so proud of us that we were able to share Idaho with the nation” Pierson said. “I am a botanist and for me this is a magnificent tree. I love Idaho and this really represents the Idaho spirit and how we work and how much we love our public lands.”

The first Capital Christmas tree was a 24’ Douglas-fir. The cost for that initial project was about $700. 2016 project costs were ap-proximately $600,000. Funds for the majority of these costs came from the more than 63 partners and corporate sponsors involved with the Forest Service.

Journey’s End—DC’s Capitol West Lawn

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1925 Forest Service communication system. Payette Ranger Lorin Wellman “checking in”

HISTORY

100 Years Ago A year ago, I wrote about Region 4’s monthly

newsletter titled “The Intermountain Review-

Ranger” that was started in 1916. It contained

guidance for and contributions from field staff,

along with interesting bits of news. While our

collection is incomplete, it does contain sever-

al issues from 1917. Following are excerpts

from that year:

“Two reimbursements for hired horses, dying

while under contract of hire to the Service,

were paid in December, one on the Idaho and

the other on the Sevier. The latter is the first

case of this kind in District 4 where the Service

has paid for a horse which died of disease.

This horse died of colic. Evidence was submit-

ted showing that the horse was in sound

health when taken over by the Service, that it

had never had a reputation for colic before

that time, and that it was not troubled with

colic while in Government employ until the

attack occurred which caused its death. It

was also shown that the horse was not driven

too far or too fast, overfed or watered untime-

ly before the attack.”

Regarding a letter from the National Radio

Company in California to the Chief: “The gist

of the letter is to the effect that wireless te-

lephony is still in the experimental stage, and

that about the only use we could possibly

make of it would be to connect trunk line sys-

tems where there is a gap, and even this use

may be somewhat questionable. . . . If it

should be found later that the necessary ap-

paratus can be purchased in the market at a

reasonable figure, and that the use of the

system is likely to be practicable, further in-

formation will be issued. It seems apparent

that wireless telephony need not be given any

serious consideration in District 4, at least

until such further information is received.”

The Secretary approved a regulation requiring

“all members of the Service, while on field

duty, to wear uniforms of a kind to be pre-

scribed by the Forester.” It applied only to

permanent employees and a committee was

appointed “to decide upon the materials and

cut of the uniforms. The consensus of opinion

was that there should be at least two types of

uniform in three or four weights to meet the

different conditions on the Forests.”

Scanned copies of the Intermountain Review-

Ranger and other historic newsletters are

available on the Region 4 History Website at:

http://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/r4/learning/

history-culture/?cid=stelprdb5420790

Richa Wilson, Historian

HELP WANTED

Ideas and suggestions are needed for this

year’s R-4 Old Timer’s fall meeting. We are

very interested in recommendations for the

location, fieldtrip and program elements.

Also, we are looking for volunteers to serve

on the planning committee.

Please submit ideas to: President Jean-

nette Hartog golfjhart@aol.com or Presi-

dent–elect Brian Ferguson 801-710-9781

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MEMORIALS

BARBARA BASSLER, age 68, passed away on December

18, 2016.

Barb retired from federal service in 2012 after 24+ years

working for the Sawtooth National Forest, U.S. Fish and

Wildlife Service, and the Bureau of Land Management.

After retirement, she remained active on Great Basin

Incident Management Teams. She loved the time she

spent working with her team to fight a forest fire or help

after a natural disaster. Barb was extremely skilled in her

role as a Fire Information Officer, working tirelessly to

keep communities and the local media apprised of the

situation affecting their town and homes.

Barb shared her love with many others over the years

through various volunteering activities with Meals on

Wheels, St Luke’s Magic Valley Home Health & Hospice,

PEO, and JUMP Company to name a few.

Barb is survived by loving spouse David Bassler, daughter

Laura Landers (Steve), son Aaron Todd (Kelsey), son Rob-

ert Bassler (Shawna), son Joseph Bassler (Kristin),

daughter Amanda Perrine (Nathan) and fourteen grand-

children. To view complete obituary, go to:

www.roseneaufuneralhome.com

DON CORLEY, age 80, was born Oct. 16, 1936 in Betha-

ny, OK to Leland and Juanita Corley. He grew up in Red-

ding, CA with his two brothers Bill and Bob. He attended

Shasta Jr. College and later graduated from Humboldt St.

University with a degree in wildlife management. He

worked for Alaska Fish and Game, Idaho Fish and Game

in Salmon, ID and the Forest Service in Boise.

IN 1959 Don married Pat Gimlan and they had two chil-

dren, Julie and David. The family enjoyed skiing, fishing,

camping and raising horses.

Don was divorced and married Toni Corn in 1984. They

had many good years together fishing, traveling and living

on acreage in Kuna where they boarded horses. Don en-

joyed making improvements on the acreage such as

building his barn and hay shed and cutting firewood to

heat their house. He liked to hike to the top of Kuna

Butte with his dogs. He was a volunteer with CASA.

Don suffered from Parkinson's and a brain tumor. He was

preceded in death by his father, mother, and brothers.

He is survived by his wife Toni, daughter Julie (Bob), son

David (Nilza) step-son Ty Corn (Jane), 3 grandchildren;

Lillian Cary (Wes), Thomas Corley, Truman Corn and spe-

cial family friend Vladimir Gomez De Nicolo.

BRUCE LEAF, age 60, passed away December 19, 2016.

He was born January 30, 1956 and spent his first few

years in Boise and later moved to Lake Fork where he

lived growing up. Unfortunately, he had cerebral palsy.

His first session at the Shriners Hospital in Utah occurred

when he was only three years old, followed by several

more visits over the years.

He literally grew up with the Lake Fork community and

the Lake Fork Merc Store. An important part of his early

life was going down to the ranch to “help” his Uncle Bill.

After receiving his diploma from the Donnelly-McCall

school system he was hired on with the Forest Service in

McCall. Bruce was a dedicated worker; retiring in Decem-

ber 2012 after 37 years of service. He was a kind and

caring man who was always willing to help out as best he

could. It was said of Bruce by those remembering him

“He was kind, gentle and respectful; Great Service Atti-

tude and commitment—especially to the firefighter; Re-

spected by all—known well beyond the Forest boundaries;

Dedicated to helping others—at work and at home.”

Bruce was a member of the Masons, Shriners and the

NRA. He married his wife, Sherry in June 7, 1997.

RUSS ROGLER, age 77, died November 20, 2016. He

was born July 20, 1939, in Manchester, NH, where he

spent his youth, later earning his Civil Engineering Degree

from the University of New Hampshire. He married Phyllis

Daniel in 1959, also from Manchester, NH, and they cele-

brated 57 years together. They are the parents of two

sons – Jeffrey, Seattle, WA; and Gregory, Salt Lake City,

UT.

Russ began his 34-year Forest Service career on the

White Mountain NF. His FS career took the Rogler’s to

Upper Darby, PA (formerly Region 7 RO); then to the Jef-

ferson NF and the George Washington NF, returning to

the White Mountain NF. After spending his life in the

East, he was assigned to the Pacific Northwest Regional

Office in Portland, OR, then to the Gifford Pinchot NF in

Washington. His next assignment sent the family back to

the East with an assignment in the WO, and finally in

1983, Russ was assigned to the Intermountain Regional

Office (Engineering Staff) in Ogden, UT, where he retired

in 1995. Russ was an active man hiking, skiing and sail-

ing. He loved to travel with friends and family. He was

always involved in community efforts anywhere they lived

as he believed in giving back.

A private, family service was held to honor Russ.

GEORGE ROBINSON, age 88, passed away November 18,

2016. He was the son of Malcolm and Ann Robinson,

born December 9, 1927 in Glendale, Utah.

After meeting at Jacob Lake, Arizona, he and his sweet-

heart, Geraldine Henrie, were sealed on March 23, 1956

in the Salt Lake LDS Temple. George and Geraldine had

four children—Cecil (Melanie), Robin (Scott), Laura

(Austin), Karl (Debbie), twelve grandchildren and numer-

ous great-grandchildren.

George had a successful career with the U.S. Forest Ser-

vice living throughout areas in the west. He retired as the

Budget Officer for the Intermountain Region, head-

quarted in Ogden, Utah.

In addition to his family, his loves included the gospel of

Jesus Christ, hunting, fishing, reading the scriptures, gar-

dening, birding, watching sports and good music.

NEWSLETTER ON WEB PAGE Check our web page for late breaking news in

between editions of the newsletter. Recent

newsletters also appear on this web. Pictures

are in color, and it appears there before it is

mailed to members. Some folks prefer to

read it on the internet or receive it as an

email. This saves money on printing and post-

age. If you don’t need the printed copy, let

George Roether know at 801-621-7824 or

<groether@comcast.net> Web page address is

<fsxr4.org> Check it out!

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OLD TIMERS’ CLUB

c/o ED WALDAPFEL

2606 MEADOWBROOK DRIVE

TWIN FALLS, IDAHO 83301

RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED