spectr17
11-07-2001, 11:24 PM
Park rangers diverted to work security in East
By Mike Soraghan, Denver Post Washington Bureau
Wednesday, November 07, 2001 - WASHINGTON - As the nation watches for another terrorist attack, federal land rangers and wildlife officers are being diverted from public lands in Colorado and the West to help with homeland defense in the East.
Federal land agencies appear to have become a reservoir for the government to draw from when bulking up security at vulnerable sites.
They're guarding national park sites on the East Coast and government buildings in Washington, D.C., and riding in airplanes as sky marshals. Some are staying in the West to guard dams.
That is spreading public lands officers, who already sometimes patrol more than a million acres, increasingly thin and raising concerns that public lands won't be protected.
"A lot of our field managers say, "Why do we have to send our only law enforcement officers?' " said John Silence, special agent in charge of Bureau of Land Management law enforcement in Colorado. "But I've spent time back East and I tell them if you'd seen the sense of urgency and need, you'd understand."
For security reasons, most agencies are cagey about saying exactly how many officers have been shifted from their appointed rounds and exactly what's not getting done as a result.
The government appears to be looking to land agencies because the Department of the Interior has the third-largest police force of any federal agency. Interior Department spokesman Mark Pfeifle said the agency has about 4,500 sworn officers.
"They're there and they're certified peace officers," said Jeff Ruch, executive director of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility. "They may be the only law enforcement agencies with ready staff that can be moved."
The BLM's acting director, Nina Hatfield, says many BLM agents have been dispatched to work as sky marshals until the Federal Aviation Administration gets permanent marshals. Fish and Wildlife Service spokeswoman Sandra Cleva said the agency's homeland security assignment is supposed to last about six months.
National Park Service rangers are standing sentinel over dams and providing extra security at symbolic park sites such as the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia. Park Service spokeswoman Elaine Sevy said about 200 law enforcement and administrative personnel have been reassigned nationwide.
The shift in priorities has raised concerns.
"Once you take away that thin layer of protection, there's nothing there," said Ruch. "We don't want airplanes crashing into a mountain because a BLM ranger was left in the desert. But these positions were already understaffed."
For example, he says, a scarcity of BLM rangers contributed to a "near riot" in the California desert west of Los Angeles during the winter holidays of 1999, when thousands descend on the dunes with off-road vehicles. Congress, he said, recognized that the BLM needed help, adding $400,000 to the budget for more agents. But even before those can be deployed, others are being pulled away.
Interior's Pfeifle won't say what isn't getting done because of the diversions.
"We're making every effort to provide for the areas we're responsible for," he said.
At Rocky Mountain National Park, four rangers have been sent off to different locations, but Chief Park Ranger Joe Evans says he has been able to keep seasonal staff to fill in.
Others acknowledge there are some things that won't get done. The Fish and Wildlife agents being detailed to homeland security come from a force of only 189 agents. A 1998 survey found 95 percent of Fish and Wildlife agents think the agency's law enforcement program is insufficiently staffed.
"You look at a wildlife violation vs. national security," said Rick Thornton, assistant regional director for law enforcement at the agency's Lakewood office. "Some things will get done, some things won't. We've never been able to do everything anyway."
Colorado's BLM managers will soon send three of their 12 law enforcement officers to guard buildings in Washington, Silence said. He said the timing worked out well, because the agency didn't have to send anyone during Colorado's busy hunting season.
"We were lucky," he said. "I don't think we're going to miss this next round, though."
Mike Soraghan's e-mail is msoraghan@denverpost.com.
By Mike Soraghan, Denver Post Washington Bureau
Wednesday, November 07, 2001 - WASHINGTON - As the nation watches for another terrorist attack, federal land rangers and wildlife officers are being diverted from public lands in Colorado and the West to help with homeland defense in the East.
Federal land agencies appear to have become a reservoir for the government to draw from when bulking up security at vulnerable sites.
They're guarding national park sites on the East Coast and government buildings in Washington, D.C., and riding in airplanes as sky marshals. Some are staying in the West to guard dams.
That is spreading public lands officers, who already sometimes patrol more than a million acres, increasingly thin and raising concerns that public lands won't be protected.
"A lot of our field managers say, "Why do we have to send our only law enforcement officers?' " said John Silence, special agent in charge of Bureau of Land Management law enforcement in Colorado. "But I've spent time back East and I tell them if you'd seen the sense of urgency and need, you'd understand."
For security reasons, most agencies are cagey about saying exactly how many officers have been shifted from their appointed rounds and exactly what's not getting done as a result.
The government appears to be looking to land agencies because the Department of the Interior has the third-largest police force of any federal agency. Interior Department spokesman Mark Pfeifle said the agency has about 4,500 sworn officers.
"They're there and they're certified peace officers," said Jeff Ruch, executive director of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility. "They may be the only law enforcement agencies with ready staff that can be moved."
The BLM's acting director, Nina Hatfield, says many BLM agents have been dispatched to work as sky marshals until the Federal Aviation Administration gets permanent marshals. Fish and Wildlife Service spokeswoman Sandra Cleva said the agency's homeland security assignment is supposed to last about six months.
National Park Service rangers are standing sentinel over dams and providing extra security at symbolic park sites such as the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia. Park Service spokeswoman Elaine Sevy said about 200 law enforcement and administrative personnel have been reassigned nationwide.
The shift in priorities has raised concerns.
"Once you take away that thin layer of protection, there's nothing there," said Ruch. "We don't want airplanes crashing into a mountain because a BLM ranger was left in the desert. But these positions were already understaffed."
For example, he says, a scarcity of BLM rangers contributed to a "near riot" in the California desert west of Los Angeles during the winter holidays of 1999, when thousands descend on the dunes with off-road vehicles. Congress, he said, recognized that the BLM needed help, adding $400,000 to the budget for more agents. But even before those can be deployed, others are being pulled away.
Interior's Pfeifle won't say what isn't getting done because of the diversions.
"We're making every effort to provide for the areas we're responsible for," he said.
At Rocky Mountain National Park, four rangers have been sent off to different locations, but Chief Park Ranger Joe Evans says he has been able to keep seasonal staff to fill in.
Others acknowledge there are some things that won't get done. The Fish and Wildlife agents being detailed to homeland security come from a force of only 189 agents. A 1998 survey found 95 percent of Fish and Wildlife agents think the agency's law enforcement program is insufficiently staffed.
"You look at a wildlife violation vs. national security," said Rick Thornton, assistant regional director for law enforcement at the agency's Lakewood office. "Some things will get done, some things won't. We've never been able to do everything anyway."
Colorado's BLM managers will soon send three of their 12 law enforcement officers to guard buildings in Washington, Silence said. He said the timing worked out well, because the agency didn't have to send anyone during Colorado's busy hunting season.
"We were lucky," he said. "I don't think we're going to miss this next round, though."
Mike Soraghan's e-mail is msoraghan@denverpost.com.