When Philip Dechain-Saw, the supervisor of
Colorado’s Big Fir National Forest, tried to approve a
30,000-acre clear-cut in 1997, his efforts to “bulletproof” the
final decision against environmentalists’ appeals and
lawsuits took a horrific personal toll. First, he experienced
dizziness and ringing in the ears; now, he’s suffering
full-blown “analysis paralysis.” Unable to cook meals for himself
or tie his own shoes, the forester is in intensive care in a Denver
hospital.
“Philip was strangled by the paperwork,” says
Forest Service Chief Dale Bozzworth, who vows it will never happen
again. On April 1, the agency will announce a sweeping new
wilderness medicine program to treat analysis paralysis.
“We need to provide compassionate care for our folks who work among
the whispering pines,” says Bozzworth. “Or at least among the
stumps.”
Wilderness medicine specialist Pat Chemup says
the new program is more than a Band-Aid solution. “A lot of these
guys have gone through some pretty serious trauma,” she says.
“It’s going to take a lot to get their minds off the laws and
back to the board-feet.”
But the program won’t hit
the ground until 2006. “It takes a long time to proofread a
4,672-page medical protocol,” says Bozzworth. “We want to make sure
this thing is bomb-proof.”
April
Fools!
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Forest Service fights red tape.
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