People's tax dollars at work

To the Editor:

One of the greatest attractions for a federal government job must be the security of that job during the up and down business cycles that plague the private sector. This job security was especially evident when the U.S. Forest Service began to curtail sales on the national forest.

Since most of their employees were involved in timber sale administration, it may have been logical to assume that these employees were no longer needed when timber sales stopped. Instead, these employees were simply given new titles and job descriptions, instead of timber cruisers, road locators, timber markers and log scalers, now we have jobs like hydrologist, road gate inspectors, controlled burn planners, fire suppression coordinators or helipad directors.

I recall the Forest Supervisors operating out of the second floor of the hardware store on Mineral Avenue during the height of the Spruce Bark Beetle timber salvage period when 200 loads of logs a day were coming off the national forest into Libby alone.

Now, with no timber sales to administer, this government agency works out of the largest building in town. This is the wonderful thing about our government: through good times and bad, it just gets bigger and bigger. The compensation to government employees compared to private sector jobs get better and better.

What's not to like about a job for the federal government?

William Payne

Libby