USFS, Conference Calls and Love

Yesterday there was a conference call with the Law Enforcement and Investigations branch of the United States Forest Service. We learned that Gene Smithson will be the incident commander again this year as he was for the last few years (Arkansas 2007, Wyoming 2008, New Mexico 2009).

I personally am hoping (and asked on the call) if we can have a strong presence from the US Marshalls again this year as we did last year. As someone who spends a lot of time walking with the USFS Law Enforcement Officers (LEOs), I really appreciated the calming influence of the US Marshalls and felt they helped everyone behave in a much more low key manner.

Thanks to a friend, a recording of the call is available here.

Another friend of mine asked why we continue to have these calls when, in his opinion, nothing ever changes. As Martin Luther King, Jr. said in his sermon "Loving Your Enemies," which he wrote in 1957 while in jail far committing nonviolent civil disobedience during the Montgomery bus boycott, "Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. Hate multiplies hate, violence multiplies violence, and toughness multiplies toughness in a descending spiral of destruction."

To read the complete sermon, click here.Spread the love! I think it's what we do best.