USFS Website Changes

[milldozer]

I searched for road/trail conditions in my national forest of interest and can't find any of the information that is typically there.  Looks like the whole FS website was re-done, but a bunch of information is missing.  I just called the office and the gal said "there currently isn't a spot for that information on the website".  As far as I can tell there's no way to lookup current conditions and closures short of calling the office each time.  Even then you rarely get a person that can answer questions.  Super frustrating they can't put out basic information about public access.  Anyone else run into this?

[nwmein199]

I searched for road/trail conditions in my national forest of interest and can't find any of the information that is typically there.  Looks like the whole FS website was re-done, but a bunch of information is missing.  I just called the office and the gal said "there currently isn't a spot for that information on the website".  As far as I can tell there's no way to lookup current conditions and closures short of calling the office each time.  Even then you rarely get a person that can answer questions.  Super frustrating they can't put out basic information about public access.  Anyone else run into this?

DOGE fired 3400 USFS personnel in February - may have to do with them not updating FS road conditions

[timberghost72]

Seems to be working for me. This is for MBSNF. More frequent updating would be nice though. I can't seem to open the other NF areas in Washington though.



https://www.fs.usda.gov/r06/mbs/conditions

https://usfs.maps.arcgis.com/apps/MapSeries/index.html?appid=2f5351d70b0d4ed9b13d372e9d109fcb

[milldozer]

This is exactly what I'd like to see.  No such luck for the okanogan-wenatchee.

[CarbonHunter]

They definitely updated the site and it doesn’t look like they asked anyone who used the site what they thought about the new layout. In some circumstances there is actually more information available but in others they dropped whole sections.

[bigtex]

Expect less current/up to date info on federal websites. The feds have fired and quit hiring many positions, in many agencies the first ones to go were those customer service, visitor service positions. They weren't deemed necessary. Good tiime to be a fed LEO, bad time to be just about every other federal employee.

Sent from my SM-G973U using Tapatalk

[Buckhunter24]

USFS website info has been undependable for many years in my experience.

[MADMAX]

USFS website info has been undependable for many years in my experience.

I honestly can’t say I’ve ever looked at their website
If I’m interested in a road trail or area
I go scout it

[dwils233]

Based on Pres Trump and Elon's anti-woke/dei commitments, DOGE purged a ton of federal websites.

The forest service lost a whole bunch of pages a month or so ago. Webpages about fire resilience forestry that mentioned climate change- gone. Forest canopy and species diversity- could have been pulled down for "diversity"

Honestly....you might be seeing this as a result of "accessibility" being on the bad word list that bounced around the federal government as "woke".

Depends who you ask where the blame lies: DOGE computer nerds using a chainsaw on things they don't understand. Fearful over compliance by federal workers worried they'd be at risk if they didn't do exactly what they were told, or malicious over compliance because the order was overly broad and vague.


But yes, FS websites are swiss cheese these days

[NOCK NOCK]

Expect less current/up to date info on federal websites. The feds have fired and quit hiring many positions, in many agencies the first ones to go were those customer service, visitor service positions. They weren't deemed necessary. Good tiime to be a fed LEO, bad time to be just about every other federal employee.

Sent from my SM-G973U using Tapatalk

I normally respect all of your input bigtex, BUT, like the comment below yours, the OWNF has been a TERRIBLE NF and website for years. The layoffs have ZERO to do with this issue.

USFS website info has been undependable for many years in my experience.

[dwils233]

USFS website info has been undependable for many years in my experience.

I think that's a use case question, more than anything.  USFS as an extension of USDA is fundamentally a bureaucratic extension of the federal government- it's never going to be everything to everyone or on the cutting edge of design and accessibility for ease of use- but the core competency is going to be there.

official press releases- absolutely. Project announcements, forest plans, scoping letters and other stuff required by the federal registry or the legislature- definitely. Might be hard to find or navigate, but that's not particularly uncommon for any federal website. It's also not where I would look for any definitive information that isn't legally required though- plenty of better/efficient places to find that - either online or in direct dialogue with a ranger station.

[NOCK NOCK]

"direct dialogue with a ranger station"  LOLOLOLOL

My "attempt" to purchase a firewood permit last fall.......
call Entiat RS=closed, call Chelan RS=no answer, call Ltown RS=clueless gal knew nothing, call Wen headquarters=closed for construction, call Chelan again=told to drive to Cle Elum RS for one.
Next day drive to Wen RS=door locked with young gal sitin at front desk. After 5 minutes of me standing there staring at her she finally let me in....said she couldnt sell me one cause they were low on help. huh?  you are here at front desk/no other customers. She had to ask a guy in back if it was OK.
finally she came back and did it, super quick, much faster than normal

All done spent about 2 hours on the above ordeal. 

OWNF web road conditions are and have always been 4-8 months out of date. When you are lucky to actually speak to a person, they no little to nothing about the actual forest.

Forest CIRCUS   is a fitting name.

[Ghost Hunter]

Firewood permit Stevens Co.  Stop by any hour, any day.  Pick up your free 12 cord permit out of the box on the wall.    

[deerlick]

that website has always been terrible

[milldozer]

Agreed the websites have never been great or even that reliable, but it used to be at least some source of information on closures and access.  Not having anything is not an acceptable solution.  I'd hate to plan on a trip and drive across the state just to find out a road is gated.

[hunter399]

Firewood permit Stevens Co.  Stop by any hour, any day.  Pick up your free 12 cord permit out of the box on the wall.    

Lol
In Stevens county,I thought the firewood permit was on the inside of a beer box..... 😂
If you buy a six pack ..... No permit .... 😂

On a serious note ,they used to charge 6 bucks or something like that. Changed it to free .

[CarbonHunter]

Firewood permit Stevens Co.  Stop by any hour, any day.  Pick up your free 12 cord permit out of the box on the wall.    

Lol
In Stevens county,I thought the firewood permit was on the inside of a beer box..... 😂
If you buy a six pack ..... No permit .... 😂

On a serious note ,they used to charge 6 bucks or something like that. Changed it to free .

During COVID they changed the firewood permits from $5/cord to free for personal use.

[Naches Sportsman]

Both the public websites and internal websites suck immensely, no matter what forest across the country. Usually I can’t find what I’m looking for on the internal sites. 

Not many non fire employees make it into the field in this current era so usually when you call, you won’t get up to date information.

[hunter399]

Firewood permit Stevens Co.  Stop by any hour, any day.  Pick up your free 12 cord permit out of the box on the wall.    

Lol
In Stevens county,I thought the firewood permit was on the inside of a beer box..... 😂
If you buy a six pack ..... No permit .... 😂

On a serious note ,they used to charge 6 bucks or something like that. Changed it to free .

During COVID they changed the firewood permits from $5/cord to free for personal use.

Ohh ya ,thanks I remember now. You are correct.
That year during COVID,they handed them out for free at north40 in colville. Then I stopped at north40 and FS , everybody was out.
Cause , you know .....
If it's free ,it's for me ......lol 😂

I can say back in the day,when you paid for it. They gave you a huge map. Which was cool. Good ol days gone .

[dwils233]

Firewood permit Stevens Co.  Stop by any hour, any day.  Pick up your free 12 cord permit out of the box on the wall.    

Lol
In Stevens county,I thought the firewood permit was on the inside of a beer box..... 😂
If you buy a six pack ..... No permit .... 😂

On a serious note ,they used to charge 6 bucks or something like that. Changed it to free .

During COVID they changed the firewood permits from $5/cord to free for personal use.

Ohh ya ,thanks I remember now. You are correct.
That year during COVID,they handed them out for free at north40 in colville. Then I stopped at north40 and FS , everybody was out.
Cause , you know .....
If it's free ,it's for me ......lol 😂

I can say back in the day,when you paid for it. They gave you a huge map. Which was cool. Good ol days gone .

those maps cost money and they add up quick to design and print in quantity. Usfs budgets would probably have lined that out pretty quick

[dwils233]

Both the public websites and internal websites suck immensely, no matter what forest across the country. Usually I can’t find what I’m looking for on the internal sites. 

Not many non fire employees make it into the field in this current era so usually when you call, you won’t get up to date information.

I have been in the field with the overwhelming majority of colville forest staff at different times over the last year. The only time I can't get one in the field is during fire season- usually because the whole agency converts to fire support during those times- which I would also consider "in the field"

Every ranger is red carded I believe as policy