NFFE Forest Service Council Addresses Competitive Sourcing Early for FY08

(National Federation of Federal Employees)

Washington, DC – Last week, the NFFE Forest Service Council’s Red Team—aptly named with the goal of keeping the Forest Service in red on the President’s red/yellow/green management scorecard for competitive sourcing—stormed Capitol Hill with the goal of laying the groundwork for a moratorium on competitive sourcing studies in the Forest Service for fiscal year 2008 (FY 08).  

By all accounts, their efforts were extremely successful.  The Red Team had meetings with staff from virtually every member of the House and Senate Interior Appropriations Committees, the committees that decide on the Forest Service budget each year.  The group also had numerous meetings with staff from authorizing committees, including the Natural Resources Committee and the Oversight and Government Reform Committee in the House, Energy and Natural Resources Committee and Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee in the Senate.  By week’s end, the team of 13 had met with approximately 130 Congressional offices.  They also came out of the week with a good feeling about progress they made on competitive sourcing.

“It is going to pay off this year,” said NFFE Forest Service Council President Bill Dougan.  “I am very confident that we are going to get the moratorium.”

Much of their success can be attributed to their preparation.  The Red Team has spent months preparing their lobbying documents and setting up meetings so that their time in Washington could be used as efficiently as possible.  Their primary document was a 54-page briefing book that clearly outlined all of their issues.

“It takes a tremendous amount of up-front work to pull something like this off,” Dougan said.  “I can’t be more proud of the folks who put energy into this… It’s pretty amazing.”