PCU //\ Free Assembly Project /
St.Louis MO • www.Free-Assembly.org
_//\__________________________an Association of Volunteers__/
20 Nov. 2021
Secret Meeting Report (an oxymoron)
So… last week ugly rumors were going around that somebody was planning a dark secret elitist meeting with the Feds, at great peril to the Family… I was the named culprit, of course, and know who started the hysteria on Facebutt.
Yes… a meeting WAS planned: When the FS Regs Petition was submitted in September, we also requested a virtual meeting with USDA officials, to talk about the proposal and find out how the review process will be handled.
OK… the ballyhooed and boo-hooed “secret meeting” with Fed honchos Happened, sort of – after delays in DC, on 11/16/21 a few reputable contributors & observers joined a Zoom conference with delegated Forest Service staff.
This to report: Not Much. Basically, this meeting got kicked downstairs at USDA. The original Request went to the Office of Natural Resources & Environment, and the Deputy UnderSecretary in charge, because that’s where the Petition was presented and rulemaking decisions are made. However no one attended from that office; the task befell some mid-level people in the FS Chief’s office, and they were unprepared: None had read the Petition delivered 2 months ago… they had no feet in the main topic.
So the discussion did not reach key elements of the proposal, or plans for the rulemaking process. I had to inform them of their own departmental rules. A Forest Service LEO also showed up, so I told them: Cops Don’t Make Policy.
A keen observer reflected:
“Pearls of wisdom cast. Total lack of awareness from the experts. Bureaucrats at the lowest rung hung out for bait……that leo was there to protect the clerks. No surprise from the old assertion that the feds are still hanging on to the unincorporated association label. Back into the time warp. Thanks for the shot. It will be a cold day in hell when we can sit across a table and make the points that are rooted in Constitutional Assembly.”
It wasn’t THAT bad… we impressed upon them the heinous burdens of these regulations, and the constitutional and practical imperatives to change them. Contributors had salient comments on the bad history & legal fallacies to date, the workings of Operating Plans, the need to restore cooperation, and the prospect of simple policy changes helping good foresters. I made a proselytic point about peaceable assembly as a personal right – citing to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), Article 20:
(1) Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association.
(2) No one may be compelled to belong to an association. [Petition, p.17]
So, we kinda DID “sit across a table and make the points…” – and it wasn’t very cold.
This effort made some progress.
The upshot: A new Request went in fast for a followup Meeting – with the right people, properly prepared, ASAP.
Hopefully then we can report real info – how the rule review will proceed, when & where public comments will be called for, and what lessons in grassroots civics we are learning
Meanwhile – it’s time to scope out opportunities for outreach to Congress & Rights Allies…
inquiries welcome, stay ‘tooned…
_scottie addison__
Coordinator & Instigator