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01/28/04
Rangers pan DEC emergency policy
By NED P. RAUCH, Staff Writer
LAKE PLACID — The union representing area forest rangers says the state is jeopardizing public safety by enforcing policies that could slow their response to emergencies.
Martin Candee, a 10-year veteran of the forest rangers and president of Local 1872, said that by no longer allowing rangers to self-dispatch, the Department of Environmental Conservation is setting the stage for tragedy.
"If a woman comes to my door and says, ‘My son fell through the ice,’ I cannot go until I get a hold of a supervisor and get permission to go, unless I’m already working," Candee said, speaking in his role as union president.
Since April of last year, off-duty forest rangers have been required to report to a supervisor before responding to an emergency. That order put an end to a practice that had been in place since the mid 1990s.
Under the old system, rangers had a two-hour window to contact their supervisor, leaving them free to respond to an emergency immediately. According to Candee, the new policy can waste precious minutes as rangers make at least one phone call, sometimes more, to alert their superiors.
No deaths or serious injuries have been tied directly to the policy change, and in a prepared statement, Matt Burns, a spokesman for DEC in Albany, pointed to that record as evidence that the shift has worked.
"The current dispatch system allows rangers to respond to calls in a timely manner and ensures the protection of the public and the state’s natural resources," he said.
"The outstanding job that our rangers and ECOs (Environmental Conservation officers) have done protecting the state’s natural resources and citizens during the past year clearly shows that they are able to effectively provide their important services under the current structure."
But Candee said that in a recent survey sent to the 115 rangers the union represents, 99 percent of the 94 respondents said the current policy could lead to the death or serious injury of a member of the public or the ranger force.
"This is a no-brainer," he said. "This is a public-safety issue. (A tragedy) is going to happen. It’s just a matter of time."
It is not the union’s only concern.
DEC has also stopped allowing most rangers to park their state-issue trucks at their homes. Now, even after these rangers contact their supervisors, some have to drive miles to out of their way to get to their vehicles, which must be kept at state-approved sites.
The rangers, environmental conservation officers, SUNY police and park police are all renegotiating their contracts with the state.
Burns said the department will listen to the rangers’ concerns as negotiations continue. But Candee insisted Tuesday that the union’s concerns about self-dispatch and vehicle use have little to do with the negotiations and have everything to do with public safety.
The state, he said, should revoke these policies immediately. Otherwise, the game of "Russian roulette" the state is playing will drag on and the stakes will get higher.
Hamstrung by the new policies, morale among the forest rangers is at the lowest point Candee has seen since he joined the rangers in 1994. He said rangers feel they are being micro-managed by their superiors in Albany and cannot go out into the field to do their jobs well.
True or not, Burns said, these matters should be taken up in the negotiation process.
"DEC management remains interested in addressing mutual areas of concern in the appropriate labor-management setting," he said.
"DEC will continue to work closely with forest rangers and the people in the communities we serve to further protect New York state’s environment for this and future generations."
E-mail Ned P. Rauch at: [email protected]
Rangers pan DEC emergency policy
By NED P. RAUCH, Staff Writer
LAKE PLACID — The union representing area forest rangers says the state is jeopardizing public safety by enforcing policies that could slow their response to emergencies.
Martin Candee, a 10-year veteran of the forest rangers and president of Local 1872, said that by no longer allowing rangers to self-dispatch, the Department of Environmental Conservation is setting the stage for tragedy.
"If a woman comes to my door and says, ‘My son fell through the ice,’ I cannot go until I get a hold of a supervisor and get permission to go, unless I’m already working," Candee said, speaking in his role as union president.
Since April of last year, off-duty forest rangers have been required to report to a supervisor before responding to an emergency. That order put an end to a practice that had been in place since the mid 1990s.
Under the old system, rangers had a two-hour window to contact their supervisor, leaving them free to respond to an emergency immediately. According to Candee, the new policy can waste precious minutes as rangers make at least one phone call, sometimes more, to alert their superiors.
No deaths or serious injuries have been tied directly to the policy change, and in a prepared statement, Matt Burns, a spokesman for DEC in Albany, pointed to that record as evidence that the shift has worked.
"The current dispatch system allows rangers to respond to calls in a timely manner and ensures the protection of the public and the state’s natural resources," he said.
"The outstanding job that our rangers and ECOs (Environmental Conservation officers) have done protecting the state’s natural resources and citizens during the past year clearly shows that they are able to effectively provide their important services under the current structure."
But Candee said that in a recent survey sent to the 115 rangers the union represents, 99 percent of the 94 respondents said the current policy could lead to the death or serious injury of a member of the public or the ranger force.
"This is a no-brainer," he said. "This is a public-safety issue. (A tragedy) is going to happen. It’s just a matter of time."
It is not the union’s only concern.
DEC has also stopped allowing most rangers to park their state-issue trucks at their homes. Now, even after these rangers contact their supervisors, some have to drive miles to out of their way to get to their vehicles, which must be kept at state-approved sites.
The rangers, environmental conservation officers, SUNY police and park police are all renegotiating their contracts with the state.
Burns said the department will listen to the rangers’ concerns as negotiations continue. But Candee insisted Tuesday that the union’s concerns about self-dispatch and vehicle use have little to do with the negotiations and have everything to do with public safety.
The state, he said, should revoke these policies immediately. Otherwise, the game of "Russian roulette" the state is playing will drag on and the stakes will get higher.
Hamstrung by the new policies, morale among the forest rangers is at the lowest point Candee has seen since he joined the rangers in 1994. He said rangers feel they are being micro-managed by their superiors in Albany and cannot go out into the field to do their jobs well.
True or not, Burns said, these matters should be taken up in the negotiation process.
"DEC management remains interested in addressing mutual areas of concern in the appropriate labor-management setting," he said.
"DEC will continue to work closely with forest rangers and the people in the communities we serve to further protect New York state’s environment for this and future generations."
E-mail Ned P. Rauch at: [email protected]
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