Newcastle Notes: Forest Service considers moving employees

By Peggy Hartley | Monday, April 09, 2007

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A belated Happy Easter to everyone! Don’t we love springtime in Wyoming and the unpredictable weather? My husband and I were planning a springtime trip to Fort Collins for our anniversary but ... Oh, well there’s always next weekend.

Forest Service hearing discusses move

I attended a USDA Forest Service public hearing at the Newcastle Senior Center at 5:30 p.m. on April 2. The Forest Service was seeking comments about the possible closing of the local office and the relocation of about 15 employees to the USDA Forest Service office in Custer, S.D.

There were a number of people who attended, including representatives from our congressional delegation. Our state legislature Rep., Ross Dierks, and state Sen., Chuck Townsend, also were in attendance, but neither voiced support for keeping the employees in Newcastle.

Craig Bobzien, Black Hills National Forest supervisor, said he was not proposing to close the local office but was investigating what services the Forest Service should provide in the area and also the cost of such services.

Bobzien and his representatives are gathering information from the Weston County commissioners, the chamber of commerce and area citizens to assist his agency in deciding the matter.

Many of the services the Forest Service provides were discussed, including fire protection, grazing permits, forest management and the dissemination of information on the national forest and national grasslands.

Other issues raised were the economic impact and the loss of summer employment for the youth of our community if the office were to close.

The response time to fires was a major concern for many, if not all of the people, attending. The travel time to Custer is about 45 minutes, which could mean the difference between a minor, easily extinguished fire and major uncontrolled fire that would be expensive and more difficult to extinguish.

Many believe the expense of keeping the local office open would be insignificant when compared to the cost of fighting such a fire.

There is also the economic impact of losing as many as 15 full-time professional positions from the community. These individuals own or rent homes, buy goods and services, pay property taxes and more.

They volunteer time to community projects, attend church, and their children attend the local schools. Their presence and financial contributions would be detrimental to the community.

Bobzien assured those attending the meeting the Forest Service “wants a local connection,” but he didn’t specify what that would mean in terms of numbers of jobs that would remain in the community.

One of the benefits of writing a column is that I can comment on the news as well as report it. In this instance, it is vital, as residents of the Newcastle area, that we continue to attend meetings, write letters and voice our concerns to Forest Service officials.

It was obvious to everyone that changes are going to be made, and by being involved and vocal, we can positively influence the final decision. As the old saying goes, a squeaky wheel gets the grease.

I encourage everyone to write, phone or e-mail Craig Bobzien. His address is Attention: Craig Bobzien, Supervisor’s Office, 1019 N 5th Street, Custer, SD 57730. The phone number is 1-605-673-9200, and the e-mail address is r2_blackhills_webinfo@fs.fed.us.

Meeting held to discuss distribution of funds

On April 3, Weston County Commissioners, Newcastle City Council members and the Upton Town Council members held a meeting to form a consensus on the distribution of grant funds on a county-wide basis as required by newly implemented state legislation.

When a consensus between the entities is formed, the State Land and Investment Board will then grant a total of $1,061,734 to the three groups, but each entity must apply to the board for their portion of the funds.

It was mutually decided that Weston County will apply for a grant totaling $548,608 for improvements to the Mallo Camp facility. The city of Newcastle will apply for $346,126 for water and sewer improvements, and the town of Upton will apply for $166,500 for sewer improvements to be completed before the upcoming DOT Main Street Improvement Project.

The grants are anticipated to be awarded by early summer, and construction will begin shortly thereafter.

DOT holds open house

The Department of Transportation had an open house to inform the public of the proposed realignment of U.S. Highway 85 approximately eight miles north of Newcastle and is adjacent to the historic Flying “V” Guest Ranch. The project will address slope failure that has affected the safety and maintenance of the roadway for many years.

The proposed realignment will be to the east side of Salt Creek, which is just east of the Flying “V.”

An Environmental Assessment is being prepared and should be completed by mid-2007, with construction being anticipated by 2009.

If anyone has questions or concerns, they can contact Tim Stark, Environmental Services Engineer at 1-307-777-4379 or at Publicmeeting.Comments@dot.state.wy.us.

If anyone has any news to be included in the column, please call 746-4818 or e-mail Peggy Hartley at phartley_82701@yahoo.com. Thanks for reading and have a wonderful week.