Providing A Safe, Welcoming, And Inclusive Experience for All Visitors

The Forest Service recognizes and shares in the grief and hurt over the recent murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery. The resulting outrage has led to overdue conversations about race, justice, and safety.

National Forest lands belong to everyone. The Forest Service has zero tolerance for racism, harassment, or intimidation in any form. Public lands should be a place of peace and refuge and our highest priority is providing a safe, welcoming, and inclusive experience for all visitors.

The Forest Service aspires to be a learning organization. We acknowledge that we have more work to do. We are focused on listening and meeting the needs of communities and underserved populations.

The Forest Service has been working closely with partners and community organizations to reach broader audiences, and underserved communities. This work takes many forms - from expanding conservation education, providing more culturally relevant programming, and developing more inclusive communication. This work will require more listening, more responsiveness and more action.

In the days, weeks, and months ahead, we want to hear from you on what your National Forests can do to better serve our communities, how we can better show up, and how we can ensure that public lands are safe, welcoming, and inclusive for all – now and for future generations.

We welcome your respectful dialogue, comments, ideas and experiences.

Glenn Casamassa
Pacific Northwest Regional Forester