Unlike city cops, a USDA Forest Ranger is likely to be miles from help. A lot of ammo and a delivery system for it seems prudent.
Absolutely right. Help is not a block away like in a town.
I interact with Forest Service Law Enforcement on a very regular basis. New and growing threats that have become major issues in the last few years include aggressive meth amphetamine manufacturers, Mexican and domestic drug cartel marijuana plantations on NFS lands that are guarded by cartel henchmen that can and will kill trespassers with booby traps and full auto guns, as well as groups known as "Sovereign Citizens" who do not heed or recognize federal law enforcement or regulations.
A purchase of this type is absolutely warranted and needed based on the weekly LEO reports I read. Make no mistake, there are dangerous people setting up in the untraveled tracts of National Forest.
Activities like I describe are the main reason I carry in the woods when not working. I'm not allowed on the job, which is insane given how much I am in the woods alone.
One would question the need, seeing as a raid is an offensive rather than defensive tactic; why not call the real cops?
Whatever they need done it can be done by contacting the locals. The police depts. have swat and they are trained. They need to do a raid then get the sheriffs dept involved. I am just plain worn out on this BS. Now we have the DHS running around like they are the Gestapo.
Whoever the politician is in Utah pushing to disarm these agencies is on the right track!
Absolutely wrong on all accounts. There is a need for offensive raids on drug production facilities on federal land. And I mean no offense to the "real cops", but Forest Service LEO's are trained a bit differently as, stated earlier, help is usually a long ways (often an hour or more) away. FS LEO's are also equipped to enforce the law on federal lands. They have ATV's 4x4 pickup trucks, and satellite linked communication equipment, because cell phones don't work everywhere. Neither do radios. Local cops aren't equiped for rough conditions usually, and most little podunk towns don't have SWAT teams. I would know, I live in one. My contacts in the USDA also span coast to coast, and I can say confidently, that there are A LOT of small towns in the National Forest System that have very very little local law enforcement.
those animals with mad cow disease could be dangerous
Not really, but the animals with dope farms and AK47's are.
If the FS or any other Bureau had to seek collaboration with the local LEOs or Natl. Guard for every grow-bust, they'd probably adjust their tactics to be less confrontational and nail the scoundrels when they go into town to get gas (well away from their illegal arsenals of full-auto whatevers that supposedly justify no-knock raids at midnight)
You bust one or two guys at a time on a grow operation, and the rest disappear in a matter of hours and set up somewhere else. Then you start over.
They put themselves in dangerous scenarios fit for military operations (often for the purpose of seizing valuable assets), then cry for military equipment in the name of reducing the danger to their officers --do you see the self-serving argument here?
Wrong. The enforcement officers follow the orders of their superiors/supervisors, and if the federal government decides to take someone down that is doing something illegal on federal land, the officers respond. And if you were one of those officers facing an armed and scared peon that may or may not understand English commands, you would want the best equipment that would help get you home to your family each night too. If you disagree, then you are lying to yourself on that point.
All this misses the point, though, that arguments about rangers overseeing huge swaths of terrain probably doesn't apply to the USDA in all but the rarest of circumstances.
Absolutely wrong again. USDA law enforcement groups out there are expected to respond to threats and incidents in vast areas. There were three officers to cover FS land in 3 states in my area for a long time. Now we have six. We are talking about millions of acres.
If the BLM has a set of storm troopers, why does the park service, and the USDA? Don't their missions mesh well enough that they could utilize a shared rural SWAT force (or whatever it is these groups are allegedly for)? In reality, it's pure feudalism; each bureau gets its goon squad so it doesn't have to cede command to another agency under any scenario.
A shared rural swat force, does not exist in many localities, and creating one would be an utter waste of money in most localities as what FS LEO's are usually needed for is minor infractions. However, they never know what a situation will turn into, so they are trained to be an independent and self-reliant entity.
Also, the Forest Service is in the USDA, the Park Service and BLM are in the Department of the Interior. They have different missions and laws associated with governing those agencies. There is also a thing called appropriated dollars. different departments, and agencies have different budgets and different pots of money. Money changing is illegal as it is governed by federal law. Cooperation however, is not.
I'm not trying to attack anyone, but a few of the loud folks who keep chiming in here do not have their facts straight, and really don't know what they are talking about at all it seems. Check your facts people. And keep in mind, many of the various natural resource agencies that are in service were not created at the same time. They also grew for decades, while budgets have been stagnant or shrunk. That means fewer people on the ground. With little backup, they need the equipment that they need.
Is anyone aware that FS LE is so understaffed that they actually will train employees to be forest Protection Officers? You know what that means? It means you can write tickets to people who you catch breaking the law, but you are not allowed to be armed and am not an LEO. you only represent them. It's a terrible idea that gets you nothing but trouble. THAT'S how understaffed they are for the amount of territory they are responsible for.
I'm not saying it's efficient, I'm not saying it's right, I'm just saying it is what it is, and if you don't like the way federal law enforcement is segregated in different agencies, then you should write your congressional representative, not spout off on THR.
I consider many Federal LEO's as friends, and I for one am glad that my tax dollars are paying for them to have what they need, because ultimately, they are protecting this country's natural resources that everyone needs, and helping to keep us safe. If they want RPG's, I say go for it. They deserve them with what is expected of them.
