As a founding member of Forest Service Employees for Environmental Ethics, I have spent the past fifteen years trying to understand and offer support to whistleblowers. I always struggle with two questions: Are whistleblowers just crazies who fly off the handle and stand up in the face of overwhelming odds of self-destruction? And, are they driven crazy by the often-unexpectedly grinding process of blowing the whistle? Perhaps they are not crazy at all, but find no other way to manage the hands they are dealt.

I think that more often than not people wander unwittingly into treachery by blowing the whistle. They do not perceive themselves as white knights but rather find themselves caught up in a social drama larger than they are. Too often they seem to be naive do-gooders convinced of the rightness of their cause, believing wrongly that government is set up to protect them and the “truths” they wish to expose.

Why such naivete? U.S. Forest Service employees and other resource management agency staffers are ill-prepared for the dark side of politics in government service. The Forest Service recruits people who are well educated in natural resource skills but not, typically, in the exploits of Machiavelli. Natural resource colleges teach science basics and some practical skills, but fail to help students understand the treachery that inevitably lurks behind the scenes in government. There is little in the field of “resource education” to help people understand the roles of power in administrative governance, let alone in the broader balancing of powers in government. In many cases natural resource colleges still teach that politics is bad and professionalism is good, instead of rightfully focusing on the good and bad aspects of both.

Government agencies also fail to prepare incoming employees for the realities of administrative governance. I find little in early career training and development to give employees useful guidance about the pitfalls of, say, “telling the whole truth.” When they stumble into conflict and the need for help becomes apparent, there are very few resources available to them.

Today, the agency is more conflict-laden than ever, yet we hear little talk of the realities of power at work in the system. Instead, agency officials go on record blaming uninformed or poorly trained employees, inappropriate planning and faulty accounting systems. College professors are seldom better, and steadfastly teach science and naive problem solving. Almost never do we see any recognition that at its root, the problem is inappropriate managerial focus and leadership—all strongly coupled with political reasoning and action.

While praising the courage and admiring the pluck of those who blow the whistle, I continue to wish that our system would better prepare people for the administrative side of their jobs. I have seen too many tragic cases-—and too few success stories—among whistleblowers. People attempt to save the public interest, only to sacrifice their livelihood. No doubt this plight will continue. We are not close to a day when whistleblowers and other truth-tellers will be welcome in our organizations.

It isn’t hopeless, though. The future of the Forest Service will be shaped by free speech as much as by politics and public values. As a culture, we live and learn at great personal sacrifice. There may yet come a day when whistleblowers are given their rightful heroes’ welcome. Until then, I will continue to grieve for the many innocents who tempt fate and reap the whirlwind, flailing away at the powers that be. I will also admire these whistleblowers and champion their causes in hopes that the rightfulness of their deeds will catch on and become the norm. Only when we begin to hold ourselves and others accountable for continuous improvement in policy and practice, and to shun corruption in all forms, will we be on a path toward better governance.