In my undergraduate years at Oregon State University’s School of Forestry, I was notorious for asking questions of the lecturer. Passive listening, absorbing the material, learning just for the sake of the tests—these were not my mission in seeking an education. The rough-and-tumble of debate, challenging conventional wisdom, probing the data, testing hypotheses—that’s an education, or so I thought as a callow youth.

Imagine how shocked I was when many classroom colleagues turned on me. They pressured me to stop asking so many questions. I was expanding the scope of material for which they would be responsible in the upcoming test. I was accused of not being a team player, the worst sobriquet imaginable in our sports-inspired culture.

But I had it easy. When Mary Dalton put her loyalty to the U.S. Forest Service’s mission above getting along with her colleagues, she was suspended, demoted and transferred. When Bob Libershal put his loyalty to the land first, he was fined and disciplined for insubordination. When Jerry Schumacher spoke out for protecting the land, the Forest Service hired a private eye to investigate his “misconduct.”

This issue of Forest Magazine takes a look at Forest Service employees who put their agency’s conservation mission above loyalty to their peers or employer.

Dalton, Libershal and Schumacher exemplify the best in public service. They each have put the public interest in telling the truth, obeying the law and conserving the land above their personal welfare. And although each would do the same again if the need arises, none feels particularly good about it.

Forest Service employees who blow the whistle unavoidably impugn the credibility of their agency and, in many cases, their own colleagues. The wrongdoing these whistleblowers spotlight is not amorphous or abstract; it consists of particular misdeeds conducted by fellow workers—even friends. And though it can be argued that the Forest Service is a better agency as a result of responsible whistleblowing, the stain on personal relationships is indelible.

Forest Service whistleblowers assisted by Forest Service Employees for Environmental Ethics enjoy a remarkable track record. In more than 90 percent of our cases, the whistleblower prevails on the merits. And in almost all, we have succeeded in preventing or reversing overt retaliatory action.

But integrity has its price. In the insular Forest Service workplace and small rural towns where many agency employees labor, dissent is treason. Speaking out violates the norms of tribal loyalty and is often punished with ostracism, ridicule and intimidation. The sympathetic ear we offer to Forest Service employees can be as important as our legal and political expertise.

The Forest Service’s mission is among the most noble in government—protecting almost 200 million acres of the country’s finest landscapes. The employees profiled in this issue represent the best the agency has to offer. They put the mission first. I’m proud to call them friends.