When Maggie Pittman took the job as district ranger for the Missoula district of the Lolo National Forest in October 2004, she caught some residents off-guard. In a newspaper story about her appointment, she announced that her door was open, and she included her phone number should they want to talk.
“I think it surprised some people,” Pittman says. “But I really want to hear from them.”
The Missoula Ranger District surrounds the city of Missoula, Montana—a town of about 60,000 people, many of whom hunt, mountain bike, ski and hike in the nearby forests. Missoulians trade competitive salaries for views, community and the frequent opportunity to get into the hills that ring the town, most of which are part of the Lolo.
“A good portion of the Lolo is in an urban setting, and all the communities we serve are very engaged in the work we do,” she says. And that’s the way she likes it.
Pittman knew early on that she wanted to work with people and today she actively makes people a part of her public landÐmanagement philosophy. “To me, the value of relationships in natural resource management is paramount. It all really relates back to people,” she says.
Pittman turns the image of an unapproachable government bureaucrat on its head. She is warm, with bright eyes and a wide, free smile, and refers to the many demands on public land as “people just trying to enjoy the same piece of country,” with an easygoing shrug of her shoulders. When we met recently for tea in downtown Missoula, we talked about knitting, her two teenage sons and her path to becoming the district ranger. “I never intended to apply for the job,” she says. She even agreed to serve as acting district ranger with the understanding that she would not apply for the permanent post.
“Pretty near every job I’ve had in the [U.S.] Forest Service has been my favorite job and I was happy where I was,” she says. “A lot of the people who work for the Missoula Ranger District have been there for their entire careers. I realized what a great place it is to work and I asked if I could apply for the job.”
Mike Wood, a contract liaison with the Forest Service working to bridge the gaps between special interest groups and the agency, says Pittman is a different kind of land manager. Wood, who used to litigate for conservation groups against the Forest Service, says Pittman strikes a balance between being relaxed in the office environment and being the clear leader who can and will “assert herself and lay down the law if she has to.” Her staff feels comfortable with her, he says, because she empowers them to do their jobs. She brings laughter and perspective to sometimes controversial and difficult situations, like one Wood witnessed last summer in the Rattlesnake National Recreation Area.
It was Wood’s first experience with Pittman. She was still acting district ranger when he went on a field trip as an observer with Forest Service employees, interested citizens and representatives of conservation groups to an area of timber proposed for a categorical exclusion. It was a controversial project that raised the ire of many in Missoula.
“I’ll never forget looking over and seeing Maggie sitting on a log with a local environmental activist who is known to be tough,” he says. “They looked like a couple of friends sitting on a log in the woods. They talked for forty-five minutes. I said to myself then, ‘she needs to be district ranger.’ That sold me on who Maggie is. She’s humble and confident.”
This attitude has served her well and landed her on a forest with other land managers who also believe in collaboration and cooperation. Larry Campbell, a volunteer with the conservation group Friends of the Bitterroot, says the Lolo is known in conservation circles as a cooperative forest. “It almost seems like there is an institutional history of collaboration on that forest that influences decisions,” he says. “The personality of the forest is that it is more open and easier to work with than some other forests.”
Debbie Austin, Lolo’s forest supervisor, says the forest has earned this reputation for a reason. She encouraged Pittman to apply for the district ranger position. “Our philosophy is that we as an agency hire natural resource scientists and specialists. But equally important for rangers on the forest is their ability for public leadership, being able to work with people in a collaborative way and come up with new innovative ways to meet the mission of the Forest Service,” she says. “Maggie was a good fit for the Missoula district ranger because of the culture and community of the district and because of her ability to listen and work with different views and opinions.”
Pittman grew up in Portland, Oregon, as one of eight children in what she calls an outdoor family. In 1977, she landed a seasonal job on the Gifford Pinchot National Forest in Washington, and stayed there through the eruption of Mount St. Helens. Then, she moved to Montana where she worked at three forests, the Northern Regional Office and the Missoula Technology and Development Center as a forester and a public affairs officer. “I’m a lifer,” she says.
Pittman has gained a reputation as someone who stands up for and encourages her employees. Agency lore is full of stories of Pittman making recommendation calls on weekends and sending well-timed e-mails to other managers looking for the right fit for a job opening. She once told an employee who had been hired in a position for which she was overqualified, “If you are worth your salt, you’ll be out of this job in a year. The rest of the Forest Service needs you.”
Pittman shies away from talk of how she has helped some of her employees move ahead in their careers, but she takes the praise as a real compliment. “I’m happy to be a catalyst for other folks to realize some of their potential,” she says. “Whenever we collectively can give someone a leg up it’s a gift to them and the agency.”
But she’s not just focused on personnel—weed control and fuel reduction top Pittman’s priority list as district ranger. She has the confidence of her employees and the communities around Missoula to help her care for the land. “It’s really exciting to me that the community is so interested in the work we do. There is a sense of connection here that grounds people to the land and the community they live and work in. It’s a great thing to go to work every day.”