Forest Fire Lookout

Although the back-to-the-land movement means getting away
from people and moving in with trees and grass, many
potential nature lovers are terrorized by thoughts of the
loneliness and isolation which may be experienced. It’s a
real love-hate relationship. We love nature, but we feel
secure in the crowds of the big cities.

Communes are an answer. But if members of a commune are
afraid to be alone, I feel this may break up the very
commune they want to form.

May I suggest, as one solution to facing yourself alone,
the job of forest fire lookout? True, you will be trapped
on a mountain with primitive facilities, but you will also
know that your time there is limited, and that you are in
constant radio communication with other lookouts. You will
also be living in the woods during the most pleasant part
of the year and you will make a substantial sum of money
because you can’t spend any while you’re there!

Here’s how you make it happen: Write the U.S. Forest
Service, Washington, D.C. and request a list of all forests
which need lookouts. The west coast has the largest need
and the office for all west coast forests is in Portland,
Oregon. I don’t know the exact address but a letter should
get to the proper place if you write U.S. Forest Service,
Portland, Oregon.

After you get your list of forests, write to each one and
request the name of each ranger station and the fire
control officer in charge.

Now, fill out the miserable Civil Service Form No. 57 which
you can get at your local post office (it’s 4 pages!?) and
write a personal letter (NOT a carbon copy) to the officer
at every station that interests you.