Workers slam culture at Oregon Forestry Department

The state has received about a dozen complaints against Oregon Department of Forestry leaders this year, with some employees alleging a hostile work culture toward women and others saying they fear retaliation if they speak out.

The complaints include one from Brenda McComb, vice chair of the Oregon Board of Forestry, who told state officials that she had seen little evidence that the Forestry Department had advanced “diversity representation” among its workforce or advisory committees.

She said the state forester seemed to have made no progress implementing a “draft diversity plan.”

“If progress is being made, it is not apparent to me, and if it is not apparent to me then it is not apparent to other members of the public,” McComb wrote in her complaint. McComb is the retired vice provost for academic affairs at Oregon State University.

“I have two more years to serve on my term on this Board, and frankly I am exhausted from being stone-walled on this issue by the agency and their unwillingness to consider this a priority,” she wrote in an Aug. 23 email to Torrey Sims, the state’s diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging manager. “I am hoping that you or the Governor’s office will begin to hold this agency accountable in this regard.”

Sims responded, thanking McCombs for bringing the concern to his attention and telling her that two of his colleagues would “take over from here.”

Another employee questioned the Forestry Department’s pattern of directly hiring people without following the typical vetting process, saying “this seems shady and leads to an old and current image by employees at ODF that it is the ‘Good Old Boys Club’ or that it is ‘Who you know not what you know.’”

The state released the complaints in response to an Oregonian/OregonLive public records request. The agency redacted some of the names of the employees who filed the complaints.

Spokesperson Joy Krawczyk did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment. A spokesperson for Gov. Tina Kotek also did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Department of Forestry is charged with protecting about 16 million acres of public and private forestland.

The agency is overseen by State Forester Cal Mukumoto, who answers to the Oregon Board of Forestry, a seven-member citizen board appointed by the governor. Appointed in 2021, Mukumoto manages an agency of nearly 1,400 employees and a biennial budget of about $577 million. His salary is $237,288.

Mukumoto’s second-in-command, Mike Shaw, has been on paid administrative leave since Aug. 6, according to the agency. The reason for his leave is unclear; Krawczyk did not immediately respond to an email about the reason for Shaw’s leave. His annual salary is $192,288.

This story will be updated.

— Noelle Crombie is an enterprise reporter with a focus on criminal justice. Reach her at 503-276-7184; ncrombie@oregonian.

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