“The regional forester,” Boyd said tightening the straps of his pack. “This is bullshit.”
Nodding, Garret turned around and watched the trucks pull over to get loaded up. “Not going to argue that, but I got a call from D.C. to get my ass out here,” he said then glanced over at Boyd. “Thanks for the ride, my car wouldn’t have made it.”
“Well, now you have to see what I do,” Boyd said closing the back door of the SUV. “I got a call from the regional office and was told to make sure no violations were at the site.”
“Think you’ll find some?”
Boyd nodded, “I have pictures of some already that someone took yesterday, so I have to make sure there are no more,” he said and started walking off. “I was told, I’d better find more or they would send in another agent and if they found some, I’d be looking for another job.”
“Yeah, about what I was told,” Garret said following.
Mad enough to eat nails and shit thumbtacks, Joshua waved at Ben to swap out. When Ben had the trailer loaded, he climbed out and saw the monumental pissed-off face on Joshua. “What are they here for?”
“To fuck with us,” Joshua snapped jumping up on the track. “One is EPA, the other is Department of Labor because William was working here yesterday.”
“In Idaho, a nine-year-old can go to work in a family business,” Ben said as Joshua almost ripped the door off the loader.
“Not in a federal fucking forest!” Joshua shouted climbing in and slamming the door.
“We need off this job bad,” Ben said walking to the track steer.
In the loader, Joshua continued loading trucks as the crew kept hauling logs in. It was after five when one of the truck drivers came over and told Joshua that they were the last for the day, but the first ones would be back at six tomorrow morning.
After loading the last two trucks, he called over the radio. “Last trucks are out. Let’s do the daily maintenance and head home.”
“Boss, we have another half hour of light, you do the loader and head home. We’ll do the rest,” Ben called back.
Lifting up the microphone, Joshua stopped when he saw Boyd and Garret waving at him near the creek. Jumping down, Joshua felt his blood pressure rising.
“Sorry Joshua, but I found several encroachments in the green zone on both creeks and at the crossings,” Boyd said as Joshua walked up.
“Bullshit,” Joshua snapped.
Boyd pointed and Joshua could see it was where a skidder had turned around. “That broke the fifty feet from the stream edge,” Boyd said holding up a rolling tape measure.
Grabbing the tape measure, Joshua shoved the spike in the ground and rolled it out to the stream. He stopped and looked down at the reading. “Forty-eight feet from the stream, are you fucking kidding me? Those tires on the skidder are three feet wide.”
“It’s inside the fifty feet green zone,” Boyd said with a sigh. “And I’m sorry to say, it’s not the only one. I’ve marked eight more.”
Tempted to throw the tape measure in the ice-covered stream, Joshua stopped and rolled it up. “Find any other bullshit?”
“Yes,” Boyd said walking away. Carrying the tape measure Joshua followed, trying to calm his breathing. Boyd stopped where they had logs in the stream so the equipment could cross. “These logs are too long and equipment has rolled over the banks.”
Joshua looked down at the corner of one of the logs and saw where about a foot of the bank had a track mark from the crawler. Looking at it, Joshua knew that had come from the crawler putting the log bridge in. “That doesn’t even touch the water,” he said. “Hell, when we pull the logs out, there will be more dirt disturbed.”
“Yes, and you’re over the fourteen feet log length allowed to be placed for a crossing,” Boyd said with a sigh, knowing this was bullshit.
Holding out the tape roll, Joshua shook his head, “How long?”
“None of the ten are less than fourteen feet, eight inches, and two are just over fifteen feet,” Boyd said. “You can check me if you wish.”
“Why, so you can go find more bullshit?” Joshua said holding out the tape measure.
Taking the tape measure, “I also found three unmarked trees cut,” he said.
“Those were danger trees, and in the contract it clearly states, I can’t leave danger trees even if I have to enter the green zone,” Joshua said with a sigh. “So, anything else?”
“Um, yes,” Boyd said. “New federal guidelines state that you should have two porta potties on site for nine employees and we found several stumps over regulated height. I’m sure you will fix the stumps during clean up though.”
“Porta potties!” Joshua yelled throwing up his hands. “Are you fucking pulling my dick?”
“No, federal guidelines passed last year say any work in a federal forest must have one porta potty for every five workers. That is to ensure the proper disposal of human waste,” Boyd said.
Looking at Boyd with a flat expression, “We hold it till we get home,” Joshua said.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Anderson,” Boyd said then walked away.
“So, are you shutting me down?”
“No, but I have to turn in my report and they will decide,” Boyd said as Garret turned and followed him.
Walking over to a stump as Boyd and Garret drove off, Joshua sat down and put his face in his hands. It was almost seven when the crew pulled all the equipment to the landing and Ben looked up and saw Joshua’s truck. “Hey Boss, you still here?” he called over the radio and looked around, even though it was dark.
“Yeah,” Joshua replied with a moan.
Everyone stopped and saw the shadowy shape of Joshua walking out of the trees from the stream with his shoulders slumped. “That doesn’t look good,” Gene said as the crew gathered around waiting on Joshua.
Reaching the group, Joshua told them what the two agents had said. “Porta-potties!” Ben screamed as others threw up their hands in disgust.
Waiting till the bitching died down, Joshua looked around at the crew. “They are after us for some reason.”
“You took this job to help them out!” Gene screamed in a towering rage. “We have always followed their stupid rules, and if we ever did anything you said wasn’t in the contract, you fixed it!”
“I know guys,” Joshua said. “Let’s go home, and I’m calling my lawyer.”
“You think Ralph can call them off?” Frank asked.
Shrugging his shoulders as he turned and walked away, “Have no idea,” Joshua said heading for the truck.
Chapter Three
“Wake up Joshua,” he heard and cracked his eyes open to see Sonya looking down at him. “It’s almost three-thirty.”
Jerking awake, Joshua sat up looking at the clock. “It’s been years since I slept through the alarm.”
“I turned it off,” Sonya said holding out a cup of coffee. “You didn’t fall asleep till after midnight.”
“No excuse for not working,” Joshua said taking the cup as he threw his legs out of bed. “Thank you.”
“Babe, don’t let it get to you. Just do what you’ve always done and complete the job,” she said reaching out and smoothing his long hair down. “You can’t fight them, so let Ralph take care of it.”
Running a hand down his beard, Joshua stood up. “Sonya, I don’t have the money to pay Ralph to fight them for very long, and they can take everything for bullshit I’ve never heard of. I looked through the contract and couldn’t find any reference to porta-potties.”
As he sat down his coffee mug Sonya handed him his pants. “You said yourself that the job will be done next week, just complete it and don’t worry about what you can’t control. Fighting the feds is like trying to stop the waves on the ocean with your hands.”
Grabbing his 1911, Joshua clipped it to his belt and Sonya handed him his shirt. “They can’t take the house because it’s in your name but the business, they can ransack.”
“Babe, don’t worry about what
you can’t control,” she said as he buttoned up his shirt. “I have breakfast ready and packed for you so you don’t have to stop.”
Joshua sighed and reached out, wrapping his arms around her. “Thank you,” he said hugging her tight.
“We’ll get through this, babe. It’s not in their best interest to shut you down. You make money for the economy.”
“Not to hear them talk I don’t,” he said pulling his boots on.
“This is America, Joshua, not some dictatorship,” Sonya said as he tied his boots. “They can’t just take our stuff and shut you down.”
“Could’ve fooled me,” he said standing up. “I think I worried William last night. Will you make sure he’s okay before dropping him off for school?”
“We talked last night but, yes, you know I will,” she smiled. For a stepmom, William had really bonded with Sonya and she loved him. Sonya loved kids but didn’t want to have any, so marrying Joshua was the perfect choice for her. Since high school, she had been fond of Joshua, but he and Mary had been inseparable.
Wrapping his arms around her, Joshua kissed her. “Thank you for breakfast and letting me sleep late.”
“I wanted to let you have more than one extra hour of sleep, but I knew you would throw a fit,” she said after he kissed her.
Joshua just smiled and headed out of the bedroom, stopping in the hallway to look in William’s room to see him sprawled out on his bed. Sighing, Joshua headed to the kitchen to see everything packed and on the table just waiting for him. Scooping it up in his arms, he headed outside.
After hitting the key fob to start the truck and unlock the doors, Joshua yanked the back door open and tossed in his food and gear. Climbing in, he glanced at his watch knowing he would normally almost be at the worksite by now.
Backing out in a hurry, Joshua sped down the road and tried to make up time that he felt he didn’t have. Reaching back, he grabbed the bag with breakfast and pulled out a stacked biscuit and started eating as he drove just over the speed limit.
It seemed to take forever to reach the turn off that would take him up to the valley and he kept glancing at the clock on the radio. Driving up the logging road, Joshua never slowed when he hit the snow line. With all the trucks constantly running up and down the mountain, the road was fairly clear of snow.
Reaching the valley Joshua slammed on the brakes, skidding to a halt. Lights were spread out along the valley floor and he could see lights up on the slopes. Taking his foot off the brake, he saw the lights of one of the skidders heading to the landing. Glancing at the clock, he saw it was almost five. “When the fuck did they get here?”
Pulling up beside the other work trucks, he shut his off and jumped out, yanking the back door open and grabbing his radio to turn it on. He could hear chatter from his crew. Waiting for a break, Joshua keyed his mic. “Ben, I’m here. Meet me at the landing.”
“Already here, Boss,” Ben called back and Joshua saw a skidder dropping a pile of logs off at the landing.
Grabbing his gear, Joshua trotted over to the landing and saw Ben climbing out of the skidder. “When did you get here?” Joshua asked, stopping and putting on his jacket.
“Two,” Ben said with a grin.
“Ben, we can’t work at night. That’s in the contract.”
“Phfft,” Ben scoffed. “Well ‘we’ weren’t working at night. A few of us wanted to tie up some loose ends we’d left yesterday. We all have witnesses that’ll say we didn’t leave until our regular work time.”
“You could’ve called me,” Joshua said putting his hardhat on.
“Nope,” Ben grinned. “I texted Sonya at ten last night, and she said you were still talking with Ralph. I told her to let you sleep late and we would start the site up. What time did you finally go to sleep?”
“After midnight,” Joshua said hearing a chainsaw. “You’re cutting at night?”
“The last of the marked trees,” Ben said turning around to look at the lights moving around in the valley. “I always wanted to log at night. It’s not as much fun as the day though.”
Shaking his head, Joshua felt bad because he hadn’t got out here with them. “Bring me up to where we’re at now.”
“The last of the marked trees will be down in an hour. Then, I’ll have both track steers start the clean-up while everyone else runs chokers, so we can skid everything to the landing. I don’t think we’ll get all of them til Friday,” Ben said glancing over at Joshua. “Josh, Andy called me last night and said the Forestry Service started measuring every load at ten yesterday.”
“They can’t do that,” Joshua said pulling on his gloves. “It has to be random.”
“Everybody knows that, Josh. That’s why Andy called me,” Ben said and Joshua looked up.
“Why the fuck didn’t he call me?”
“He tried but your line was busy, so he called me.”
Remembering all the people he’d talked to last night, Joshua could remember the phone beeping at him a few times, but he hadn’t answered it. “What’s Andy think?”
“This is bullshit.”
“Hell, everyone I talked to said the same thing,” Joshua said watching the dozer pull up, dropping a pile of logs. “What do you want me to do?”
Ben handed over some chem lights and a head lantern. “What you always do,” Ben said grinning. “The first trucks will be here at six. Hang the chem lights on your legs, so they can be seen from the back.”
Watching Ben walk over to the skidder, Joshua put the light on his hardhat then broke the chem lights, shaking them up and tying them to his legs. When he was done, Ben’s skidder was bouncing down the valley. Starting up the loader, Joshua walked down the valley to check on the crew.
He saw one of the track steers shoving all the cut limbs into piles. Shaking his head as Gene moved a spotlight, aiming it at a marked tree, Joshua stepped back as Gene looked around before attacking the tree with his chainsaw.
Glancing at his watch, Joshua saw the log trucks would be arriving soon and headed back to the landing. When he reached the loader he saw headlights entering the valley. “We can do this,” he grinned and climbed up in the loader.
Before the sun rose, all the marked trees were down and both track steers were running around with the crawler, piling the limbs and treetops and cleaning up the site. When the sun was over the mountains, Joshua laughed to see Donnie walking around with a yardstick and chainsaw, cutting stumps.
It was just before noon when Joshua turned to see three SUVs pull into the valley. All of them had several antennas, but the first one had a light bar on the roof and when it turned toward the landing, Joshua saw it was a state trooper. “No wonder criminals are ruling the nation. All the law enforcement is harassing the law abiders,” Joshua snapped grabbing his radio. “Ben, company. Come run the loader while I see what the fuck they want.”
“On my way,” Ben called back and Joshua climbed out of the loader. When he stood on the track of the loader, the state trooper SUV stopped and the trooper got out, making Joshua groan. It was Wayne Morgan. Joshua’s father had fired Wayne’s dad for continuing to show up on site drunk, and almost killing one of the other workers. Since then, Wayne had hated Joshua’s family because Wayne felt it was Joshua’s dad’s responsibility to help his dad.
“I really wonder what I did to piss God off,” Joshua mumbled jumping down. When he looked back over, Wayne was staring at him with an evil sneer as the driver’s door on the other SUV opened and a man stepped out, with another getting out of the passenger side. “You must have a hardhat to be on this site,” Joshua said walking past Wayne to the two men who screamed ‘fed’. Both were wearing suits and nice dress shoes.
“We’re here to pull you off the site,” Wayne shouted dropping his hand to his gun.
Not looking at Wayne, Joshua kept his eyes on the two men as they walked up to him. “So you’re shutting me down?”
“No, but you must leave the site until we evaluate the charges against you,”
one of the men said pulling out a badge. “Agent Dale Gray with the FBI.”
“If you pull me off site, the contract is void and all fines I have to pay for not completing the contract can’t be enforced,” Joshua said as Dale was putting his badge back in his coat.
“Huh?” Dale said as the other man pulled his badge out.
“Homeland Agent Rodney Ward,” he said as Joshua turned to look at the ID and badge.
“What the fuck is Homeland doing here? We aren’t terrorists.”
“These forests are considered national assets and you’ve been charged with stealing them,” Rodney said putting his badge away.
Turning back to Dale, “If you force me from the site, the contract is void and I’m not liable for penalties,” Joshua said and glanced over at Wayne who still had his hand on his pistol. “Wayne, why are you threatening me? I have made no threatening moves against you.”
“I’m a cop, asshole, and I decide what’s hostile, so shut your mouth,” Wayne sneered.
“Officer Morgan, you’re here to observe, so observe,” Dale said looking at him, then turned back to Joshua. “What do you mean, you’re not liable per contract?”
“Just what I said,” Joshua said glancing back at Wayne, who still had his hand on his pistol. “And again I must tell you, any person on a logging site in a federal forest must have a hardhat and logging boots on.”
Agent Ward snickered. “That doesn’t apply to us. We’re the ones who enforce the rules, not you.”
“We aren’t shutting you down, Mr. Anderson. We are simply removing you from the site until this matter is handled in court,” Agent Gray said cutting his eyes from Wayne to Homeland Agent Ward. Idaho law states that federal law enforcement had to notify state authorities and the FBI had notified the sheriff, but he had refused to provide a deputy. So the FBI had notified the state police, and unknown to them, Officer Morgan had demanded to be on this operation.
“Fine, but I’m not liable,” Joshua said with a relieved sigh.
Agent Morgan saw the look of relief and was confused. “You seem relieved that we are barring you from the site.”
Bonner Incident Page 6