It is with a heavy heart I
send this email. I was informed last night that D. Douglas Dent my friend,
mentor, and colleague passed away last night of a massive stroke, Doug had a
minor stroke on Tuesday and was hospitalized, the bleeding could not be
controlled causing the massive stroke last night.
Doug
was employed in Region 5 during 1987 by Rusty Witwer to help us develop our
chainsaw program. Doug continued to be committed to us till this day, Doug was
scheduled for a certification next month on the San Bernardino. Our current
chainsaw program, procedures and policy were all developed with Doug's help.
Doug often told me how much it meant to him have the opportunity to pass on his
knowledge to the Forest Service employees. Doug did not need to provide
the training he gave us for money, he did it because he felt obligated to. He
felt he was giving back the talent god gave him. Doug was committed to our
safety. I saw it time and time again as he would stand under a tree with our
employees holding onto their belt to make sure they would not get away from him
by escaping the wrong direction. I witnessed many times when Doug would wrestle
someone to a safety zone, my fondest memory of this was a course on the San
Bernardino when he pinned a man twice his weight and size behind a tree ( the
safety zone) until it was safe to leave that refuge. (I have a video of this).
I was blessed with the opportunity to work with Doug all over the region Hawaii,
and other Regions since 1994. Doug passing is a huge loss to the saw programs
all over the nation not just within the forest service. Doug's contributions
should be remembered, respected and appreciated by ALL. He will be greatly
missed.
Goodbye my Friend, Mentor and colleague you will be missed by me greatly.
James R. Tomaselli
Superintendent
Del Rosa Hotshots
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