Ashcraft vs. the U.S. Forest Service, USDA
Docket #: DC-1221-25-2999-W-1
-Violations of Federal Resource Protection Laws affecting archeological sites and Native American Burial Grounds. -Violations of Whistleblower Protection laws including extreme harassment and work-place intimidation to silence witnesses .
Hello Friends, I need help with mounting legal costs and loan payments that are bankrupting my families' finances. My Whistleblower fight against the US government is now on the docket before the United States Merit Systems Protection Board.
I've already spent nearly $91,000 in this fight and need your help to finish it, win, and reclaim the justice I've lost.
My name is Scott Ashcraft, a dedicated 32-year career archaeologist for the US Forest Service.
I blew the whistle on Agency corruption and paid for it with my job.
I was forced to resign and take an early retirement that wasn’t planned on causing significant financial distress for me and my family.
What: I’ve been working fiercely to document, protect and preserve newly discovered ancient, ancestral Native American artifacts and archaeological sites across the Southern Appalachians.
Why I blew the whistle: The Forest Service’s continued blatant violation of the Federal laws created to protect and preserve archeological sites and their continued destruction of irreplaceable cultural resources under their management.
Who’s involved: The National Forest’s in North Carolina (NFsNC) management officials and staff who collaborated to ignore laws, suppress evidence, implicate employees, and torment targeted staff with harassment, intimidation and retaliation.
How things unfolded: When I and some colleagues began alerting management officials to the new archaeological findings, and their significance to ancestral Tribes like the Cherokee, Catawba, and Muscogee-Creek, NFsNC management abandoned their duty and directives to serve and protect. Instead they conspired in their denial and used bureaucratic loopholes to escape taking responsibility. Scientific evidence was hidden, employees were muzzled and bullied, and large land development projects ensued despite unlawful damage and destruction to our Nation’s heritage and significant historic places.
For 32 years, I loved my job and faithfully embraced my role as an archaeologist and FS employee, but I was ultimately forced to make a choice between being silenced or honoring my public duty; The very duty the FS hired me for. This fight hasn’t ever been for me, or about me and it certainly hasn’t benefitted me. But I couldn’t stay silent. Federal employees are told it’s their duty to report corruption and that they are protected in doing so. I quickly found out this just wasn’t true. I endured a tortuous 3 year campaign of harassment and intimidation by NFsNC leadership, who were supported by complicit staff who cooperated with management and were then improperly rewarded.
My forced early retirement income doesn’t make ends meet and now I’m in a challenging financial position supporting an expensive and complex legal fight against the US government. That legal fight has been ruthless, but the mental and emotional costs blindsided us and have taken a huge toll on our whole family, loved ones and friends alike. Still, we must fight on and have not lost our resolve. We deeply believe the US Government needs to see that ethical employees and the public who supports them won’t be intimidated or silenced.
We are fighting this at the highest Federal legal level available to us and Federal court may be next. Legal costs are crushing, already exceeding $75,000 with big legal bills on the horizon. We’ve spent most of our savings, have been borrowing from friends and family who also believe in this cause, and I’ve been selling our personal belongings just to try and keep up with the legal and associated fees. We can’t stop now. My case has made it past the Office of Special Counsel, to the United States Merit Systems Protection Board, but financial resources to keep paying the legal costs are running out.
Can you help me with a contribution and support me and my wife, Mimi as we continue this fight? No amount of help is too small and we would humbly appreciate any financial gift that you might be able to make. I will be using social media, my website, helpscottashcraft.com as well as press releases to national news organizations to get more information out soon, and we will provide updates on the case and our fundraising efforts here and on my website.
With heartfelt Thanks.
Sincerely,
Scott Ashcraft
Find out more about why I blew the whistle here:
Organizer
