"I appreciate that the staff have expressed their concerns. I can imagine their feelings and anxiety. I suspect that for the majority of my colleagues, the reason for this action is concern and uncertainty about the future. Having reviewed the text of the letter signed by the staff, it is clear that communication is the very reason for its emergence. Specifically, the cumbersome structure of the VMD, where the flow of information in both directions is entirely dependent on the professionalism and motivation of the individuals involved in the process. Communication between the head of the institution and the staff is provided through the mediation of structural unit managers, including chief foresters. The text of the letter shows that some of the information about the planned changes reached the staff in a fragmented, partially true, or even distorted form. For example, the open letter states: “The profession of forester will no longer be prestigious in the future, as it is planned to turn the forester from a competent, well-rounded specialist into a narrow-field specialist without decision-making rights and competencies.” By making such a statement, an impression has been created that foresters' salaries will decrease in the future. Specifically, according to the job classifier, officials who do not make decisions are in a lower salary group and also lower in terms of status. The authors of the letter's content have deliberately misled the foresters; the statement made in the letter is blatantly false. In addition, I have received reports that the principle of voluntariness was not ensured in the signing of the letter. These circumstances indicate that the existing structure does not create safe and effective communication," says VMD Director General A. Stašāne.