What did this self-congratulatory pat-on-the-back for well-paid employees cost the tax payers? They did a good job, but weren't they compensated with salaries and benefits far greater than the average worker, many of  whom do jobs equally as important?  Wouldn't that money have been better spent on trail repair or habitat restoration if the politicians involved really loved the wilderness and wanted people to be able to enjoy it? How many companies in the private sector would throw a big party for those who had, after all, only done their job?