DownTheAvenue wrote:
bka0721 wrote:
Campgrounds that are normally open will be gated and closed. Services will be reduced or eliminated and some parks and monuments might be closed for the summer season.
Pure speculation on your part without the first shred of anything to support your claim.
What you do not realize is that much of the labor pool of recreational activities at National Parks are done by seasonal employees, college interns, and volunteers. The hiring ban was on permanent, full time employees which are paid from different line item on the budget.
It is not yet clear which employees the freeze applies to. The Ex. Order was broad and agencies are working out the details and to whom it applies. Agencies are working on their rationale for justifying seasonal hires and will be feeding that information up the channels. That is why the freeze is for a 90 day period to stop and take a look at who is critical to be hired. Many agencies are proceeding with evaluating applications and will have everything ready so that they can move quickly if they get approval to hire the seasonals. I know this to be true because I just talked to one of the personnel officers. As I said before, THIS IS NOT NEW. Carter, Reagan, Bush, all implemented similar freezes upon getting into office. The agencies know how to work through this. They know the drill, they've done it before and it will be worked out.
I agree that it is pure speculation that campgrounds and rec facilities will be shuttered.
But, there is a lot of incorrect information being batted around here:
And at least in the USFS, seasonals and full-time employees are paid out of the EXACT SAME budget line items (many are funded out of more than just one line item). I know this because I managed the budget of a large national forest with high recreation use for many years.
And finally, at many national parks, many of the recreational facilities (campgrounds, stores, outfitter/guides, etc) are managed by concessioners who are not federal employees. But the Visitor Centers, back country rangers, Law Enforcement, etc. is almost always done by federal employees both seasonal and full time.
