National Park Vacations might not Happen in 2017

[bka0721]

Some have taken note that there is a Government Hiring freeze and not be aware in how it might directly affect you in your travel and recreation plans for the coming summer. Currently there is a freeze until the 22nd of April, but the days and weeks up until that date is the period summer seasonals are hired by your National Parks, Forest Service, BLM and Corps of Engineer vacation locations. This will be where you want to camp, fish, backpack or water ski.

Sure, you can say April is soon enough but the process of hiring, background investigations, fingerprinting and training take up to 60 days after the job is tendered to the person for hire. All postings for summer positions are now being delayed. This will result in no staff to manage Volunteer In the Park volunteers that man campgrounds and visitor centers, provide staffing for wildlife brigades. Then you have the Rangers that patrol the backcountry, provide rescues for fallen climbers or boats overturned due to weather events, to the rangers that provide the nightly amphitheater programs. Then you have the rangers that fulfil the roles at the entrance stations and permit offices, as well as performing the inspections for invasive species inspections to protect our waterways.

So, be prepared for a challenging summer season as you make your reservations for your well-earned vacations. If you are planning for an early summer vacation, this will be the most probable disruption, if things move smoothly and the Government Job Freeze is lifted quickly. The downside to this? 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.

b

[jimh406]

USMCDOC wrote:
Instead of Fed parks.. take the time to visit State parks instead!

I wish there was a National Park equivalent in a State Park. Do you have a few in mind?

[USMCDOC]

Instead of Fed parks.. take the time to visit State parks instead!

[RICKIM]

Thanks for taking the time and bringing this to our attention Brian!
We have plans to be out through South Dakota, Yellowstone, Tetons, etc. in July.
We'll take your experiences and knowledge to heart and "have a plan B"

Thanks,
Rick

[ppine]

there have been plenty of hiring freezes before.
It just makes travelling in the parks more difficult.

[bka0721]

The standard for most posters is not to read the entire thread, but here I would encourage one to do so this time.

I appreciate the comments Dewey02 has shared in this discussion, of being prepared for vacation planning different than previous summers. That is all this discussion is about.

Sadly, contrary to what DownTheAlley posted, all employees includes seasonals and are impacted by this temporary job freeze, everyone. From the very beginning the National Parks have had concessioners that operate the hotels, restaurants, horseback rides and more. Those will be operating as normal and your reservations should not be impacted.

But, as I have stated before the duties of entrance stations, forest fire fighters, Visitor Centers, Search and Rescue and many of the duties filled by hiring normally occurring during this time is being interrupted and delayed. Talking to a Regional OPM hiring official Jan 29th, I was told the process of backgrounds and verification is still occurring. What is not happening is any assignments being offered (EOD- Entry Date) to applicants. Many parks begin Onboarding early in April (Yosemite) through the end of May (Glacier). Currently the freeze is through April 22nd with possibility this will be resolved sooner. Typical OPM processing for persons being hired, is 6 weeks which many Government services will be impacted into June.

The question becomes, "How will this impact me?"

Answer is variable, critical positions are to be exempt, but at this point it is not determined with Law Enforcement, Search Rescue and Climbing Rangers in how this is impacted. But what is being impacted currently are, VUA-Entrance Station Personnel, Interpretation, Permit Stations for Boating & Backcountry, as well as important behind the scene work in Restoration of Historical Assets and Research, etc. So if any part of your vacation is involving these roles you should expect some disruptions and or delays during the early part of the summer season.

As for closures, it is only speculation at this point, but history in previous occurrences show that some areas will be unavailable for lack of staffing, such as programing and visitor centers, as well as reduced hours of operation.

Obviously many will have no issues with this bump in planning a vacation, but those that like to have information to plan for alternatives it is good to know.

b

[Reddog1]

Politics can really ruin a very informative Thread.

While I prefer not to edit posts, I did on this thread. The alternative would be to delete them. Some were just too political and were deleted.

I encourage everyone to avoid the politics.

Wayne
Moderator

[Travels_with_Yo]

I have reservations for the beginning of June at Glacier NP. If there is going to be closures, they shouldn't have taken my money 🙂

[67avion]

I really appreciate Brian's post and the subsequent discussion. This is the sort of valuable information (and corrections) that make this forum so valuable. I'd like to hear more, but please leave the critique of administrations out of the mix.

[dewey02]

Folks let's keep this on the topic at hand and not get into which President you favor. We don't want this thread to degenerate into a political argument and have the moderators close the thread.

A government shut-down is completely different than a hiring freeze, which is the subject of this thread.

Of course Parks (and lots of other things) get closed in a government shutdown. Unlike a hiring freeze (which impacts new hires) under a government shutdown most existing government employees are not allowed to work.

[towpro]

we were down the outerbanks of NC during a budget crises when the national government closed down. first think they did was close the beach access and NPS campgrounds.

[dewey02]

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.

[DownTheAvenue]

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.

[Rubiranch]

There are ads right now that the USFS is looking for seasonals here in Utah.

[junmy3]

No problem we are going to several Canadian National Parks this year.

[rwbradley]

hugemoth wrote:
Might be a good year to visit Canada's National Parks instead. I hear there is a free pass available.

Just don't cross into Canada unless you're sure the US will let you back in.

x2...
The free pass is the day use pass, you will still have to pay for the campsite.
Our dollar also has an advantage too, the US dollar will buy about $1.30 Canadian dollars, which makes Canada much cheaper for US visitors.