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

[hugemoth]

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.

[gbopp]

fpoole wrote:
all the way out to the place and it's closed.. .sigh..

Sounds like Clark Griswold taking the family to Walley World. :B

[Tom_Barb]

Many forget that most of our national parks are managed by contractors.

[dewey02]

Powerdude wrote:
Pretty sure the already approved budget includes funding for hiring seasonal workers, which aren't part of the hiring freeze because they are not full time employees, not governmental union members with benefits, retirement, etc.

I'm not worried about it.

I can assure you that even during a government shut-down, Law Enforcement officers are considered essential govt. employees and will be on hand. As proof of this, my wife and I were camping at a non-federal campground during the government shutdown of a few years ago. We passed a USFS campground that was closed due to the shutdown and had the gate closed across the entrance road. We parked our truck outside the gate and walked into the campground to scope out the individual campsites, getting an idea of whether we wanted to camp there once the campground was open. We made it half-way around the loop when a USFS LEO approached us and told us to vacate the premises as it was closed even to walkers during the government shut down.

[bka0721]

I agree with dewey02 as I too have been through this before, too. Specifically when I left a seasonal summer Park Service job to report to a USFS job for the winter. Before I was able to report to my USFS job, I encountered the same Job Freeze. I was literally out of a job, after I had traveled to my home state to pack and move to my new job location. This was during the Carter administration.

I agree that there were also freezes during the Reagan administration, as well. This is nothing new for government workers. The difference here is the timing of this freeze and the impact to those planning for their summer vacations.

The OPM (Office of Personnel Management) and hiring has changed considerably over the years and the process in hiring is very time consuming. When I first worked for the NPS (1970s), subsequently for the USPS, the hiring was done at each park. Now it is centralized, leaving the Parks waiting for these lists to be released to them before hiring. Delaying the hiring process 3 months is the issue here and the potential to impact the parks, seasonals, firefighters and recreation areas is something to be aware of.

b

[Powerdude]

Pretty sure the already approved budget includes funding for hiring seasonal workers, which aren't part of the hiring freeze because they are not full time employees, not governmental union members with benefits, retirement, etc.

I'm not worried about it.

[dewey02]

I wouldn't get my undies too much in a bundle about this.
I was a USFS recreation manager and hired seasonals for many seasons.
We have been through hiring freezes in several previous administrations and not just Republican administrations:

• Carter - 3 separate hiring freezes in 1977, 1979 and 1980. Each lasting around 3 months
• Reagan - 1 freeze, from when he took office in 1/81 to 3/81, although it was retroactive back to November of 1980
• Clinton - Did not enact a freeze, but his "reinventing govt" intiative sought to reduce federal work roles by 250,000. Several agencies underwent RIF (reduction in force)
• Bush - 1 freeze, from January when he took office.

So federal recreation managers have been through this drill before and it is nothing new.
It will take a bit of time to sort through, but seasonals will be hired and parks and forests will be open. Many of the larger NPs and USFS campgrounds are run by concessionaires. These are NOT government employees and the concessionaires have longer term contracts for operation of campgrounds (sometimes 10 years or more)

But parks and forests do hire a lot of seasonals and yes, it is very stressful for the full time federal rec managers who will have to wait to make job offers until later in the spring. One of the big problems with hiring later in the spring is that the best seasonal employees have already found employment elsewhere (state parks, etc).

[bka0721]

This post is nothing more than a forewarning for those beginning to make their vacation plans for various US park and recreation areas. This summer visitation expectations were to exceed any previous seasons. While you might take the positions that some passengers on a ship took once in believing they have crossed this ocean many times before and that there is nothing to be concerned about, about a few icebergs.

As for the current staffing, as an example the Visitor Center I work out of is staffed by one (1) permanent park employee that is supported by 36 summer seasonals. Some of these having more then 4 decades of seasonal work. The typical visitor is very unprepared when arriving in a park and seek campground sites filled more than 10 hours before and delayed entry due to 3 to 4 hour wait to get through the entrance stations.

Always good to have a Plan B.

b

[time2roll]

Just means NPS will have to hire through a more expensive temp agency instead of a direct employee. :R

[mike_kellie]

I would think this puts a huge strain on current employees as well. People that teach, heal and protect among other like professions often will work harder and longer when faced with these challenges. It's a shame.

[coolmom42]

National Parks & USFS will have a hard time functioning without seasonals.

We were not planning to travel until after Labor Day, and that looks like a good thing.

I also look for this to put additional pressure on state parks and commercial campgrounds.

[fpoole]

Oh Mann... that's gonna suck...
Last time I hit "Closed" parks was then they weren't funding by congress... all the way out to the place and it's closed.. .sigh..

Hoping it'll turn around soon..
I've got places to go
Places to see...

[zb39]

I wouldn't get to excited. Yellowstone has been there a long time. I will be going in July for the 8th time. Can't wait. Go ahead and plan your vacation, I am. Have fun!

[dahkota]

LadyRVer wrote:
Not disputing anything you have written, but my understanding this is a hiring freeze. Employees already working are not under this?

Yes, but most National Parks hire seasonals for the summer months.

[LadyRVer]

Not disputing anything you have written, but my understanding this is a hiring freeze. Employees already working are not under this?

Best to check if you are planning a federal park stay.