To readers: I have been traveling and my laptop died, so for various reasons I haven’t been able to comment. I’ll respond when I get home this weekend.
Anyway…https://www.summitdaily.com/news/us-forest-service-hiring-freeze-critiques/
Thanks to Nick Smith for this one from the Summit Daily. Who knew that temps couldn’t be had even with external funding?
“Colorado Senators Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper as well as Colorado Representatives Joe Neguse and Brittany Pettersen penned a letter Monday, Oct. 28, to U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Thomas Vilsack.
In particular, the letter takes issue with the Forest Service applying the hiring freeze not only to positions funded through the federal budget but also to positions supported by local funding.”
In 2023, almost $750,000 in taxpayer funds raised through the Strong Futures Initiative went toward the Forest Service’s seasonal wildfire mitigation and education in Summit County, with much of that money going directly to the federal agency to hire seasonal staff.
“The voters of Summit County passed (the Strong Futures Initiative) because the White River National Forest was so understaffed that these critical functions weren’t getting done,” Summit County Commissioner Tamara Pogue told Summit Daily News last week. “We’ve literally been paying for them because the federal government isn’t doing its job.”
But Forest Service regional press officer Donna Nemeth said that only two positions supported by the Strong Futures Initiative will be hired next summer because they are considered “fire series” employees. The remaining positions supported by those local dollars are “recreational technicians” who focus on fire prevention and education, and currently won’t be hired back next summer, Nemeth said.
Other local governments — including Eagle County, Pitkin County, Chaffee County and the towns of Vail and Aspen — have also provided local funds dedicated to supporting Forest Service seasonal hiring that could be impacted by the hiring freeze.
The congressional delegation wrote in its letter that the Forest Service’s Rocky Mountain region, which includes Colorado, “typically accepts millions of dollars from external partners to hire seasonal employees.”
Of course, at a future date, the Forest Service can hire Temps again, but only at the GS-3 level. Budget people can claim a huge savings, with the shrewd downsizing, by clearing out all those higher paid Temps, who moved on to other jobs and other careers.
(because, of course, Temps don’t need any skills to qualify for a GS-3)