“The Bureau of Land Management, the Forest Service and the Fish & Wildlife Service manage more public lands than the Parks Service. And their staffs have also been cut.” (Typo: It’s Park Service)
As a subscriber, I can pass this link to the full text….
Questions linger over what this year’s layoffs and ranger protests at the National Park Service will mean for travelers, who made a record 331 million visits to park properties last year. Adding to the confusion is the federal court ruling on Thursday that the firings were done unlawfully and agencies must rehire their cut workers.
The National Park Service’s parks, sites and monuments, however, are not the only public lands affected by the seesawing reports of staffing levels and budget cutbacks brought on by the Trump administration’s goal to trim government spending.
The Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Forest Service and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, the three largest managers of public land in the United States, also keep public lands accessible. The B.L.M. alone covers 235 million acres, or nearly one-tenth of the country. If these agencies lose many of their workers, who will be around to handle the influx of visitors as summer travel season gears up?
OK, so first Parks were badly off because of not being able to hire temps. So Burgum allowed them to hire more temps than usual (7000) because they are important to doing all the visitor work.
But now, it turns out that perms are also vital and even if they get hired back due to judge’s orders, then
“The National Park Service’s parks, sites and monuments, however, are not the only public lands affected by the seesawing reports of staffing levels and budget cutbacks brought on by the Trump administration’s goal to trim government spending.”
“seesawing” in itself is the problem. Seems like a moving target..
Also, I thought taxpayers were paying Booz Allen to manage cabin and campground bookings? Which reminds me, whatever happened with this set of questions from Congress?https://www.nationalparkstraveler.org/sites/default/files/attachments/grassley_barrasso_to_usda_and_doi_-_booz_allen_contract.pdf
Does anyone know where the Secretaries posted the answer?