Make our newscast part of your daily listening routine. Subscribe on Spotify (or wherever you listen to podcasts).
Thousands of fired federal employees, including those with the United States Forest Service and the National Parks Service, must be reinstated within a week.
A U.S. district judge in San Francisco ruled the terminations of probationary employees at six government agencies were unlawful. In a March 13 bench ruling, Judge William Alsup admonished the White House for firing employees citing poor job performance “when they know good and well that is a lie.”
The White House pledged to appeal.
KHOL has reported that about 40 probationary employees in the Bridger-Teton National Forest were fired in February. The agency has shared that 2,000 probationary employees were fired nationwide. The National Park Service has reportedly cut 1000 positions including some in Grand Teton. Probationary employees are often in their first year or two of their job.
Both agencies have not answered repeated requests for exact numbers for Teton County, instead referring questions to national communication offices, which provide generic answers.
Three Teton County-based employees who were either fired or currently employed, said that as of Thursday, nothing had changed.
The lack of information leaves the business owners who depend on public lands also unsure of how to act.
Rendezvous River Sports owner Aaron Pruzan regularly guides paddlers on river and lake trips in Bridger-Teton National Forest and Grand Teton National Park during busy summer months.
Pruzan is worried empty jobs from those fired, if not rehired, will leave gaps for basic services like picking up trash, cleaning rest areas, maintaining river and trail accesses and enforcing rules.
He and other area guides and outfitters will try to step up, he said. But it all affects his bottom line.
“It adds to our work and kind of detracts from what we’re supposed to be doing, which is taking care of our guests,” Pruzan said.
Summer, he said, could resemble the surge of visitors to understaffed national parks during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Pruzan and other area guides, outfitters there’s one safety net: area nonprofits.
“Our community is amazing because I think a lot of people will be stepping up and we have great nonprofits here that will help,” he said.
Electeds like Teton County Commissioner Wes Gardner say they will do what they can as a governing body but they’ll be looking to area nonprofits for support as well.
”We’re blessed to live in a community with great partners,” Gardner said, “who are well positioned as well.”
The most prominent of those partners is the Friends of the Bridger-Teton. The nonprofit valued last year’s support of the Bridger-Teton around $500,000 dollars. Board president Ellen Fales told KHOL Tuesday she still doesn’t know if the organization will be able to meet the forest’s needs. It is, however, ramping up an ambassador program known for helping snuff out campfires.
