Lincoln National Forest Weathers Federal Shutdown
Most Sacramento District employees remain working. What else do we know?
The Sacramento Ranger District office of the Lincoln National Forest (LNF) remains closed to the public as the federal government enters its 7th day of shutdown.
According to multiple LNF employees who spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to discuss internal matters, most staff members continue working at the district office outside Cloudcroft.
Lincoln National Fact Sheet:
National Forest law enforcement officers and wildland fire crews remain on duty during the shutdown.
Controlled burns are reduced or postponed, while some hazard-fuel projects continue if already funded or necessary to protect life and property, according to one LNF source.
Nearby White Sands and Carlsbad Caverns National Parks, which are operated by the Department of the Interior, are closed. Some national parks in the country remain open but with limited services.
The U.S. Forest Service website states that “national forest recreation sites remain open during the federal government lapse in funding.” Local sites such as Upper Karr Canyon and Trestle Recreation Area remain accessible.
Many of the developed campgrounds within the Sacramento District have already closed for the season, with the exception of Deerhead Campground, which is set to close at noon on October 12.
Fuel wood permits cannot be purchased in person during the closure. Callers are asked to leave a voicemail with contact information. Permits for the LNF are not available online, so delays are likely.
Calls to LNF and Sacramento Ranger District offices go to voicemail, with a message stating the office will reopen once funding is restored.
Broader Effects:
Statewide forest inventories and state grants for forest management and wildland fire preparedness may be delayed.
12,744 Forest Service employees are to be furloughed according to the USDA’s Lapse of Funding Plan. Another 19,646 Forest Service employees will continue to work during the shutdown.
The plan identifies certain jobs—such as those tied to public safety, wildfire management, and resource protection—as “necessary to protect life and property.”
The USFS and USDA official websites blame “Radical Left Democrats” for the shutdown. Democrats were also blamed in official emails to government employees regarding the lapse in funding. The language could be a violation of the Hatch Act, which requires federal employees and agencies to remain non-partisan in their official communications. The Office of Special Counsel (OSC), which enforces the act, was itself shut down, delaying investigations.
While employees at other government agencies work without pay or have been furloughed, the lack of local furloughs could be attributed to funding that has already been appropriated, says an LNF employee.
The multi-use designation of the forest further protects fed employees from furlough. Jobs supporting timber production, wildlife management, oil and gas leases, public safety, and ranching within the Lincoln can be deemed “necessary to protect life and property,” states the USDA’s plan.
Personnel within the Forest Service may be moved into positions deemed necessary to avoid being furloughed.
Workers within the Sacramento District are still being paid, says an LNF employee, but a prolonged shutdown could see them working without pay. They will receive backpay for any lapse in compensation due to the shutdown once funding is restored.
The federal shutdown began on October 1st when Congress became deadlocked over Affordable Care Act tax subsidies that are set to expire at the end of the year.
The most recent government shutdown began in December 2018 and lasted for more than a month—the longest shutdown in US history.
The Reader will continue to report developments in this story.
