After being in limbo since the federal hiring freeze was enacted on January 22, the land management agencies now know that they can still hire the tens of thousands of firefighters and park rangers that protect and manage our national forests, parks, reservations, and refuges.
A memo was issued January 31 by the Office of Management and Budget and the Office of Personnel Management that listed positions exempt from the freeze. Seasonal employees and short-term temporary employees “necessary to meet traditionally recurring seasonal workloads” can still be hired. In addition, term and temporary appointments of existing Federal employees may be extended up to the maximum allowable time limit.
There is also an exemption that allows the head of an agency to hire employees that are necessary to “meet national security responsibilities” or to “meet public safety responsibilities (including essential activities to the extent that they protect life and property)”.
An interesting article by Rocky Barker in the Idaho Statesman covered the effects of the freeze on federal land management agencies. It was published January 30 before the exemption memo was released the following day.
The Green team got a different version of this today (2/1/17). The overhead stated that without a SecAg, we’re in a holding pattern for all seasonal positions fire or non-fire. No forward movement on hiring. Don’t know about DOI/NPS/BIA.