Dozens of employees will return to their jobs in the National Parks Service, which will hire almost 3,000 additional seasonal workers.
The government of US President Donald Trump is restoring jobs for dozens of employees of the National Parks Service, dismissed amid personnel reductions throughout the government, and hiring almost 3,000 additional seasonal workers.
At least 50 jobs are being restored to help maintain and clean the parks, educate visitors and raise access installments, according to two people aware of the agency's plans, which they spoke on condition of saving the anonymity because they are not authorized to declare publicly on the matter.
The Parks Service indicated in a new memorandum that will hire up to 7,700 seasonal positions this year, an increase with respect to the approximately 5,000 promised this week and higher than the three -year average of 6,350 seasonal workers. The parks service has about 20,000 employees.
Legislators and activist groups have criticized mass layoffs, saying that they are unnecessary and a threat to public security and the parks themselves. The National Floissant Fossile Fosil Fosil Monument in Colorado, which is west of Colorado Springs and receives about 70,000 visitors annually, announced on social networks that, as of Monday, it will close two days a week due to “lack of staff ”
“These positions are crucial to protect the valuable natural assets of the United States, maintain public security and promote exceptional standards,” says a letter signed by the two Democratic senators of Virginia and six democratic members of the House of Representatives.
“If these guidelines are not reversed, we fear that significantly the capacity of the parks service to protect both visitors and the resources of the park, particularly as we approached the season of greater influx of visitors,” they wrote to the Interior Secretary, Doug Burgum.
Among Republicans there is also concern for layoffs. Senator Susan Collins indicated that she worries that the Acadia National Park “cannot hire the seasonal employees necessary to collect entry fees and perform other essential tasks, such as maintaining trails and providing first aid services to visitors.”
A spokesman from the Department of Interior refused to comment on Friday. No one in the Parks Service responded to an email from The Associated Press.
Trump has not nominated a director of the Parks Service, a position that requires confirmation of the Senate. Jessica Bowron, the agency's comptroller, has been appointed interim director.