RichardMolve (Visitante)
| | Questioned by both Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill about the low staffing numbers, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum has brushed off concerns, testifying in May that slightly less than half of permanent NPS employees work on the ground in the parks, while other staff work at regional offices or at DC headquarters.
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âI want more people in the parks,â Burgum said. âI want less overhead. Thereâs an opportunity to have more people working in our parks ⊠and have less people working for the National Park Service.â
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But internal NPS data tells a different story, Brengel said, showing that around 80% of National Park Service staff work in the parks. And regional offices play an important supporting staff role, with scientists on staff to help maintain fragile parks ecosystems, as well as specialists who monitor geohazard safety issues like landslides.
Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska recently pressed Burgum to provide a full list of staff positions that have been cut at the National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management and the US Forest Service since the Trump administration took over. The Interior Department has not provided the list, a Senate staffer said.
The regional offices within the park service are on edge, waiting to see how courts rule on a Trump administration reduction in force plan they fear could gut their ranks, a National Park Service employee in a Western state told CNN.
âIf they greenlight the RIF plan, then itâs going to be a bloodbath,â the employee said.
In addition to probationary workers that were fired in February, early retirements are also culling the agencyâs ranks, and the continued $1 spending limit on federal workersâ credit cards is making it extremely difficult to do field work in the parks, with a simple overnight trip needing to be requested 10 days in advance, the employee added.
The lack of superintendents and NPS supervisors creates more of a headache, they added.
âThese times, when itâs all about fighting for scarce resources, you really need those upper-level people with clout working the system,â the employee said.
Hall, the retired NPS regional director, said losing rangers, maintenance professionals and park superintendents could profoundly alter American landmarks.
âWhat youâve lost with all this attrition â youâve lost all this knowledge thatâs going to take years to build back up,â Hall said. |
EdmondDep (Visitante)
| | âWe know that the water levels seemed to be higher than they were last summer,â Silva said. âIt is a significant amount of water flowing throughout, some of it in new areas that didnât flood last year.â
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Matt DeMaria, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Albuquerque, said storms formed in the early afternoon over terrain that was scorched last year by wildfire. The burn scar was unable to absorb a lot of the rain, as water quickly ran downhill into the river.
Preliminary measurements show the Rio Ruidoso crested at more than 20 feet â a record high if confirmed â and was receding Tuesday evening.
Three shelters opened in the Ruidoso area for people who could not return home.
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The sight brought back painful memories for Carpenter, whose art studio was swept away during a flood last year. Outside, the air smelled of gasoline, and loud crashes could be heard as the river knocked down trees in its path.
âItâs pretty terrifying,â she said.
Cory State, who works at the Downshift Brewing Company, welcomed in dozens of residents as the river surged and hail pelted the windows. The house floating by was âjust one of the many devastating things about today,â he said. |