Routine work like cleaning campsites, clearing messy portages and trails, and interacting with visitors at ranger stations will take a back seat next camping season across the Superior National Forest in northern Minnesota.
The U.S. Forest Service is facing an expected $500 million budget shortfall that will affect recreation areas including the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.
A hiring freeze is in effect ahead of next summer, when the forest managers normally employ temporary workers to help with upkeep. They handle maintenance work like clearing downed trees on portages, digging latrines and removing trash left at forest campsites. Some also work the front desks at the forest’s five ranger district offices.
Superior National Forest Supervisor Tom Hall said some of the routine work will fall on 52 permanent seasonal staff members, but it’ll be prioritized.
“One of our favorite words now is ‘triage,’” Hall said, “Where the most urgent need is, we shift our resources to meet that need. Sometimes you reach that capacity sooner when you have fewer people. We are working through that.”
While forest leaders say they are prepared to manage with less, one longtime outfitter suspects campers and visitors will notice come June.
“The Boundary Waters requires a lot of on-trail maintenance work to keep it in good shape,” said Jason Zabokrtsky of Ely Outfitting Co. “A decrease in funding that reduces the Forest Service’s ability to maintain the wilderness will negatively impact the experience of travelers.”
Filling the gaps
The freeze means 23 vacant seasonal jobs will go unfilled next summer. Busy ranger stations like the one in Ely, for example, might merit full staffing during busy season, while others will have limited hours, he said. The LaCroix district site in Cook, Minn., already is down to one permanent seasonal employee in visitor services in the front office. Tofte and Gunflint (Grand Marais) office hours were cut beginning in mid-August because of a lack of workers.