Finally open: Govt. shutdown over...for now; Lincoln Ranger District staff back at work

An agreement to re-open the federal government saw the staff of the Lincoln Ranger District return to work Monday even as the possibility of a second shutdown in three weeks’ looms.

The Lincoln Ranger district offices have been closed, and most of the employees furloughed, since Dec. 22, when an impasse between President Donald Trump and Congress over funding for a border wall between the U.S. and Mexico left about 25 percent of the government, including the Department of Agriculture, without funding.

The agreement reached last Friday ended the 34-day shutdown, the longest in American history, and provides short-term funding until Feb. 15.

On Monday, the Lincoln Ranger District staff got busy making up for lost time.

“We had a quick meeting at 8 o’clock. We got together and talked about what the next few days will look like, what our priorities are to get this place open to the public,” Lincoln District Ranger Michael Stansberry said. “Right after that we raised the American flag and it was like a bunch of busy bees went in all different directions …just making sure the public had access again. It was heartening to get through the longest shutdown in American history and to have such good spirits on the day we did come back.”

While coverage of the shutdown’s impact often highlighted the plight of furloughed government employees or the deteriorating conditions in facilities around the country, Stansberry said he was proud of the fortitude shown by his staff, and heartened by the actions of locals and forest users during the closure.

“We had really good support from the community. I got e-mails and texts from folks asking how they could help. Not only help the staff, but help volunteer to clean outhouses and that type of thing. I was really proud of Lincoln,” he said.

Although Stansberry asked people to stay in touch if they offered to help, he didn’t have to take them up on their offers because they were able to find the money to bring recreation manager Josh Lattin back in for a couple days to check on things. In addition to that, Stansberry remained on duty, but unpaid, as an “excepted employee,” so he could get out and help keep facilities clean. He said for the most part people were good about picking up after themselves, even on the high traffic trails on Stemple Pass.

“It was not the dump we heard about in some of the national parks. It was an extreme circumstance and it really looked like people were trying to take care of what they were using,” he said. “We did keep Granite Butte and Cummins (cabin) open. We got several texts from people who were going in and out that the places were clean as could be and people were taking care of them. It kind of restores your faith in humanity when you’re going through a stressful situation and folks are finding a good way to help out and keep things going.”

Not every Ranger District in the region was so fortunate. In Seeley Lake vandals, apparently unhappy with the shutdown and dissatisfied with the president, defaced the Seeley Lake Ranger Station Jan. 14 with spray painted message related to Trumps purported relationship with Russia.

Nevertheless, the timing of the shutdown has left challenges for the staff, including the need to ensure the district abides by the Winter Travel Plan.

Due to the timing of the shutdown, some of the gates that should have been closed remained open and staff members now face the task of securing them after the recent snowfall.

“Some of them may be buried pretty deeply,” Stansberry said. “We will send people up to the gates we need to close. We’ll work on getting them unburied then closed, like our travel plan requires us to. It’s just going to take a little extra effort this year.”

The possibility of a second shutdown in February also brings a degree of uncertainty for Stansberry, who was supposed to begin four months of temporary duty in Colorado at the beginning of January.

Stansberry is still slated to fill in for the Rio Grande Forest Supervisor Dan Dallas, who in turn will be coming to Montana to act as the Deputy Regional Forester for Region 1, but he doesn’t expect to leave until the question of longer-term funding for the government is settled.

“Maybe something gets resolved in the three weeks we have that continuing resolution, then it’s easy to pick a date for me to do this detail,” he said.

On Monday Stansberry was working to set up a conference call to get everything arranged with Dallas, Regional Forester Leanne Martin and Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest Supervisor Bill Avey, but he said he thinks he’ll be here for at least a couple more weeks before beginning his temporary assignment.

Stansberry said it remains to be seen who will fill in for him as District Ranger here while he’s gone.