Trump administration approves plan for restroom cleanup, trash collection at national parks

[left-of-center2012]

Source: Roll Call

As the partial government shutdown enters Day 16, the restrooms at national parks are going to be cleaned.

Acting Interior Secretary David Bernhardt is moving to authorize the use of collected recreation fees at National Park Service sites to pay for basic operational support, which had been halted due to the shutdown.

“The directive provides for the use of recreation fee funds, where available, to clean up and maintain: restrooms and sanitation, trash collection, road maintenance — which includes plowing, campground operations, law enforcement and emergency operations, and staff entrance gates as necessary to provide critical safety information,” Bernhardt wrote in a Sunday letter to Sen. Steve Daines.

The Montana Republican had written to Bernhardt the previous day seeking an adjustment to the Interior Department’s implementation of the shutdown at National Park Services sites.

Read more: https://www.rollcall.com/news/politics/trump-administration-approves-plan-bathroom-cleanup-trash-collection-national-parks

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Money to clean the restrooms,
but no paychecks to feed furloughed workers families, pay rent, car loans, etc.

Trump priorities.

[pecosbob]

1. There's a new gig for Sarah Huckabee Sanders

heard she was looking for work...this seems right up her alley...shoveling shit.

[TheCowsCameHome]

3. She distributes it.

Not quite the same as picking it up.

[TheCowsCameHome]

2. How about that huge piece of crap in the WH?

Can we get of that, too?

[elmac]

4. There is more to running a national park than restroom cleanup, trash collection

how are they going to pay for the park upkeep, management?

[Eugene]

5. As the article mentions, this may be illegal.

Also this from the Washington Post...

Park Service takes ‘extraordinary step’ of dipping into entrance fees to bolster operations at popular sites

Critics say the unprecedented move, which comes as trash and other problems mount, could be illegal.

By Juliet Eilperin January 6 at 2:08 PM

-snip-

The move, which some critics said could be illegal, shows the extent to which the Trump administration’s decision to keep the national park system open to visitors is straining its capacity and potentially exposing public lands to long-term damage. During such shutdowns under the Clinton and Obama administrations, the Park Service chose to block access to its sites rather than leave them open with a skeleton staff on board. Trump officials chose the opposite course, and as trash has begun to mount and key habitat has been imperiled, the administration is struggling to manage the problems.

Congressional Democrats and some park advocates question whether the park-fee move is legal, because the fees that parks collect under the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act are expressly designated to support visitor services instead of operations and basic maintenance. The secretarial order authorizes parks that have “available balances” of these fee funds to spend them on operations that include trash collection and sanitation, road maintenance, campground operations, law enforcement and emergency operations, and entrance staff “as necessary to provide critical safety operations.”

-snip-

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/energy-environment/2019/01/06/park-service-takes-extraordinary-step-dipping-into-entrance-fees-bolster-operations-popular-sites/

[littlemissmartypants]

8. Of course it is. That's their preferred option, the illegal one. nt

[BumRushDaShow]

10. Fees like this are considered "no year" money

which wouldn't fall under appropriations ("budget authority" ). However they would have to justify that the work being done using those fees complies with whatever law provided for the collection of those fees.

[nature-lover]

6. Clean them and then close them!

[DallasNE]

7. Trump Has Said This Is Not A Shutdown But A Strike

With that as the background the logical next step would be to find replacement scabs to do the work.

The thing is that most of these workers he will be replacing are not government employees but employees of contractors the government hires so they will most likely not be getting backpay even if they can weather this out. These indirect employees are not counted in the 800,000 actual employees of the government that are either being unpaid or furloughed meaning the scope is bigger than what is being reported.

[japple]

9. P. Daniel Smith is now acting dir. of Natl. Park Services.

https://departmentofinfluence.org/person/paul-daniel-smith/

Paul Daniel Smith, often referred to as “P. Daniel Smith,” is a longtime Interior employee who has a history of “putting the concerns of the rich over park protection.” Originally from Portland, Maine, Smith went to the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill for both his bachelor’s degree and his master’s, and he also served in Vietnam. From 1975 to 1978 Smith worked for on Capitol Hill for Senator Sam Ervin, then went through the revolving door to work as a lobbyist for the National Rifle Association from 1978 to 1980. From 1982 to 1984 Smith was the Assistant Director of Legislative and Congressional Affairs for the National Park Service, and from 1984 to 1986 he was the deputy assistant secretary of the Interior for Fish Wildlife and Parks. From 1987 to 1997, Smith worked at the General Services Administration, and from 1997 to 1998 was a staff member of the House Subcommittee on National Parks and Public Lands. Smith joined the George W. Bush administration’s Interior Department as a political appointee when he “joined the Park Service in 2001,” working “as a special assistant to then-National Park Service Director Fran Mainella” until 2004. During this time working for Director Mainella, Smith is most famous for “inappropriately interven[ing]” to help Washington Redskins owner Daniel Snyder bypass environmental laws so he could cut down over 130 trees to get a better view of the Potomac river. An Interior Inspector General Report found that Smith “‘inappropriately used his position to apply pressure and circumvent NPS procedures.'” After getting Snyder his “secret sweetheart deal,” Smith was transferred to be Superintendent of Colonial National Historical Park, where he worked until he retired in 2014.

https://departmentofinfluence.org/person/paul-daniel-smith/#

[left-of-center2012]

12. Yes- "acting dir. of Natl. Park Services"

The opening post and linked article references "Acting Interior Secretary David Bernhardt".

[japple]

11. P. Daniel Smith is now acting dir. of Natl. Park Services.

https://departmentofinfluence.org/person/paul-daniel-smith/

Paul Daniel Smith, often referred to as “P. Daniel Smith,” is a longtime Interior employee who has a history of “putting the concerns of the rich over park protection.” Originally from Portland, Maine, Smith went to the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill for both his bachelor’s degree and his master’s, and he also served in Vietnam. From 1975 to 1978 Smith worked for on Capitol Hill for Senator Sam Ervin, then went through the revolving door to work as a lobbyist for the National Rifle Association from 1978 to 1980. From 1982 to 1984 Smith was the Assistant Director of Legislative and Congressional Affairs for the National Park Service, and from 1984 to 1986 he was the deputy assistant secretary of the Interior for Fish Wildlife and Parks. From 1987 to 1997, Smith worked at the General Services Administration, and from 1997 to 1998 was a staff member of the House Subcommittee on National Parks and Public Lands. Smith joined the George W. Bush administration’s Interior Department as a political appointee when he “joined the Park Service in 2001,” working “as a special assistant to then-National Park Service Director Fran Mainella” until 2004. During this time working for Director Mainella, Smith is most famous for “inappropriately interven[ing]” to help Washington Redskins owner Daniel Snyder bypass environmental laws so he could cut down over 130 trees to get a better view of the Potomac river. An Interior Inspector General Report found that Smith “‘inappropriately used his position to apply pressure and circumvent NPS procedures.'” After getting Snyder his “secret sweetheart deal,” Smith was transferred to be Superintendent of Colonial National Historical Park, where he worked until he retired in 2014.

https://departmentofinfluence.org/person/paul-daniel-smith/#

[left-of-center2012]

13. Yes- "acting dir. of Natl. Park Services"

The opening post and linked article references "Acting Interior Secretary David Bernhardt".

[riversedge]

17. Smith sounds like a real crook!

[PatSeg]

14. Of course Trump could solve this

the way he would in the business world - hire undocumented Polish workers and then don't pay them.

[benld74]

15. Not really allowed to do this, but what the heck rite?

[riversedge]

16. "The Department of Interior is very likely violating appropriations law," Rep. Betty McCollum (D-Min

I say they should be closed.




https://www.washingtonpost.com/energy-environment/2019/01/06/park-service-takes-extraordinary-step-dipping-into-entrance-fees-bolster-operations-popular-sites/?utm_term=.8373030a5e21



Park Service takes ‘extraordinary step’ of dipping into entrance fees to bolster operations at popular sites
Critics say the unprecedented move, which comes as trash and other problems mount, could be illegal.



From California to Washington, shutdown takes toll on parks and museums

People are streaming into national parks to find trash cans overflowing and restrooms locked. Volunteers are stepping in to stop conditions from deteriorating. (Luis Velarde , Juca Favela/The Washington Post)



By Juliet Eilperin January 6 at 2:08 PM

..........................

The National Park Service will take the unprecedented step of tapping entrance fees to pay for expanded operations at its most popular sites, officials said Sunday, as the federal government shutdown threatens to degrade some of the nation’s iconic landmarks.

Under a memorandum signed Saturday by the Interior Department’s acting secretary, David Bernhardt, and obtained by The Washington Post, park managers will be permitted to bring on additional staff to clean restrooms, haul trash, patrol the parks and open areas that have been shut during the more-than-two-week budget impasse........................................
...................................

The move, which some critics said could be illegal, shows the extent to which the Trump administration’s decision to keep the national park system open to visitors is straining its capacity and potentially exposing public lands to long-term damage. During such shutdowns under the Clinton and Obama administrations, the Park Service chose to block access to its sites rather than leave them open with a skeleton staff on board. Trump officials chose the opposite course, and as trash has begun to mount and key habitat has been imperiled, the administration is struggling to manage the problems.


Congressional Democrats and some park advocates question whether the park-fee move is legal, because the fees that parks collect under the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act are expressly designated to support visitor services instead of operations and basic maintenance. The secretarial order authorizes parks that have “available balances” of these fee funds to spend them on operations that include trash collection and sanitation, road maintenance, campground operations, law enforcement and emergency operations, and entrance staff “as necessary to provide critical safety operations.”



“The Department of Interior is very likely violating appropriations law,” Rep. Betty McCollum (D-Minn.), who is incoming chairwoman of the House Appropriations subcommittee on interior, environment and related agencies, said in a phone interview Sunday. “I want to see our parks open, but I want to see our entire government open the right way, following the law.” ................................