Budget impacts coming into focus

Glacier National Park interim superintendent Kym Hall provided a clearer picture last week of how recent federal budget cuts could impact the Park this upcoming season. The big question is whether the opening of the Going-to-the-Sun Road will be delayed by the sequestration.

Hall noted that the earliest the road will completely open this year is June 21. That’s because of construction work, not budget cuts. Under a contract agreement with HK Construction, the company has full use of the road until that date.

The Park usually starts plowing the Sun Road in the first week of April and will do so again this year, Hall said. The plow crew is made up of salaried employees who aren’t affected by the federal cuts at this point.

Delays in plowing could occur when crews reach the alpine section. Employees who watch for avalanche conditions, install guardrails, clear parking lots and complete other road-related work are seasonal workers. Without avalanche spotters and support staff, the Park crews can’t safely plow, Hall explained — and that’s where a delay could come into play.

Another wild card is the weather, but if the weather is cooperative, even a delay in hiring support staff might not delay the road opening. If road is clear and ready to open come June 21, the Park wouldn’t delay opening the road, no matter what other staffing problems it might have in other areas of the Park, Hall said.

“If the weather cooperates, there might not be an impact,” she said.

The Park expects to have 50 to 60 seasonal employee positions impacted by the sequestration. Park wide, that could mean less interpretative staff and fewer trails cleared — particularly the less popular routes.

There also could be delays in opening other Park roads, most notably the Inside North Fork Road, which has been dogged in recent years by flooding and seems to need work every spring near Anaconda and Dutch creeks.

On the plus side, the budget cuts don’t impact all seasonal staff. Staff who are paid by special-projects funds won’t see an impact — that part of the budget is not subject to sequestration.

But Hall is worried about the long-term impacts for the Park’s permanent staff. Glacier Park is currently under a hiring freeze and can’t replace anyone who retires or leaves. There’s also a ban on most employee travel.

Hall said the Park’s division chiefs are still looking at how best to deal with the staff cuts.

“We’re trying to do as thoughtful and logical an analysis as we can,” she said.

The Park will know more in the coming weeks how everything will play out. Congress is expected to finalize some sort of budget deal or continuing resolution by March 27. That move would simply keep the government funded through this year. If Congress decides to cut even more from the budget, the Park could find itself back at the drawing board again.