Comment periods on crucial leases continue ticking during shutdown.
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SUBLETTE COUNTY – The federal
government shutdown of 2018 that officially
began at midnight on Dec. 22 dragged into the
new year with nothing resolved between Congress
and the White House.
Congress abandoned most efforts over the
holidays to reach a budget compromise, waiting
as the Democratic Party is poised to lead
the U.S. House of Representatives. Recently
elected legislators were sworn in on Thursday,
Jan. 3. They had talked of introducing and approving
a two-part spending package on the
first day of the House’s new session to tide
over departments of the Interior, Agriculture
and Homeland Security.
But the Republican-led U.S. Senate is not
expected to consider ending the gridlock and
President Trump has refused to accept appropriations
proposals that do not include a
multi-billion-dollar southern border wall. He
also has threatened to close the U.S. border
with Mexico.
Federal connections
Some Sublette County and Wyoming offices
with federal connections are not yet seriously
impacted by the shutdown.
The Natural Resources Conservation Service
office in Pinedale is open while the U.S.
Department of Agriculture is closed on the
national level.
Sublette County Emergency Management
Service Director Jim Mitchell, who serves as
the county’s liaison to Wyoming Department
of Homeland Security, said grants for Hoback
Ranches’ post-fire rehabilitation are safe.
Wyoming DHS is not affected at the state
level – “At this level, it’s business as usual.”
Environmental Protection Agency’s Region
8 Office in Denver is closed, which is a
frequent federal partner for the Wyoming Department
of Environmental Quality.
“We have assessed the impacts of a federal
shutdown on our operational budget and fortunately,
due to upfront work and planning with
our federal partners, the state budget office
and our fiscal staff, we will not be immediately
affected by the government shutdown,”
said DEQ spokesman Keith Guille. “However,
due to the nature of some of our federal grants,
we will need to monitor our operational budget
closely.”
And although public access to planning
documents was restored this past week for the
Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management,
the websites are not being updated. And
if the public has questions, there is still no one
to answer them by phone, email or in person.
Trails and traffic
In a similar vein, Grand Teton National
Park and Yellowstone remain just as they
were before the shutdown but with unstaffed
entrances and National Park Service employees
on unpaid furloughs.
Just outside Teton Park’s south entrance,
Dornan’s in Moose is a busy place right now
for snowshoers and cross-country skiers who
don’t have to pay entry fees, noted Austin
Stickler in the Trading Post. He said Wednesday
that no one appears to be staffing the Park
Service’s nearby visitor center.
“I haven’t seen Park Service people anywhere
around here in the last couple of weeks,”
he said. “Not even coming in for lunch.”
The public is bustling through the southernmost
access point to the two trailheads left
open at the start of winter. A barricade closes
the road past Bradley-Taggart trailhead and
the Rockefeller Preserve trail to Phelps Lake
is open.
“We’re definitely getting a lot of traffic,”
Stickler said, adding he hasn’t heard of any
messy issues. “The parking lots have been full
here about every day.”
In Yellowstone, winter concessionaires are
grooming trails for commercial and private
snowmobile or snowcoach trips and tours,
according to the Associated Press. Contractors
are also hauling trash and replacing toilet
paper as best they can with Yellowstone
always a very popular winter destination. n