By GARRET JAROS / Lincoln Chronicle
Both the Siuslaw National Forest’s Central Coast Ranger Station in Waldport and the Cape Perpetua Visitors Center south of Yachats are now closed because of the federal government shutdown.
After staying open last week, signs on entrance doors now notify visitors or customers to the closure. Calls to both were answered with the recorded messages saying they were “closed due to a lack in federal government funding. The office will reopen once funding is restored.”
The Bureau of Land Management’s Yaquina Head Outstanding Natural Area in Newport was the sole outlier through at least Tuesday with regular operating hours from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. But whether they will continue to stay open remains “a day-by-day thing right now,” according to staff at the popular destination.
“We have a lot of staff out on furlough with the shutdown and everything but the park’s still open,” a ranger said Tuesday morning. “We have a safety officer and a couple of rangers, that sort of thing. Our instruction for now is to keep the park open.”
Nearly a week into the federal government shutdown an estimated 750,000 federal employees have been furloughed across the nation, according to National Public Radio, which reported far more, including members of the U.S. military, who are working without pay.
The impact is also causing ground delays at airports due to air traffic controller staffing issues. They are considered essential workers, so must work during the shutdown without pay, but illness and unscheduled leave are affecting operations.
Offices of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration at the Hatfield Marine Science Center complex in Newport were closed and employees furloughed when Congressional appropriations lapsed Oct. 1.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife office at Hatfield saw 10 staff furloughed. The agency oversees several wildlife refuges including Siletz Bay in Lincoln City and Bandon Marsh in Coos County. The refuges remain open to the public, but no staff will be maintaining the trails during the government shutdown.
Employees at NOAA’s Newport offices did not respond to questions last week about how many stop-work orders they have received but forwarded the department of commerce’s contingency plans. During a shutdown, NOAA research will cease operations, according to the plan. But NOAA workers had about four hours last Wednesday to perform administrative tasks and pack their belongings before they being furloughed indefinitely.
Why this is happening
When a lapse in funding occurs, U.S. law requires federal agencies to cease activity and furlough “non-excepted” employees. Excepted employees stay on the job but don’t get paid until after the shutdown ends.
While it is the first since 2019, the shutdown is the fourth during President Donald Trump’s two terms.
Blame was being cast on all sides. A vote to end the government shutdown failed earlier Wednesday, as Democrats in the Senate held firm to the party’s demands to fund health care subsidies that President Donald Trump and Republicans refuse to extend, according to the Associated Press.
At issue are tax credits that have made health insurance through the Affordable Care Act more affordable for millions of people since the Covid-19 pandemic. The credits are set to expire at the end of the year if Congress doesn’t extend them — which would more than double what subsidized enrollees currently pay for health insurance premiums, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation analysis.
It is estimated 20 million Americans would see Affordable Care Act premiums double under Republican spending proposals, according to the analysis, 106,000 of those in Oregon.
Local, state numbers
The Oregon Employment Department said there were roughly 30,000 jobs on federal government payrolls in Oregon last year and that 10,000 federal government jobs could be affected by the shutdown.
In Lincoln County, about 2 percent of the total workforce is comprised of federal workers, according to state figures last spring before the first round of the Trump administration’s terminations and forced retirements.
This spring there were 313 federal employees — 111 under the Department of Agriculture/U.S. Forest Service and 111 with the Department of Commerce/NOAA. The remainder of the local federal workforce was U.S. Postal Service (62), the Department of the Interior (19), the Environmental Protection Agency (9), and the General Services Administration (1).
U.S. Postal Service operations and post offices will operate during their usual hours because the agency is an independent entity funded primarily through revenue from its services, not by taxes.
Food assistance and Social Security payments will not be immediately impacted by the shutdown.
- Garret Jaros covers the communities of Yachats, Waldport, south Lincoln County and natural resources issues and can be reached at GJaros@YachatsNews.com
On the top of the page the Forest Service website says “The Radical Left Democrats shut down the government. This government website will be updated periodically during the funding lapse for mission critical functions. President Trump has made it clear he wants to keep the government open and support those who feed, fuel, and clothe the American people.”
I think that is open for debate.