Spring Tours at the Ranch

   The Spring wildflower bloom has brought a "bloom" of visitors to the ranch.  The numbers are similar to those during Spring Break but less children.  This is both good and bad.  It is good to see the park so busy; people enjoying the park and learning more about the 36th President of the United States.  The down-side is that the number of tour givers is down.  The Seasonal Rangers have gone.  The government has a regulation that prevents seasonal employees from working more than 1039 hours at one NPS site because they would then earn benefits.  Most of the Park Rangers you come in contact with at a National Park or National Monument is probably a seasonal employee.  Seasonals comprise a majority of NPS staff at most parks at their busy seasons.  The parks could not function without them.  They, with volunteers, keep the parks open and running smoothly.
   In addition, there is a government regulation that prevents seasonals from working more than once a year in a region.  So the rangers that worked here at LBJ in Texas this winter can not work this spring/summer in Yellowstone because it is in the same region.  That does not seem logical to me, but this is the government we are talking about.  It's our loss for sure, but it makes it difficult for those rangers to find another job.