A federal hiring freeze and a letter that urges employees to consider resignation is already having implications in Glacier National Park and throughout the Park Service.

The Hungry Horse News was able to confirm through a relative of a Glacier Park employee that they are unable to hire seasonal staff at this point. 

Glacier, like many large national parks, hires hundreds of seasonal employees each summer to operate campgrounds, clean bathrooms, pick up garbage, clear trails and as rangers, to name just a few jobs.  They are critical to the operation of the park, which saw 3.2 million visitors last year, the second most ever. 

President Donald Trump recently instated a hiring freeze and the Office of Personnel Managment also recently sent out an email blast to most federal employees urging them to consider "deferred resignation” to Sept. 30, 2025. The email is similar to a letter sent to Twitter employees when billionaire Elon Musk took that company over. The letter even has the same title, “Fork in the Road.”  

Musk is now the head of Trump’s new Department of Government Efficiency. 

“If you choose to remain in your current position, we thank you for your renewed focus on serving the American people to the best of your abilities and look forward to working together as part of an improved federal workforce. At this time, we cannot give you full assurance regarding the certainty of your position or agency but should your position be eliminated you will be treated with dignity and will be afforded the protections in place for such positions,” the email reads. “If you choose not to continue in your current role in the federal workforce, we thank you for your service to your country and you will be provided with a dignified, fair departure from the federal government utilizing a deferred resignation program. This program begins effective Jan. 28 and is available to all federal employees until Feb. 6. If you resign under this program, you will retain all pay and benefits regardless of your daily workload and will be exempted from all applicable in-person work requirements until Sept. 30, 2025 (or earlier if you choose to accelerate your resignation for any reason) ... Whichever path you choose, we thank you for your service to The United States of America.” 

In short, if a person takes the offer, they would resign immediately and be paid through September. But John Garder, Senior Director of Budget and Appropriations the National Parks Conservation Association, a National Parks advocacy group, said they have spoken to attorneys that say the offer isn’t even legal. 

Unions and lawmakers that represent federal workers have also warned members that they might get stiffed. 

“Nothing in the program documentation purports to prohibit the termination or separation of an employee who accepts deferred resignation,” the American Federation of Government Employees wrote. “While the OPM email suggest that employees will maintain their compensation and benefits until the effective date of their resignation date, it does not explicitly state that employees are shielded from layoffs or other adverse actions before Sept. 30, 2025. There is no guarantee that employees opting into the program will not be targeted for such actions.” 

“There’s no budget line item to pay people who are not showing up for work,” Sen. Tim Kaine, a Democrat from Virginia told media outlets. “My message to federal employees who received this is: Yeah, the president has tried to terrorize you for about a week, and then gives you a little sweetheart offer if you resign in the next week.… Don’t be fooled! He’s tricked hundreds of people with that offer. If you accept that offer and resign, he’ll stiff you.… That promise is worth nothing.” 

Montana Sen. Steve Daines, a Republican and Trump supporter had a different outlook. 

“Senator Daines believes our parks and park employees are an important part of our Montana way of life and is working the Administration on this directive. Daines also plans to work with President Trump to examine all aspects of spending to ensure taxpayer dollars are going where they are intended,” an aide to the Senator said in a statement to the Hungry Horse News. 

But the OPM letter goes on to warn that regardless of what happens, cuts are coming for most federal agencies, Park Service included. 

“While a few agencies and even branches of the military are likely to see increases in the size of their workforce, the majority of federal agencies are likely to be downsized through restructurings, realignments, and reductions in force. These actions are likely to include the use of furloughs and the reclassification to at-will status for a substantial number of federal employees,” the email reads. 

Garde, said the hiring freeze impacts about 1,400 seasonal and permanent jobs nationwide, puts 1,700 probationary jobs (people who have worked less than a year) under scrutiny and 1,400 ranger jobs who saw their job offers recently rescinded. 

He noted that OPM directive on Jan. 20 was supposed to exempt seasonal employees, but at this point that hasn’t been the case. A link to the OPM letter exempting seasonal employees appeared to have been taken down from its website. Garder also said the Park Service was supposed to come up with a plan for hiring seasonals, but it hasn’t been approved yet. 

Remote workers are also firmly in the crosshairs. 

“The substantial majority of federal employees who have been working remotely since Covid will be required to return to their physical offices five days a week. Going forward, we also expect our physical offices to undergo meaningful consolidation and divestitures, potentially resulting in physical office relocations for a number of federal workers,” the email to employees states. 

But the Hungry Horse News knows of at least two longtime and distinguished Park Service employees who work remotely, as they often move around the country from park to park, as part of their jobs. 

How they will be treated remains to be seen. 

Garder also points out that living near coveted parks like Glacier and Yellowstone, is cost prohibitive for some employees, so they have to live in outlying communities, if they live close to the park at all. 

The Hungry Horse News was able to confirm that local Park Service employees had received the resignation email locally, and Garder confirmed that as well. 

“It appears that (almost) every federal worker received it,” he said. 

The uncertainty has a chilling effect on the Park Service as a whole and other federal jobs, Garder noted. 

“The cumulative impact harms morale and threatens to reduce the ranks of an already understaffed Park Service,” he said. 

But the OPM email to employees sees it otherwise. 

“The federal workforce should be comprised of the best America has to offer. We will insist on excellence at every level — our performance standards will be updated to reward and promote those that exceed expectations and address in a fair and open way those who do not meet the high standards which the taxpayers of this country have a right to demand,” it reads. 

Glacier National Park, like many other parks would normally be hiring summer seasonals right now. 

Steve Gniadek, a retired park biologist, was concerned about the current situation and spoke from his own experiences. 

“It’s got to be incredibly demoralizing to federal workers just trying to do their jobs,” he said Thursday. “They’re being treated like enemies and they’re not.” 

“How can they keep the gates open in Glacier if they have no seasonals?” he added. 

Past administrations, he noted have done similar things. 

He recalled hiring a biological technician to monitor wildlife along the Going-to-the-Sun Road during road construction 30 years ago. 

The technician worked two weeks and the funding was pulled abruptly. Gniadek had to let the person go. 

He said workers today do not want to be in the same boat. 

“They don’t want to get into that position,” he said.