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Show I Am Proud OfBCNP Staff I am proud to be the superintendent of Bryce Canyon National Park. I am proud of the staff we have at this unit of the National Park System and the things we have been able to accomplish. I appreciate being able to associate with the employees - past and present - who constitute Bryce Canyon National Park. I have always acknowledged it is only through the hard work of each of these individuals, management, supervisors, permanent and seasonal staff, that we are able to accomplish all that we do.- We have accomplished a great deal in protecting the resources of this park. We have improved our service to the public and we have enriched our employee' experiences and training. As a federal agency, Bryce Canyon National Park operates within the hiring authorities and requirements of the federal government, albeit these are sometimes confusing and restrictive, even to those who work with them on a daily basis. Federal agencies frequently swing between periods ot open employment opportunities and absolute freezes. Within the first six months of my arrival at Bryce Canyon in 1991, I identified our need to move away from temporary appointments and to strive to employ our staff on a more permanent basis. We are succeeding in that shift. Bryce Canyon currently employs 40 full-time full-time or subject-to-furlough permanent employees. Of these, 19 were hired from the local area. Of those 19 individuals, 13 were converted from seasonal or temporary appointments since 1991. Indeed, some criticism has been raised that local hiring does not provide the equal opportunity and cultural diversity for which we should be striving. Whenever open recruitment authority was allowed, local individuals had the opportunity to apply for these positions. In each of these cases, our existing seasonal employees and other local individuals were encou.-aged to apply yet each made their own decision whether or not to apply for the vacant positions. It is grossly unfair to characterize the park as taking illegal or inappropriate action when an individual does not apply for several vacant positions, i.e., passes up several opportunities to compete for permanent employment, and then is unable to compete for a position because that position is being filled durinc the current Department of the Interior employment freeze. Given that freeze, the position was filled by a local individual through a veterans readjustment program. Under that program, the employee, through time, will be given the training and experience to fulfill the complete requirements of his new position. I acknowledge federal hiring practices are at times confusing and frustrating. In response to that reality, we have devoted and will continue to devote significant time and effort to understanding these laws and regulations and in keeping employees and applicants as knowledgeable as possible. However, none of this can justify the characterizations being made, especially when the truth is known or at minimum is available to the individuals making these accusations. Fred J. Fagergren Superintendent |