In the News

Bipartisan legislation sponsored by Congressman Gerry Connolly (D-VA), which would provide long-serving temporary seasonal wildland firefighters and other seasonal employees with the same career-advancement opportunities available to other federal employees, passed the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee by a unanimous vote on Wednesday.

Connolly, Ranking Member of the Oversight Subcommittee on Government Reform, introduced the bill - the Land Management Workforce Flexibility Act (LMWFA), H.R. 1531 - earlier this month with Congressmen Rob Bishop (R-UT) and Don Young (R-AK), the current and former chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, as original cosponsors.

The legislation authorizes federal employees serving under time-limited appointments at land management agencies, such as the temporary seasonal “1039” employees of the United States Forest Service, to compete for vacant permanent positions under internal merit promotion procedures at federal agencies, just as any permanent Federal employee is eligible to do today.

“Many federal land management employees, including wildland firefighters, work on a seasonal basis on time-limited appointments as seasonal employees,” Congressman Connolly said.  “These employees are terminated each season and often re-hired in subsequent seasons.  Because of their status, benefits and career advancement opportunities are limited.  Our bipartisan legislation would put them on equal footing with other Federal employees with respect to competing for vacant jobs in the civil service, including permanent seasonal jobs.”

“H.R. 1531 is common-sense legislation that removes needless bureaucratic barriers currently preventing some of our experienced temporary employees from competing for permanent seasonal positions,” said Congressman Young. “This legislation would significantly reduce the costs associated with the high attrition rate in our nation’s temporary seasonal workforce, and enhance the pool of highly-qualified applicants that compete for permanent seasonal positions.  It’s truly a win-win situation for our federal land management agencies.”

“The current barrier to competition placed on our nation’s permanent and temporary seasonal employees demoralizes this dedicated and courageous corps of workers that serve in our land management agencies, increases attrition, and ultimately leads to higher training costs and a less experienced and capable workforce. And as the devastating 2014 California wildfires demonstrated, our country cannot afford to degrade its wildland firefighting and emergency response capabilities,” Connolly said.    

The legislation would not adversely impact veterans’ preference.  The bill applies to an individual serving under a temporary appointment or a term appointment at the following agencies of the U.S. Departments of Agriculture or Interior: Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Indian Affairs, and Bureau of Reclamation.