{"id":43130,"date":"2019-01-28T18:24:08","date_gmt":"2019-01-29T02:24:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/?p=43130"},"modified":"2019-04-12T14:52:37","modified_gmt":"2019-04-12T21:52:37","slug":"i-love-it-and-i-have-passion-for-it-federal-employees-on-returning-to-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/news\/i-love-it-and-i-have-passion-for-it-federal-employees-on-returning-to-work","title":{"rendered":"‘I love it and I have passion for it’: Federal Employees On Returning to Work"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jon Freeman, a 38-year-old squad leader for the Great Smoky Wildland Fire Module of the National Park Service (NPS), spent the month of January posted up in a hammock on the beach in the Florida Keys, waiting for the government to reopen. He lived in his camper van and taught scuba lessons occasionally when he could get the work. But mostly, he was stuck waiting, feeling like he was on a tight leash that could tug him back to Great Smoky Mountains National Park at any moment.<\/span><\/p>\n

Kassie Karssen, a 26-year-old wildlife biologist who has been with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) in southeast Indiana for four years, spent the shutdown unpacking boxes in her new home while her husband, who\u2019s an engineer, worked 60 hours a week or more to make sure they could pay their bills. Karssen said she had to sign paperwork at the start of the shutdown agreeing to stay away from all USFWS property and equipment until further notice, which was agonizing for the recent hire, who worked as a fellow and intern for the USFWS for three years before transitioning to full-time last summer. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI worked so hard to get to this position,\u201d she said. \u201cThis is the whole reason I pursued my masters. … It\u2019s been my biggest motivator.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Dave Santucci, a park guide for the\u00a0<\/span>National Park Service in Boston<\/span>, said he went to the YMCA every day during the government shutdown, to keep himself occupied. He put together two 1,000-piece jigsaw puzzles, read many books, made homemade pasta and bread, played video games, and worked a temporary job to help pay the bills. The wait to go back to work felt like living on standby, he said. In an interview on January 24, he told the Co-op Journal, \u201cWe can’t really go anywhere, so we must stay close to work as one never knows when the government will reopen.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Then, on January 25, <\/span>President Trump announced a short-term deal <\/span><\/a>to reopen the government for three weeks, until February 15, putting an end to the longest shutdown in U.S. history. In the blink of an eye, Karssen, Santucci, Freeman and their fellow federal public lands employees were headed back to work.<\/span><\/p>\n

Upon hearing the news, Freeman hopped into his van and drove 16 hours in one weekend, from the Florida Keys to the Great Smoky Mountains. Karssen said she ran around her house joyously, collecting her keys, tools and uniform parts in anticipation of her first day back at work on Monday. Santucci said he typically works weekends, so he received a call from his supervisor on Saturday morning, just a day after President Trump\u2019s announcement, telling him that he could return to work that afternoon.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Missed my little office space \u2764\ufe0f #backtowork<\/a><\/p>\n

A post shared by Kassie Karssen<\/a> (@kassiekarssen) on