February 14, 2019  |   

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

February 14, 2019

 

MEDIA CONTACT:

Kenji Haroutunian, phone number, info@friendsofjosh.org

 

Friends Of Joshua Tree provides grants to furloughed workers via launch of Impact Relief Fund  

 Friends group creates new program available to furloughed contractors of Joshua Tree National Park

JOSHUA TREE, CA – Continuing to support the community of Joshua Tree and the Park Service employees most affected by the 35 day federal government shutdown, FOJT has established a grant program to help contract workers who get no back pay cover their losses and pay their bills.

Beyond the damage done inside the Park boundaries, the shutdown created financial hardship for furloughed Park staff as well as contract workers who do work for the Park in such areas as road maintenance, facilities management, direct conservation service, environmental research, education and archeological field work.

‘Now that the shutdown is over, Park staff are back to work and have received back pay for the time they were furloughed’ said John Lauretig, Executive Director of Friends Of Joshua Tree and a former Park Ranger in Joshua Tree. ‘the contract workers who lost the entire month of January did not receive any such payment, so we’re stepping up to help’ he said. FOJT has received increased donations as the shutdown persisted, due to both media coverage of the volunteer efforts being led by the community and to the generosity of people across the nation who love Joshua Tree National Park.

“We know some of the damage to the Park will not be seen from the road, or at the gates. Some will take decades to heal; but some of the damage is to local businesses, families and workers who got caught in the political crossfire as Congress wrestles with itself and the White House to adopt a budget that we can move forward on with confidence” said Lauretig, referring to the stalemate that continues to plague our lawmakers as they figure out how to pay for everything from border security to public lands protection. February 15 is the deadline for a budget to pass both houses of Congress and get a signature from President Trump, otherwise we again go into a federal government shutdown.

Grant checks were distributed at a meetup of Great Basin Institute (GBI) contract employees on Monday morning. “it was really great; it felt honest and sincere. The support from the community was awesome. A lot of toilets were cleaned to get us this cash.” commented one staffer who wished to remain anonymous. 

Going forward, FOJT continues to stay close to the evolving situation in the park and the community of Joshua Tree and will report updates frequently as the situation changes on the ground.

In addition to offering grants via the Impact Relief Fund, FOJT will continue to actively fund and support JOSAR (Search & Rescue in JTNP), Joshua Tree Climber Stewards, Climbers Coffee, the Hardware Anchor Replacement Project, and the annual Climb Smart event in October.

Friends of Joshua Tree is a 501 c(3) non-profit organization dedicated to preserving the historical tradition of climbing in Joshua Tree National Park. Friends of Joshua Tree advocates, communicates, and encourages ethical and environmentally sound climbing practices, and works to shape park policy on climbing and climbing-related issues. Toward that end, Friends of Joshua Tree acts as the liaison between the climbing community and the National Park service.

 

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