Seniority Will Drive Some State Park Cuts

Some senior state parks employees will be able to avoid layoffs by taking more junior positions, according to a Department of Natural Resources spokesperson.

Employees learned Monday that more than 100 positions will be eliminated due to declining tax revenues.

But exactly which employees will lose their jobs won't be determined for another three weeks.

DNR spokesman Travis Ford said employees with seniority will have more options. "In some cases, they have the right to do that," Ford told The Notebook Monday.

"We know it's going to be more than 100. We don't know exactly what the number will be," Ford said.

Job reductions will be spread across the state, from the central office to regional offices, down to individual parks.

"The most important thing we had to do is to let these employees know today. It's not fun to announce but we needed to get them notified," Ford said.

Ford said senior employees will have three weeks to decide whether they'd like to stay on in a more junior position.

He said the the department would have more specifics on what jobs will be cut and where in early November.

Get more from the Associated Press HERE.