No valuable career should be too expensive to work in.

Government outdoor recreation jobs pay too little and charge too much to make it a viable career for most.

Thank you to Justin Farrell (of “Billionaire Wilderness” fame) for sparking a discussion about recreation trails and labor.

“We only get to hire half the staff we’re actually hiring for” because there aren’t enough applicants, said Remo Fickler, a grizzled 23-year National Park Service veteran and trail crew supervisor in Yosemite, lamenting the decline.