Heads Up to Returning or Potential Yellowstone Workers

[born2travel]

We have been getting wind that Park County Wyoming will begin enforcing a state law requiring out of state worker to pay $50 per month, per vehicle fee for Yellowstone National Park workers. A quick google search confirmed the prevailing wind.

A car and an RV equals $100.00 per month, up to four months. After that you have to register the vehicles in Wyoming. When you register the vehicles that requires transferring the title to a Wyoming title. Doesn't your driver's license have to match your plates? Then you get to change your insurance. The full season puts all seasonal park employees into the change everything category. Not to mention seasonal employees have a PO Box address. Those aren't acceptable for DMV purposes. Talk about a can of worms! The law has been on the books a long time but nobody can find information on it being enforced on seasonal workers.

It doesn't sound like any of the employers are giving anyone a warning about this. Maybe they feel once you show up you are trapped. Every state has some kind of similar language about registering vehicles for long term residents. I haven't heard of the registration being forced on people who are moving down the road after the season ends. I don't know how they plan of enforcing it. It doesn't seem they are going after any of the other summer season RVers that work in the region. Just those at Yellowstone.

[Twomed]

Grapevine info from park HQ indicates this will "probably" happen this summer.

Fees in WY or about 5% of gross income tax on the MT side. Choose one!!

[firedoc]

This is a political move instigated by a professional disgruntled photographer in Cody. The inciting factor has been that children from Yellowstone have been going to Wyoming schools without having to
pay their way. Word is being put out to stay away from Cody, especially if you have a Yellowstone employee sticker on your window. If they really press this point I see Cody suffering the most from decreased business. And of course the seasonal workers having to pay for something that is not their doing.
Our Yellowstone employer has been on top of communicating with us about this possible development. May be a lot of partial season workers this year(less than 4 months).

[born2travel]

It seems Forever Yellowstone is being upfront to their employees. Delaware North and Xanterra not so much. Haven't heard from any YPSS folks.

Changing plates, titles, licenses, and vehicle insurance for the privilege of working on the park is a bit pricey. More than the income tax in West Yellowstone.

Enforcement tactics are still unknown. But getting caught would likely be more costly than the other two options.

We are thinking we will work or volunteer elsewhere. The drama can play out without us. But we will have the popcorn ready.

[SeeTheUSA]

There are several sources that indicate the Wyoming $50/month thing will apply to anyone “employed” (NPS, Xanterra, Delaware North, YPSS, Yellowstone Forever ... perhaps there are others).

Any idea how it might apply to NPS “volunteers” (who aren’t actually employed, commonly referred to as “VIP’s”)?

[DenverTransplant]

I had a similar thing happen to me many, many years ago. At the time I think you were required to register your car in Wyoming within 30 days. I was in college working summers wherever my parents were (my Dad was a construction manager for a major constructor, so we moved a lot), and that year we were in Green River WY.

I was working for the summer as part of a survey crew on a construction project and generally always rode to work with a couple of co-workers. Half the people working on the site were from out of state.

My last day of work I drove in to the site and on the way out of the only road out of the site got caught up in an inspection road block the cops regularly set up to catch the out of state workers. The cop gave me a ticket that required me to get Wyoming plates within 14 days. I told him I was leaving the state then next morning. He said don’t come back to Wyoming. I wonder if they are still looking for me.