Executive Order 13838, signed on May 25, 2018, carved out a significant exemption from prevailing wage protections by excluding recreational services operating on federal lands from the requirements established under Executive Order 13658. The order directly eliminated the mandate that contractors providing services such as campground management, equipment rentals, and recreational facilities on public lands pay workers the prevailing wage established for their region. This mechanism operates as a targeted carve-out rather than a wholesale repeal, narrowing the scope of wage protections while leaving them intact for other federal contractors.
The practical impact falls directly on workers in the recreational services sector and the communities where federal lands operate. Campground managers, equipment rental staff, and recreational facility workers on public lands now face reduced compensation compared to their counterparts in other federally-contracted work. Simultaneously, private companies holding concession contracts on national forests, national parks, and other federal properties benefit from substantially lower labor costs, improving their profit margins while shifting the financial burden to employees who experience wage suppression relative to prevailing regional standards.
This action reflects a broader administrative pattern of reducing labor protections and costs for private industry. While related economic actions like the tariff continuation and de minimis suspension emphasize protecting American manufacturing and consumers, this recreational services exemption operates in the opposite direction by reducing standards for American workers. The prevailing wage requirement had existed specifically to ensure that federal contractors—entities profiting from public resources and public contracts—would maintain community wage standards. By carving recreational services into a separate category, the order accelerated a decades-long tension between labor protection policies and cost-reduction priorities in federal contracting.
No significant legal challenges to the exemption appear to have succeeded, and the order remains in effect. Reversal would require either executive action by a subsequent administration or congressional legislation reinstating prevailing wage coverage for recreational services on federal lands.
Executive Order 13838 exempting recreational services from prevailing wage requirements
💰 Economy · First Term (2017–2021) · 🤖 AI-categorized
On May 25, 2018, President Trump signed Executive Order 13838, which exempted recreational services on federal lands from the prevailing wage requirements established in Executive Order 13658. The order eliminated the requirement that companies providing recreational services on federal property pay workers the prevailing wage for their region. This reduced labor costs for contractors providing services like campground management, equipment rentals, and recreational facilities on federal lands, directly lowering operating expenses for private companies managing these services.