The automatic budget cuts forced by the sequester are already forcing changes at one local site.
The Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area should be hiring seasonal workers for the National Park Service site. But they're not.
"That's where we will feel it the most," says the park's Rudy Evenson. "We will not be hiring seasonal maintenance workers that we, usually, would hire."
"Our ability to keep up with those maintenances requirements will be severely hampered, due to the sequester," he says.
Evenson tells WSB those workers are responsible for picking up trash, cleaning the park's restroom and cutting the grass. Without them, some sections of the site may be closed due to a lack of maintenance.
One area that will not be impacted by the cuts is public safety.
"Any changes in visitors services will not affect the ability of emergency services to reach the river," Evenson says.
And for those wondering why a 5 percent budget cut is having such an impact, it's because of the timing.
The federal fiscal year ends on September 30, and the sequester cuts are for the current fiscal year. So Evenson says the sequester will mean a 5 percent cut condensed to the final seven months of the fiscal year and not spread over a full year's budget.