I have to jump in here, because this thread hits close to home. I have worked in a lot of offices in a lot of places during my career, and let's just say, as you are discovering, that the state of knowledge about the back country can be quite variable. Then consider that the person answering the phone can be anyone from the typist to the big boss, and you open the door to a wide variety of answers.

In the typical organization there are going to be a fairly small number of individuals, relative to the total organization, who will be conversant with current conditions and practices, and that is in a situation where there is significant wilderness/back country interest.

One of my more embarrassing experiences came when a group of cavers and I were securing permits for exploration of a fairly large cave on the north rim, Grand Canyon. This was a cooperative endeavor with the park resource management staff, and we were producing a map of the cave, along with exploration of some promising leads, for the park. Anyway, when we got to the N rim, we needed a permit. In the course of acquiring the permit, it became abundantly clear that most of our party were far more informed about the conditions surrounding this cave and its access than the issuing ranger, who had obviously never been anywhere near the cave (most of our party had at least one excursion to the cave; I was the newbie). I felt rather embarrassed for the NPS.

There are good signs. I noticed that on the web page for Olympic, they post a digest of the report of the latest trip over a trail; it looks like a fairly good way to get up to date information out there.

All rangers and employees wear the same or similar uniforms; that doesn't mean they possess the same information.

One more thing. Most of the time I was in the service, I was employed for my archeological talents (?). I found out that I was getting outdoors at least as much as the typical ranger, but again, all arkies aren't programmed the same way. The lady referred to may have been a office wallflower (I hope not!).