Rapid Readout: Implications of the U.S. Forest Service Reorganization

The Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) held a Rapid Readout about the recently announced reorganization and restructuring of the U.S. Forest Service. Housed within the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Forest Service manages nearly 200 million acres of federal land, mostly in western states. Because the service’s focus is primarily on the West, the Administration is proposing to move the agency’s headquarters from Washington, D.C., to Salt Lake City, Utah. It also intends to reorganize staff into state hubs and eliminate 57 research labs. The Rapid Readout explored how these changes could impact decades of science, including key climate-related forest research. The session also covered the implications of the reorganization on both wildfire preparedness and response and annual budget and appropriation conversations. 

Highlights

KEY TAKEAWAYS

The Department of Agriculture recently announced the reorganization of the U.S. Forest Service, which will relocate the agency's headquarters from Washington, D.C., to Salt Lake City, Utah. This is expected to affect 6,500 employees and result in the closure of forest research facilities. It will also end the regional service model (there are currently nine regional offices across the country) and implement a state-centered approach with 15 different offices. The Forest Service has not experienced a reorganization since it was created in 1905.  The consolidation of the Forest Service has not happened yet; it will take anywhere from six to 18 months for employees and the public to see changes. The reorganization is not expected to impact management of the 2026 wildfire season. Under the reorganization, all research and development activities will be housed at a new hub in Fort Collins, Colorado, which could increase the efficiency of the research moving forward. The Forest Service is not closing any experimental forests, which are unique long-term federal research sites. About 20 research stations are remaining open, but an additional 57 facilities are being reevaluated. Separate from the Forest Service reorganization, the Administration is also consolidating all wildland fire programs and responses under the new U.S. Wildland Fire Service at the Department of the Interior. This would separate wildfire-related activities from forest management activities and impact the role of the Forest Service going forward. A request for proposals to study this is forthcoming and should give stakeholders additional information.   Despite multiple Congressional hearings on the issue, many questions remain unanswered about the Forest Service reorganization: How will program delivery (i.e., permitting or recreation) be affected? Will it be more efficient? Will they be able to hire more people on the ground and how will the reorganization impact staff morale? How will partner agreements change? Will this build overall public trust in the Forest Service or not?