April 9, 2026: The U.S. Forest Service announced that it is shuttering dozens of research stations and relocating its headquarters as part of a massive reorganization." (From left-center SFGate, a Bay Area news website.)
The article goes on to say:
The agency’s headquarters will be moved from Washington, D.C., to Salt Lake City, according to a news release published last week. Sweeping closures are also set to take place across its research division: 57 of 77 research facilities across 31 states are set to close, and any remaining facilities will operate under a single research station in Fort Collins, Colorado.
Six research facilities in California — located in Anderson, Fresno, Chico, Fort Bragg, Mount Shasta and Hat Creek — will close, according to the Forest Service’s website. All nine of the agency’s regional offices will also be closed and consolidated to operations centers located in Albuquerque, New Mexico; Athens, Georgia; Fort Collins, Colorado; Madison, Wisconsin; Missoula, Montana; and Placerville, California.
According to the Forest Service, these changes are taking place as part of an effort to “unify research priorities, accelerate the application of science to management decisions, and reduce administrative duplication.” Public land advocates, however, said the restructuring could be disastrous for an agency already faced with over a year’s worth of workforce shortages and budget cuts. President Donald Trump’s administration fired thousands of Forest Service workers in early 2025, a move that sent shockwaves through rural communities that depend on the agency for employment opportunities and the management of nearby public land.
“This is nothing more than intentionally trying to create chaos,” Tracy Stone-Manning, the former director of the Bureau of Land Management and the president of a conservation nonprofit called the Wilderness Society, told SFGATE over the phone.
Click here for an article in the Glenwood Springs, Colorado, PostIndependent, by Ryan Spencer, titled "U.S. Forest Service reorganization prompts concerns of further employee loss, impacts ahead of fire season." The article says:
All 10 of the Forest Service’s regional offices will close and move their operations to a “network of operational service centers” in Fort Collins; Albuquerque, New Mexico; Athens, Georgia; Madison, Wisconsin; Missoula, Montana; and Placerville, California, according to the plan. The reorganization also calls for closing more than 50 research centers across the country and “consolidating” research operations into a single organization headquartered in Fort Collins.
This is coming "as the West faces record-low snowpack conditions that could make for a particularly dangerous wildfire season," and goes on to say:
The National Association of Forest Service Retirees — a nonprofit that includes hundreds of former agency employees, including seven previous chiefs — is among those that have raised concern about how the reorganization will impact the agency.
Bill Avey, the nonprofit’s chair, said he’s heard that thousands of the agency’s employees have received letters notifying them of possible relocation, though it’s unclear how many will actually be required to move.
“First and foremost, we’re concerned about ensuring that current employees have the support, both the technical support and leadership support, they need to do the important work the public expects on the public’s national forests,” Avey said.
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