The Agriculture Division is planning to maneuver the Forest Service’s headquarters throughout the nation to Salt Lake Metropolis, Utah — step one of a broader company reorganization.
USDA mentioned relocating the Forest Service headquarters will “begin a sweeping restructuring of the agency,” in addition to a consolidation of its amenities nationwide.
The division, in its announcement on Tuesday, mentioned this reorganization would carry company leaders and staff nearer to the communities they serve. The overwhelming majority of Forest Service land is concentrated within the Western a part of the nation.
As a part of this reorganization, the Forest Service has designated 15 state administrators to supervise its operations inside a number of states.
Underneath this reorganization, the Forest Service will shut all 9 of its regional workplaces and relocate that work to 6 hubs throughout the nation —Albuquerque, New Mexico; Athens, Georgia; Fort Collins, Colorado; Madison, Wisconsin; Missoula, Montana; and Placerville, California.
USDA mentioned these hubs, which it calls “operational service centers,” have been chosen based mostly on the place division staff and infrastructure are already positioned. The division mentioned extra operational service facilities could also be introduced because the reorganization progresses.
Among the amenities at the moment serving as regional workplaces might be repurposed. Regional workplaces in Juneau, Alaska, and Albuquerque might be transformed into state workplaces — and the latter can even function a enterprise assist service heart. The regional workplace in Vallejo, California, will function a nationwide coaching heart.
The Forest Service can even consolidate all of its analysis operations right into a single group positioned in Fort Collins.
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins mentioned in an announcement on Tuesday that transferring the Forest Service headquarters to Salt Lake Metropolis would place company leaders “closer to the landscapes we manage and the people who depend on them.”
“Moving the Forest Service closer to the forests we manage is an essential action that will improve our core mission of managing our forests while saving taxpayer dollars and boosting employee recruitment,” Rollins mentioned.
USDA has embarked by itself reorganization and is planning to maneuver greater than half of its staff within the Washington, D.C. space to 5 regional hubs throughout the nation.
In February, USDA introduced it’s promoting its South Constructing, a part of its D.C. headquarters complicated.
The division’s relocation plans are a lot broader in scope than what occurred beneath the primary Trump administration. In 2019, USDA sought to transfer a number of hundred staff in its analysis bureaus from the D.C. space to Kansas Metropolis, however most impacted staff selected to go away the company, quite than relocate.
Forest Service Chief Tom Schultz mentioned in an announcement that the reorganization will make the company “nimble, efficient, effective and closer to the forests and communities it serves.”
“Effective stewardship and active management are achieved on the ground, where forests and communities are found — not just behind a desk in the capital,” Schultz mentioned.
The Forest Service’s wildfire operations will proceed to function largely unchanged. Its Fireplace and Aviation Administration program, which, in line with USDA, serves because the “backbone” of nationwide incident coordination, will maintain its present construction.
“There will be no interruption or change to our field-based operational firefighters or their positions,” USDA wrote.
The Forest Service’s wildfire operations will proceed reporting to the deputy chief for fireplace and aviation administration on the Nationwide Interagency Fireplace Middle in Boise, Idaho.
“This structure ensures the agency’s ongoing, close coordination with the Department of the Interior and interagency partners,” USDA mentioned.
In February, the Inside Division blazed forward with a reorganization plan that may consolidate its wildland firefighting operations.
These plans, nevertheless, cease wanting merging wildland fireplace personnel or applications from the Forest Service with related assets on the Inside Division.
An inside memo states the Wildland Fireplace Service “will unify wildland fire management within DOI only.”
“The success of these efforts will rely on ongoing support from Congress to secure the necessary funding and authorities needed to implement and sustain these important reforms,” the memo states.
President Donald Trump signed an govt order final summer time requiring the Inside Division and USDA to consolidate their wildland fireplace applications “to the maximum degree practicable and consistent with applicable law.” The Trump administration’s fiscal 2026 price range request famous that wildland fireplace response has been break up throughout 5 companies in two departments.
A complete spending deal to fund the Inside Division by the tip of fiscal 2026 didn’t endorse the Trump administration’s plans to consolidate federal wildland firefighting operations right into a single company.
Democrats on the Senate Appropriations Committee wrote in a abstract of the Inside spending invoice final month that the spending bundle “specifically provides funding to continue wildland firefighting using the longstanding practice of funding both the U.S. Forest Service and the Department of the Interior to allow Congress to consider legislative proposals for such a major change.”
If you need to contact this reporter about current adjustments within the federal authorities, please e mail jheckman@federalnewsnetwork.com, or attain out on Sign at jheckman.29
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