USDA Presses Ahead With Forest Service Reorganization Despite Court Order; Administration Appeals

By MES Dispatch Staff

The Briefing

• Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said Thursday the administration remains “full-bore ahead” on reorganizing the Forest Service and other Agriculture Department agencies, one week after a federal judge blocked the plan.
• The plan would move Forest Service headquarters from Washington to Salt Lake City, close 23 research stations and replace many regional offices with state offices.
• U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria halted the reorganization in an Oct. 13 order while a lawsuit from federal employee unions, environmental groups and local officials proceeds; the administration has appealed.
• Administration officials say the changes will trim costs and concentrate resources in Western states, which hold nearly 90% of national forest lands, while opponents say they are meant to cut the workforce.
• The administration also wants to shift wildfire fighting from the Forest Service to a new Wildland Fire Service, a move Congress has so far blocked.

BILLINGS, Mont. — Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said Thursday that the Trump administration is moving ahead with a sweeping reorganization of the Forest Service, even after a judge halted the effort, the Associated Press reported.

The plan would relocate Forest Service headquarters to Salt Lake City, close 23 research stations and replace many regional offices with state offices. It is part of a broader USDA realignment that would also affect food and nutrition programs and rural development, among others. The plan is stalled under court order but is already under appeal. “We are full-bore ahead in the reorganization,” Rollins told reporters on a conference call.

Administration officials say the reorganization will cut costs and put resources closer to Western states that contain nearly 90% of national forest lands. Federal employee unions, environmental groups and local officials, including in California, Maryland and Washington, are challenging the plan, arguing it is a way to achieve deep workforce cuts.

U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria in California sided with the challengers in an Oct. 13 order, halting the changes while the lawsuit moves forward. He wrote that the reorganization would likely force thousands of USDA employees to choose between relocating, often to another state, and losing their jobs. He also found that the administration almost certainly violated congressional limits on using money intended for other purposes.

The administration has also sought to transfer wildfire fighting from the Forest Service to the new federal Wildland Fire Service, a move Congress has so far blocked. Last month, officials scaled back part of the plan, saying 41 research facilities that faced closure would stay open; nearly two dozen research stations are still slated to close. The Forest Service workforce has fallen about 16% under the administration, from more than 39,000 employees to 33,000, according to government data.

Chris Iverson, who spent nearly three decades at the Forest Service before retiring from a leadership role during President Donald Trump’s first term, said it is unclear how much the reorganization would save and that it could cost the agency experienced personnel, including wildfire fighters. He added that replacing regional offices with state offices could increase the influence of governors seeking to advance timber, oil and gas and grazing interests.

Utah Gov. Spencer Cox has called the move, including a headquarters in Salt Lake City, a big win for Utah and the West, and Republican lawmakers have said it would give agency officials more local input. A survey by the National Federation of Federal Employees union found most Forest Service workers opposed the plan and were unwilling to relocate.