Forest Service leaves D.C.

The United States Forest Service headquarters will move to Salt Lake City, the Trump administration announced March 31, leaving behind its historic building on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. The goal is to move the Forest Service “closer to the forests and communities it serves,” Forest Service Chief Tom Schultz explained. The administration chose Salt Lake City for its affordability and “family-focused way of life.”

The agency will also undergo a major restructuring, closing all nine regional offices and transitioning to a state-based organizational model. Over 50 research facilities will also close, and research will be coordinated through a single department in Fort Collins, Colo. Schultz said the changes would be in place by summer 2027.

The announcement comes on the Forest Service’s 150th anniversary. Congress established the first forestry position within the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) in 1876. The Forest Service began in 1905, led by Gifford Pinchot, who helped Theodore Roosevelt create over 16 million acres of National Forest. Unlike his contemporary John Muir, Pinchot advocated for “multiple-­use” management of public lands. He wrote that “conservation means the wise use of the earth and its resources for the lasting good of men.” While Pinchot opposed clearcutting, he made National Forests available for logging and mining by private contractors.

Throughout the 20th century, the Forest Service’s activities expanded to include managing watersheds, wildlife, recreation, and, most recently, care of forest ecosystems. The Trump administration frames the Forest Service restructure as a return to Pinchot’s founding principles. In a press release, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said that “proper forest management means a healthy and productive forest system that provides affordable, quality lumber to build homes right here in America.”

The Forest Service budget changes for 2027 indicate a shift toward extraction. The amount dedicated to extracting forest products increased from $39 million to $175 million. The Forest Service cut the trail management budget by 67% and requested no money for research.

Critics, notably conservation and recreation groups, decry the restructure as a disguised dismantling. After releasing a statement lambasting the restructure, outdoor gear company Patagonia is leading a coalition of companies lobbying Congress to stop the changes. “By shutting down USFS research stations, culling staff, and moving the headquarters away from where decisions about federal lands are made, it will be sur­prising if USFS can effectively manage anything at all,” a Patagonia statement said.

“They’re putting the chess pieces in place to get rid of our national forests,” said former Forest Service firefighter Max Alonzo, voicing a common fear that the government will eventually sell off large swathes of public land.

Other former employees see benefits to operating through state rather than regional offices. Former Forest Service Chief Dale Bosworth says it’s “very frustrating” for states like Idaho to coordinate between regional offices in Utah and Montana. But he questions the move to Salt Lake City. “The chief and his immediate deputies ought to be in Washington, where they can work with the other agencies and Congress.”

Ann Bartuska, a former research undersecretary for the USDA, agrees that some consolidation makes sense for research leadership. But she says that many research stations slated for closure have decades-long ongoing experiments. “You can’t just pick up an experimental forest site and move it to Salt Lake City,” she said.