Forest Service to close 23 stations while moving headquarters to Utah

The U.S. Forest Service will close 23 research and development stations across more than a dozen states as part of an organizational overhaul under President Donald Trump aimed at trimming costs and focusing resources in Western states. Agency officials say ongoing science work and experimental forests will continue elsewhere, and that 95 employees from the shuttered stations will be reassigned to other sites within commuting areas, with the closures and prior regional office shutdowns projected to save about $16 million. The overhaul also includes moving the agency’s headquarters from Washington to Salt Lake City, expected to be completed by next summer, a plan the administration says will put leadership closer to managed landscapes and communities. Local leaders and members of Congress helped prevent the closure of 41 additional research facilities that had been at risk. Conservation groups criticized the changes, warning they could reduce public access to forests and harm wildlife habitat and clean air and water. The reporting also notes that federal data shows the Forest Service has lost about 6,000 employees, roughly 15% of its workforce, during Trump’s second term amid broader natural-resource cuts.