Rollins says Forest Service reorganization remains on course despite court order

Chhabria said implementation would likely force thousands to relocate or lose jobs

The reorganization would move Forest Service headquarters from Washington to Salt Lake City, shutter 23 research stations, and close many regional offices in favor of state offices. Those Forest Service changes form part of a broader realignment at the U.S. Department of Agriculture that would also change programs for food and nutrition, rural development and other services.

On Thursday, following an announcement on fertilizer production, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins spoke to reporters by conference call. “We are full-bore ahead in the reorganization,” Rollins said. “We believe in it more today than we ever have — taking the USDA to our constituents, which is rural America, the Forest Service out West.”

The reorganization remained paused under Judge Vince Chhabria’s Oct. 13 order, but the administration had appealed. Rollins made clear that the administration had not given up on the plan.

U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria in California sided with the opponents in an order halting the reorganization while their lawsuit works its way through the courts. Chhabria wrote, “If implemented, the planned reorganization activities will likely put thousands of USDA employees to the choice of relocating far from their current home — often to a different state — or losing their job.” He also said the administration “almost certainly” violated congressional restrictions on using money on the reorganization that was intended for other purposes.

Federal employee unions, environmental groups and local officials, including those in California, Maryland and Washington state, are trying to quash the proposal. They say the shuffling of employees is a ploy to achieve the administration’s goal of deep cuts in the workforce. The Agriculture Department has also been eliminating layers of management as part of President Donald Trump’s push to slim the federal workforce and make it more efficient.

Government data show the Forest Service workforce has been cut about 16% under Trump, from more than 39,000 employees to 33,000. The National Federation of Federal Employees union said a survey of Forest Service workers showed a large majority opposed the pending reorganization and most were unwilling to relocate.

The administration scaled back part of the proposal last month, saying 41 research facilities across the country that faced possible closure would remain open. Almost two dozen research stations remain slated to close.

Administration officials say the reorganization will trim costs and further concentrate resources in Western states, which are home to nearly 90% of national forest lands.

President Donald Trump also wants to remove one of the Forest Service’s most prominent roles, fighting wildfires, and transfer that responsibility to the new federal Wildland Fire Service. Congress so far has blocked that move. Wildfires have grown worse in recent decades because of climate change, and battling them has consumed a greater share of the Forest Service budget, forcing officials to look for cost savings elsewhere.

Chris Iverson, who spent almost three decades at the Forest Service before retiring from a leadership position during Trump’s first term, said it was not clear how much the reorganization would actually save. Iverson said the changes could result in the loss of personnel with extensive experience, including experience battling wildfires.

Eliminating regional offices and creating state offices could open the door to more influence by governors pushing the interests of the timber, oil and gas and grazing industries, Iverson said. “It’s just going to be a closer alignment of Forest Service leadership with state government priorities,” Iverson said.

Utah Gov. Spencer Cox described the reorganization, including the new headquarters in Salt Lake City, as “a big win for Utah and the West.” GOP lawmakers said the plan would ensure agency officials get more local input.

During his first term, Trump moved the Bureau of Land Management to Colorado, citing many of the same reasons, including a desire to put top officials closer to the public lands they oversee. The Biden administration reversed course two years later, moving the bureau’s headquarters back to Washington, D.C.