Why hikers are worried about reorganizing the Forest Service

In March, the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture announced a reorganization of the U.S. Forest Service that would move the agency’s headquarters from Washington, D.C. to Salt Lake City, Utah, and close 50 of the agency’s 70 research stations, including those in Seattle and Wenatchee.

This summer’s fires highlight what this change is risking — for landscapes and communities.  

Wildfire research station closing in Washington

Under the plan, the Pacific Wildland Fire Sciences Laboratory, the Forest Service research station in Seattle, will close. The lab is studying fire hazards in forests, mapping fire threats to rural communities and more. Their research helps forest managers make critical decisions, like when to issue regional smoke warnings for public safety.

This season’s fires show why we need those staff, and why we need them in Washington.   

Red Top Lookout is still operational today and provides fire detection in the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest. A plan to reorganize the U.S. Forest Service would dramatically reduce the agency's ability to prepare for wildfires. Photo by Lee Wang. 

“Over the last year, the Trump administration has seriously weakened the Forest Service’s ability to do its job by pushing out thousands of critical staff," said U.S. Sen. Patty Murray at a roundtable with WTA’s CEO Jaime Loucky and other partners. "Here in Washington state, they want to shut down labs that conduct necessary research, tracking the warning signs for wildfires, and providing guidance for forest managers.” 

Staff at the Forest Service headquarters in Washington, D.C., and at the 50 research stations that will close will not lose their jobs. But if those people want to keep their jobs, they will be forced to relocate — and many will be unable or unwilling to do so. In 2020, the Bureau of Land Management underwent a similar reorganization. Approximately 87% of the workers whose positions moved from Washington, D.C. to Grand Junction, Colorado, left the agency instead of moving across the country.

Forest Service workers who choose to keep their jobs and relocate will likely find it difficult to study forests and guide their management while working from a different state. 

A larger effort to weaken the Forest Service

The reorganization is part of a larger pattern of the current administration dismantling the U.S. Forest Service by eliminating key parts of its workforce. (See the timeline below.)

We are at a critical moment. The government agencies tasked with caring for our public lands are losing the staff they need to manage and sustain those beautiful landscapes, with dire implications for future generations. With more frequent and more powerful wildfires and floods, we need to invest in the people and agencies who can recover outdoor places. This reorganization would be just one more way of blocking the Forest Service from doing its job.   

Last summer, our collective voice stopped the sale of national public lands. 

This year, let’s make sure the U.S. Forest Service and other agencies who care for our shared landscapes have the staff they need.

TAKE ACTION NOW

Administration’s actions to dismantle the Forest Service

Here are key ways the administration has undermined the ability of the Forest Service to manage public lands effectively:

February 2025: The Office of Personal Management directs federal agencies to fire probationary workers. Thousands of Forest Service workers — including seasonal trail crew staff who had recently received promotions into permanent positions — received dismal notifications. 

The firings were ultimately determined to be unlawful, but many Forest Service staff, including experienced trail crew leaders in Washington state, chose to leave federal service after being subjected to the stress and uncertainty of being fired and rehired.

March 2025: The Trump Administration directs the Forest Service to create a plan for mass layoffs, known as a “reduction in force” (RIF). The plans were submitted to the Office of Personnel Management and the Office of Management and Budget. 

April 2025: Forest Service workers receive an offer to quit their jobs and accept early retirement or a buyout worth several months of pay. Forest Service employees told WTA that they received as many as 20 different emails from government leaders encouraging them to take the offers and leave public service prior to a threatened mass layoff. As a result, thousands of Forest Service workers left their jobs, leaving many key roles vacant, locally and nationally.

Undermining the Forest Service puts beautiful landscapes at risk. Photo by Carl Gronquist. 

June 2025: The Trump Administration asks Congress to cut funding for the U.S. Forest Service in 2026 by about $6 billion (67% lower than 2024 enacted levels). The White House requests to cut trail maintenance funding by $12 million (60% cut).

January 2026: Congress rejects the requested cuts to the U.S. Forest Service. The bipartisan budget increased trail maintenance funding at the Forest Service by $2 million (10% increase).

March 2026: The Forest Service announces what it calls a “sweeping restructuring of the agency” with a plan to move agency headquarters to Salt Lake City, Utah, and eliminate regional offices.

Closing offices and moving workers out of Washington D.C. and regional offices to new job locations is listed in the plan as a way to cut the agency’s workforce. The plan anticipates “that a significant number of employees will decline geographic reassignments."

April 2026: The White House releases its proposed budget for fiscal year 2027. It would cut funding for the management of “Recreation, Heritage and Wilderness” by 31%. If enacted, the budget would cut funding for Forest Service trail maintenance by 64%, further reducing the Forest Service’s ability to care for wild places and ensure access to the outdoors. 

Fall 2026: The next anticipated step in reorganization of the Forest Service.