Congress marks up the FY27 budget on May 21. Call now: no restructuring, no glyphosate. Call via 5calls.org →
The Crisis
What's Happening
The Forest Service is transitioning from its current regional management model to a state-based one, organized around 15 offices led by state directors. As part of this transition, all nine regional offices will close, with their functions absorbed by new operational service centers. Research activities will be consolidated under a single national research facility in Fort Collins, CO. — Wiley
The Forest Service is also planning to move its headquarters to Salt Lake City, Utah. In addition, 57 of its 77 research facilities are at risk of closure — Forest Service Chief Tom Schultz has confirmed definitive plans to keep 20 open, with the rest under review. — Federal News Network
The Trump administration's FY 2027 budget proposal seeks to merge the wildland firefighting capabilities of the Forest Service and the Interior Department into a single agency. Congress rejected that plan in the FY 2026 spending deal, but directed USDA and Interior to hire an outside group to study its feasibility. — Federal News Network
In 2025, the agency lost 5,800 workers nationally. Some national forests in Washington have lost about a quarter of their non-firefighting workforce over the last 14 months. — Washington Trails Association
The Forest Service's main office move from D.C. to Salt Lake City mirrors the USDA's own reorganization in 2025, when an estimated 80% of its staff quit or retired rather than relocate. The restructuring could worsen these employment issues — as one researcher put it: "When you try to move people around, many of them are just not going to go." — Wildfire Today
In June 2025, the Trump administration asked Congress to cut Forest Service funding by about $6 billion (67% lower than 2024 enacted levels), including a 60% cut to trail maintenance funding. Congress rejected those cuts in January 2026 and actually increased trail maintenance funding slightly. However, the FY 2027 White House budget proposes cutting recreation, heritage, and wilderness management funding by 31%. — Washington Trails Association
The deputy chief acknowledged that the president's 2027 budget request proposes eliminating research and development funding entirely. — PBS
Research capacity: Consolidating leadership in Fort Collins will make research harder to do and will move research away from forests and communities — potentially resulting in less impactful work, not more. — OPB
Wildfire preparedness: The loss of research supporting fire prevention and response appears to directly contradict official assurances that wildfire capabilities won't be affected. Local researchers are members of those communities, know the land managers, and understand local fire challenges — that relationship is the real cost of the lab closures. — Wildfire Today
Trails and recreation: The Forest Service's own analysis found that "public access, visitor satisfaction, and recreation-based economic contributions will continue to decline in 2026 and beyond" without investment in the trails program, and that "the agency risks losing decades of investments in trail infrastructure." — Washington Trails Association
Institutional knowledge: The GAO found that after a similar USDA relocation in 2019, the agency put out fewer reports and grant processes slowed. Two years later, staffing and productivity had mostly recovered — but the workforce was primarily composed of newer, less experienced employees. — Wiley
A Separate Threat
The Trump administration is directing the Forest Service to expand the use of glyphosate — the active ingredient in Roundup — in national forests as part of its broader push to increase timber production and vegetation management on federal lands.
Glyphosate is the world's most widely used herbicide, but its safety is deeply contested. In 2015, the World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer classified it as "probably carcinogenic to humans." Bayer, which acquired Monsanto (Roundup's manufacturer), has paid more than $10 billion to settle tens of thousands of cancer-related lawsuits in the United States.
Beyond human health concerns, glyphosate has been shown to harm pollinators, disrupt aquatic ecosystems when it reaches waterways, and damage the soil microbiome that forests depend on. Critics argue that expanding its use in national forests — lands managed for the public benefit — directly contradicts the agency's conservation mission and puts hikers, campers, and wildlife at risk.
Since January 2025, the administration has systematically dismantled one of America's most important public institutions. Here's what's at stake — and what's already been lost.
Why It Matters
193M
acres managed
National forests & grasslands across all 50 states
159M
annual visits
Hikers, skiers, hunters, campers & more
$13.7B
contributed to GDP
From visitor spending alone
161K
jobs sustained
In gateway communities near national forests
20%
of U.S. drinking water
Originates on Forest Service lands — value est. $7.2B/year
11K+
wildland firefighters
The nation's largest federal wildfire response force
What's Already Been Cut
4,400
probationary employees fired
NPS & Forest Service combined, Feb 2025 — trail crews, fire support, planners
5,000
more lost to buyouts
Forest Service employees who took the "deferred resignation" offer — about 17% of the workforce
7,000
additional layoffs planned
Forces and early retirements still ahead, per E&E News
26%
staffing cut proposed for FY26
President's budget slashes the Forest Service workforce by over a quarter
$1.4B
cut from FS in FY26 budget
Direct cut to Forest Service activities and research in Trump's budget request
65%
total FS funding cut proposed
Per Sen. Heinrich (D-NM), Ranking Member, Energy & Natural Resources Committee
Real-World Consequences
Less prevention. Less preparation. More fire.
Closed offices. Lost research. Flying blind.
States and gateway towns left holding the bag.
Why It's Personal
Wildfire risk goes up when fewer hands are on the ground — and communities like ours in the Sierra Nevada are directly in harm's way.
Our local economies depend on healthy public lands and recreation access. When the Forest Service degrades, gateway towns feel it directly.
Our neighbors and friends are losing their jobs. Forest Service employees in the Tahoe and Plumas National Forests have been hit hard.
Watersheds, wildlife, and the places we love suffer when stewardship is gutted. These are losses we can't undo.
In the News
Reporting that documents what's happening to the Forest Service. Share these with your chapter and your neighbors.
More Than Just Parks
The U.S. Forest Service, Dismantled
April 2026 — How the March 31 order shut down all nine regional offices and 57 research facilities
New York Times — Climate
Forest Service Research Labs Face Closure — Decades of Wildfire Science at Risk
April 30, 2026 — NYT subscription may be required
Outside Magazine
The Rangers Are Not Alright
Here's what happens when the dedicated employees of Rocky Mountain National Park start to break down.
Frederick Dreier, Outside Online — subscription may be required
Sierra Sun
Climate Dispatch: The Trump Administration Is Decimating the United States Forest Service. Don't Let Them.
Indivisible Tahoe Truckee — Published in the Sierra Sun