Tom Schultz

UTAH — Last week, the US Forest Service announced a massive restructuring of the agency. …“This is about common sense. …What that “common sense” approach means practically is that the Forest Service is moving away from a region-based organizational model to one anchored in individual states. The agency is dismantling nine regional hubs and opening 15 state-based ones, which are mostly in the West. Restructuring includes cutting through some of the regulations, policies and directives of what Schultz calls the “administrative state.” Research and development will be consolidated under a single director, and at least 57 of 77 research stations in 31 states are closing. Schultz said the idea is to reduce redundancy and align with Trump’s priorities. While the move was celebrated by some Western elected officials, others opposed the move. Their primary issue focused on shifting the Forest Service’s national perspective to a state one and what restructuring means for scientific progress.

Related coverage in the BBC News, by Nardine Saad: What is Trump doing with the US Forest Service?