A national strategy to increase timber production and use emergency authorities to protect forests from fire, insects and disease should be in place by May 3, according to an order by Forest Service Acting Associate Chief Chris French. At the same time, the agency is consolidating its nine regional offices into two or three centers. Simultaneously, its parent USDA could lose as many as 30,000 of its 100,000 employees. Approximately 12,000 of those are expected to leave in the second wave of buyout offers in late April. The remaining 18,000 USDA employees are expected to be fired, the firm said. How that might play out in Greater Yellowstone regions like the Bridger Teton or Custer Gallatin national forests is not clear. …With a looming fire and tourist season about to spin up activity in the woods, the Forest Service’s ability to handle baseline missions while reinventing itself has other longtime forest observers worried.