Tom Schultz

The Forest Service is defending its plan to relocate its headquarters to Utah and shutter most of its research facilities, as part of a major agency reorganization — but intends to proceed with these plans with or without approval from Congress. …Forest Service Chief Tom Schultz told members of the House Appropriations Committee that about 500 employees would have to relocate — about 1.5% of the agency’s 30,000 workforce. “The intent is not to push anyone out the door,” Schultz said. …The National Federation of Federal Employees, the union that represents Forest Service employees, estimates that about 6,500 agency employees would be affected by the headquarters relocation, and that 2,700 would be impacted by research center closures. …Steve Gutierrez, a former Forest Service firefighter, now a business representative at NFFE, told Federal News Network that employees impacted by this move would likely quit instead of relocate.