On March 31, 2026, the USDA Forest Service announced it will move its headquarters from Washington to Salt Lake City and restructure the agency around a state-based model. The agency manages 154 national forests and 20 grasslands across 43 states.
The New York Times reported on April 3 that the reorganization closes 57 of the agency's 77 research stations, in facilities across 31 states. Its reporting counted six research and development facilities closing in California, five in Mississippi, four in Michigan, and three in Utah. The remaining research is consolidated under a single organization in Fort Collins, Colorado.
The press release confirms the structural changes. All regional offices will close, nine in total, with their functions moved to operational service centers in Albuquerque, Athens, Fort Collins, Madison, Missoula, and Placerville. Fifteen state directors will be distributed across the country with oversight of forest supervisors and relationships with states and tribes. Three facilities are retained: Juneau as a state office, Vallejo as a national training center, and Albuquerque as a business support and state office.
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins tied the move to timber output, saying it includes “supporting our timber growers across the country, including those in the Southeast by prioritizing a regional office and promoting policies that boost timber production.” Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, quoted in the same release, called it “a big win for Utah and the West,” noting that nearly 90% of Forest Service lands sit west of the Mississippi. Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, a Democrat, also welcomed the Fort Collins location.
The choice of Utah drew comment because the state is litigating against federal control of public land. Martin Nie, director of the Bolle Center for People and Forests at the University of Montana, told Montana Free Press, “I find it curious that the Forest Service's headquarters and leadership will now be placed in a State that continues to challenge the constitutionality and very idea of federal public lands.” Former Forest Service Chief Dale Bosworth told the same outlet he saw merit in state-based organization while questioning the Salt Lake City move.
The first-term relocation of the Bureau of Land Management headquarters to Grand Junction, Colorado offers a measured precedent. The Government Accountability Office found that of 328 headquarters positions BLM reassigned, 287 employees left rather than move, an 87% loss, and that headquarters vacancies rose about 169%. Of the 176 staff assigned to Grand Junction specifically, 41 accepted.
Not everything changes. The release states the Fire and Aviation Management program keeps its Geographic Area Coordination Center structure, continues reporting to Boise, and that there will be no change to field-based operational firefighters or their positions.
Forest Service Chief Tom Schultz, who was named to the post in February 2025 after serving as a vice president at the lumber producer Idaho Forest Group, said in the release, “I'm honored to help guide this new chapter for the Forest Service, following the vision set forth by President Theodore Roosevelt and Gifford Pinchot more than a century ago” (see Trump's Forest Service Chief Came From a Lumber Company, Then Signed a Deal to Double Timber Sales in Its Home State).