The Forest Service will move its headquarters to Salt Lake City as part of a “sweeping” restructuring of the agency, the Agriculture Department said Tuesday.
The move away from the nation’s capital is part of a broader effort to put the forest agency closer to the Western areas that make up the bulk of the 193-million-acre forest system, the USDA said in its announcement.
“Establishing a western headquarters in Salt Lake City and streamlining how the Forest Service is organized will position the Chief and operation leaders closer to the landscapes we manage and the people who depend on them,” Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said.
“This 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, lowering costs for consumers,” she added.
The USDA said the Forest Service will also transition to a “state-based organizational model” to shift authority closer to the field — a goal the administration has emphasized since the beginning of the second Trump administration.
The Forest Service said the relocation to Salt Lake City will be complete by summer 2027. About 260 headquarters positions will relocate there, while 130 will remain in Washington, the Forest Service said. Additional phases of the reorganization, including the formal elimination of regional and station office structures and the full transition to a state-based model, will be implemented over the coming year.
“This approach is intended to simplify the chain of command, strengthen local partnerships, and give field leaders greater ability to respond to conditions on the ground,” the USDA said.
In addition, “operational service centers” will be established in Albuquerque, New Mexico; Athens, Georgia; Fort Collins, Colorado; Madison, Wisconsin; Missoula, Montana; and Placerville, California. Additional service center locations may be added as the transition progresses, the USDA said.
Research operations will also be consolidated, as the Forest Service has telegraphed since the administration’s early days. Research facilities now located in multiple regions will fall under a central research organization based in Fort Collins, the department said.
Officials have been signaling a move to the West for months, sparking mixed reactions among political leaders and forest policy groups.
Western political leaders, especially Republicans, have largely praised the idea for bringing decisions closer to most of the lands in question.
But some groups, including Forest Service retirees, say the agency benefits from having a headquarters in Washington, closer to Congress and other decision makers and easier for policy groups to visit while seeing other officials.
“Everyone who depends on our public lands, from hikers and campers to ranchers and timber producers, will benefit from this change,” said Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, a Republican, in the USDA news release.
