USDA Relocates Forest Service HQ to Salt Lake City

The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced this week that it will relocate the headquarters of the Forest Service from Washington, D.C., to Salt Lake City, Utah, as part of a broad reorganization aimed at positioning agency leadership closer to the national forests it manages. The move involves consolidating regional offices, closing dozens of research facilities and shifting to a state-based operational model, with officials describing it as a step toward greater efficiency and responsiveness.

The restructuring eliminates nine regional offices across the country and replaces them with 15 state director positions distributed nationwide to oversee local operations. These directors, supported by small teams focused on communications, legal and intergovernmental affairs, will serve as liaisons with states, tribes and counties. Shared service centers will handle administrative functions in Albuquerque, New Mexico; Athens, Georgia; Fort Collins, Colorado; Madison, Wisconsin; Missoula, Montana; and Placerville, California. The Forest Service, which manages 193 million acres of land, estimates that about 87 percent of its holdings are west of the Mississippi River, making the...