Have you heard? USDA Forest Service is reorganizing, it says. All regional research and management offices will close, it says. This is beyond reorganization. Reorganization implies systematic planning to form a functioning whole (Websters). The Detroit News has called this “a massive restructuring effort.” The Guardian calls it “chaos.” These closures effectively collapse its regional structure. I would call that devastation.

It entails creation of 15 national regions headed by politically appointed “state directors.” Michigan’s Huron-Manistee, Hiawatha, and Ottawa Forests headquarters have been all relocated to Madison, Wisconsin. This includes the USFS Watersmeet Nursery noted in The Mining Journal, June 22. Michigan national forests — collectively nearly 3 million acres — are directly affected.

This restructure includes 57 research centers. In Michigan, centers at Houghton, East Lansing, Wellston in Manistee County and L’Anse will be relocated to Fort Collins, Colorado. This is miles away from local MSU, MI Tech, State DNR, and Tribal cooperatives which support and participate in projects specific to Michigan Forest lands. The health of these 3 million acres will be severely affected.

USDA/USFS rationale for all of this: “Improve our core mission of managing our forests while saving taxpayer dollars and boosting employee recruitment.” The reality is the total opposite and our state officials are scrambling to assess the impact.

Managing forests? What does Colorado know about our specific diseases and invasive pests? Think of the huge devastation caused by the emerald ash borer invasion. “They’re going to move the Forest Service headquarters to be closer to where the forests are [they say], but they’re closing the research stations that are where the problems are,” said MSU forestry professor Bert Cregg.

Saving money? This huge expense of nation-wide restructuring, is not even legally funded. The 2026 budget (BBB) specifically states that money will not be used “for relocating offices or employees, reorganizing, renaming offices, programs or activities,”

Recruiting employees? USDA has already decimated its current ranks. Federal News Network estimates that “about 6,500 agency employees would be affected by the headquarters relocation, 2,700 would be impacted by research center closures. Thousands of agency employees left last year by taking voluntary separation incentives.”

Again, USFS/USFS offers the empty promise that its “frontline mission work — including forest management, wildfire response, forest and watershed restoration, recreation services and coordination with states, tribes and communities — “will continue uninterrupted” during the agency reorganization.” However, the extent of this mass disruption speaks for itself and I fear for our public lands. The system of protection for all our outdoor resources is now reduced to chaos and disintegration. Ripple effects will be severe and devastating.

Implementation is already starting, but will be phased in. Before full escalation, before damage is unrecoverable, please let USDA/USFS and Legislators know your concerns. Talk to friends, neighbors, fellow recreation-lovers, local Sport shops…tell them what’s at stake.

Fran Darling

Marquette