Monument Ranger Rebecca Hoffman (top right) and her staff at a meeting on Sept. 23, 2019 at Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest in Washington. The forest is part of the U.S. Forest Service Region 6, who will lose its regional headquarters under a new plan from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. (Photo courtesy of USDA /Cecilio Ricardo)
U.S. Forest Service offices in Portland charged with wildfire prevention, scientific research, forestland management and conservation across the Northwest would be shuttered and moved out of state under a new plan announced by the head of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
In a July 24 memo, Brooke Rollins, head of the agriculture department that oversees the Forest Service, outlined an agency restructuring plan that includes closing all nine regional Forest Service offices across the country — including the Region 6 headquarters in Portland — and moving their functions over the next year to five “hub locations.” Those are: Fort Collins, Colorado; Indianapolis; Kansas City, Missouri; Raleigh, North Carolina; and Salt Lake City…