Big organizational changes could be coming to the U.S. Forest Service under an effort to restructure its parent agency, the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The plan, released last week by Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, would eliminate the Forest Service’s nine regional offices over the next year, including offices in Missoula, Mont., Lakewood, Colo., Albuquerque, N.M. and Ogden, Utah.
The National Association of Forest Service Retirees, which includes all former chiefs, said they were “extremely concerned” about the reorganization in a letter to Senate Agriculture Committee leaders. Board Chair Steve Ellis, who retired after several decades of work with the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management, said he doubts that getting rid of regional offices will lead to more efficiency…