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.
The Forest Service’s 100-year-old Pacific Northwest Research Station in Portland, along with six other research stations across the country, are also slated to be closed and consolidated, with their functions moved to the USDA hub in Fort Collins, according to the memo…