Forest Service HQ Move

[BuckSmasher]

Trump plans to move Forest Service headquarters to Utah and shutter research sites

The Trump administration says it will be moving U.S. Forest Service headquarters from the nation's capital to Utah as part of a broad overhaul.

apnews.com

HQ of USFS moving from DC to SLC. Thoughts?

I don't like that Utah is the home state of Mike Lee who hopefully will not return to the senate after 2028. Otherwise it seems to make sense, and get it away from the kinds of career bureaucratic culture that has stagnated DC.

 

[menhaden_man]

Nothing good going on in DC, love the idea.

 

[TheTone]

Seems like moving HQ and staffing will probably cost a lot of money that I’d much rather see being budgeted to on the ground work. I’d guess this has more to do with upheaval and further crippling the agency than doing something productive

 

[Sccritterkiller]

I am good with anywhere but DC...as far as the cost you can't get the FS to do anything now, budget being the excuse. Maybe if the headshed is closer to the problem and can't escape it with fancy DC banquets and what not some of the issues may get addressed. Hopefully we will see some savings in market rate salary adjustments...DC has to one of the most expensive places to live.

 

[WeiserBucks]

What you're going to see is a shitload of woke lefties accepting a $$$$$$$$ relocation package moving to Utah.

 

[S.Clancy]

I am good with anywhere but DC...as far as the cost you can't get the FS to do anything now, budget being the excuse. Maybe if the headshed is closer to the problem and can't escape it with fancy DC banquets and what not some of the issues may get addressed. Hopefully we will see some savings in market rate salary adjustments...DC has to one of the most expensive places to live.

They will spend way more $$$ relocating those employees, finding office space, etc. IMO, the biggest thing we could do to make individual districts more efficient is change the procurement process. The current process makes it much more expensive and much, much slower doing any kind of work in these agencies. It is equal to the NEPA process, sometimes worse.

 

[Sccritterkiller]

They will spend way more $$$ relocating those employees, finding office space, etc. IMO, the biggest thing we could do to make individual districts more efficient is change the procurement process. The current process makes it much more expensive and much, much slower doing any kind of work in these agencies. It is equal to the NEPA process, sometimes worse.

Maybe, maybe not. I share a property line with FS so I have a little different view and I can tell you the current system has got to change...They didn't even have the local office staffed for a year, this was before DOGE, you had to call the station 2.5 hours away. Took me 6 months of persistent vm just to get a call back.

This NF is on the east coast and it's basically an ecological desert...nothing but 100 yr old timber, no browse underneath. You shoudn't be able to see a couple hundred yards in an east coast forest. I can't hunt does on my property because it's on the side of the river with NF. State DNR has determined the NF population can't support a doe harvest, been this way for years. This is in the #1 state in country for deer/car collisions. Woodcock, ruffled grouse, turkey populations are in decline...species diversity is limited. It's not what I would consider a healthy forest.

Public or private industry, worked in both, it has been my experience putting the decision makers closer to problem always helps. Changing or allowing local exemptions to the procurement process could may be part of the "fix" in some regions.
Continuing with the status quo is the definition of insanity. Maybe this will work out maybe it won't but like most areas of the Govt we need to try something different.

 

[Wrench]

Complain about the move 1x. Reap the rewards for the future. All those rigs getting maintained, fuel being purchased, rent being paid.....etc.

 

[WeiserBucks]

The Forest Circus has been a complete fiasco for decades. Moving to Utah isn't going to undo it.

 

[S.Clancy]

Maybe, maybe not. I share a property line with FS so I have a little different view and I can tell you the current system has got to change...They didn't even have the local office staffed for a year, this was before DOGE, you had to call the station 2.5 hours away. Took me 6 months of persistent vm just to get a call back.

This NF is on the east coast and it's basically an ecological desert...nothing but 100 yr old timber, no browse underneath. You shoudn't be able to see a couple hundred yards in an east coast forest. I can't hunt does on my property because it's on the side of the river with NF. State DNR has determined the NF population can't support a doe harvest, been this way for years. This is in the #1 state in country for deer/car collisions. Woodcock, ruffled grouse, turkey populations are in decline...species diversity is limited. It's not what I would consider a healthy forest.

Public or private industry, worked in both, it has been my experience putting the decision makers closer to problem always helps. Changing or allowing local exemptions to the procurement process could may be part of the "fix" in some regions.
Continuing with the status quo is the definition of insanity. Maybe this will work out maybe it won't but like most areas of the Govt we need to try something different.

My point is instead of deciding all this on high it would be wise to go to Districts individually and see what holds them back and then address those things. That's never the way it happens, at least not that I have ever seen.

 

[2531usmc]

Having lived in the northern Virginia region, I can be fairly confident that very few of the current wash dc NF employees have actually walked in the woods much less hunted, fished, or camped in the woods.

 

[Ozarkansas]

As an easterner, I’m more concerned about the shuttering of regional headquarters and research sites than the main HQ being moved west.

Unless the USFS offloads most of its hardwoods research to eastern states via grants, I’m worried we’re going to lose a lot of expertise and local focus

 

[Phaseolus]

If it has the same affect on the USFS as it had on BLM when Trump moved it to Grand Junction it will be a dumb idea. That idea fragmented BLM.

 

[wowzers]

I'm kind of suprised it didn't end up being Boise with NIFC already there but with the idea of standing up an actual fire org maybe it wasn’t a factor.

 

[.204smokechaser]

My point is instead of deciding all this on high it would be wise to go to Districts individually and see what holds them back and then address those things. That's never the way it happens, at least not that I have ever seen.

And when you do get those people there to tour a forest or district, they talk a big game and then nothing gets done.

 

[brancher147]

Seems like moving HQ and staffing will probably cost a lot of money that I’d much rather see being budgeted to on the ground work. I’d guess this has more to do with upheaval and further crippling the agency than doing something productive

Yep. If the agency is crippled enough and lands are neglected enough maybe then Politicians can finally sell the public lands to themselves and their rich donors.