1. United States
2. Mont.
3. Letter

I am writing to urge you to oppose funding to implement the Administration’s disastrous plans to “reorganize” the US Forest Service. What they are proposing is not a reorganization. It is a decimation. Moving the Chief of the agency to Utah will impair the agency’s critical dialog with Congress. Eliminating the 9 regional offices and replacing them with state-level offices will result in great disruption of the Forest Service workforce, including a wave of retirements and resignations that will drain the agency of critical experience and corporate memory. Much of the West is in severe drought this year, and undertaking this disruption during what is expected to be a severe fire season is foolish at best. Moving to new offices would be very costly and disruptive. The Administration proposes to slash the agency’s research budget and capabilities, at a time when changing climate, invasive species, catastrophic wildfires, and growing population demands better informed management of these vast forests. Our priceless National Forests belong to EVERY American. California forests don’t belong just to Californians and Utah forests don’t just belong to Utahans. They should be managed with a uniformity of purpose to meet national goals, while retaining the Forest Supervisor and District Ranger levels which have always worked with their local communities. The Forest Service has a proud, century-plus history as one of the world’s premier conservation agencies. The Forest Service should move forward through the 21st century with carefully considered changes that involve input from the ground up, not a hatchet job from the top down like chainsaw-wielding Elon Musk did with DOGE. Thank you for your consideration.