Protect North Carolina Forests!

I am writing to strongly oppose the termination and relocation of essential Forest Service programs rooted in North Carolina, including fire protection, scientific research, and other critical operations being shifted to Salt Lake City. I strenuously object to the shuttering or relocation of facilities such as the Southern Research Station in Asheville, Bent Creek Experimental Forest in Buncombe County, and the Coweeta Hydrologic Laboratory in Macon County. These institutions are not interchangeable offices that can simply be moved on a map. They are deeply tied to the forests, watersheds, communities, and ecological conditions they study. Western North Carolina has a long and proud forestry tradition dating back to colonial times, and the national forests in our region remain a major part of the economy today. Forest management decisions here affect jobs, tourism, timber, recreation, water quality, and public safety. Pisgah National Forest and Nantahala National Forest draw millions of visitors each year and are vital to the outdoor economy that supports so many local families. Coweeta Hydrologic Laboratory, in place since 1934, is especially important because long-term, place-based research cannot be replicated from afar. Its work helps us understand water quality, wildfire risk, and storm recovery, which is especially urgent in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene. When research and decision-making are removed from the region, we lose the local knowledge, on-the-ground resources, and community connections that make forestry successful. Local forests require local expertise. Scientists, foresters, land managers, and communities must work together in the places where these forests actually exist. Moving these functions away from western North Carolina would weaken the ability to make informed decisions about forests like Pisgah and Nantahala and would undermine decades of scientific investment. Pisgah was the first national forest in America. American forestry started here in western North Carolina! I urge you to keep local resources local and to oppose any transfer of these essential Forest Service programs to Salt Lake City.