The Trump administration ordered the dismantling of the U.S. Forest Service with an eye-crossing, sleep-inducing press release written in the densest bureaucratese you've ever had the misfortune to read. In brief:
The U.S. Forest Service’s 121-year history isn’t ending with a budget cut or reorganization—it’s being dismantled.
Headquarters is moving from Washington, D.C. to Salt Lake City, a hub of anti–public lands advocacy. All ten regional offices are being closed, along with the career experts who provided independent oversight.
More than 50 research facilities across 31 states will be eliminated, wiping out decades of long-term science that cannot be replaced. In their place: 15 political “state directors,” embedded with the same state officials and industry groups that have long pushed for more logging and fewer protections.
That puts 193 million acres—an area larger than Texas and the nation’s largest public land system—under political control with little warning.
Created by Theodore Roosevelt and built by Gifford Pinchot to ensure professional, science-based stewardship, the agency is now being reshaped under Chief Tom Schultz, a former logging executive.
Long-term studies, datasets, and partnerships will collapse. Scientists won’t relocate en masse, and their expertise will be lost.
Once the science is gone, so is the safeguard against damage. We can't save the planet until we save ourselves from this destructive administration. We'd best get busy.
No comments:
Post a Comment