On Tuesday, March 31, The US Forest Service (USFS) announced a plan to reorganize the structure of the land management agency. Under the USFS Reorganization Plan, the agency will:
Close 55 of the 77 research facilities
Relocate its headquarters from Washington, D.C. to Salt Lake City, Utah
Close regional offices and transition to a state-based model in which 15 state directors and a small team oversee one or more states
Approximately 30% of America’s climbing takes place in national forests, so these changes could have significant impacts on climbers nationwide.
It is important to consider the USFS reorganization plan alongside other relatively new changes to the USFS. The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) issued its finalized environmental analysis (NEPA) rules that reduce regulations and expedite allowances for extractive activities including timber. These updated rules align with Executive Order 14154, "Unleashing American Energy". The USFS is also currently considering the rescission of the Roadless Rule in order to open more national forest land to timber harvesting. We expect the USFS to release their decision on the Roadless Rule within the next month or so. And finally, the USFS budget continues to be cut so there are many staff position vacancies. The general theme is that the agency’s top priority is generating products, energy and revenue from our national forests.
Closing the regional offices and moving to a state-based model might have an impact on processing permit requests and executing business agreements. Access Fund has already experienced a difficult time finalizing business agreements needed to scale our field programs over the past year due to staffing reductions. During our most recent trips to Washington DC, we rarely met with USFS because most of the recreation management staff have already resigned or were transferred from the Washington D.C. headquarters to national forests across the country, further limiting opportunities for collaboration.
One of the most concerning elements of the reorganization is the closure of over 70% of USFS research facilities. Site specific research informs effective forest management and losing the majority of the USFS research sites will result in less knowledge to make informed decisions.. We depend on science-based decisions to manage forests in a way that values timber, recreation, and conservation while mitigating wildfire and benefitting local communities. The local research facilities conduct site specific research important to climbers on subjects such as recreation use patterns and pests that harm forests and exacerbate wildfire, Access Fund firmly believes USFS research is critical to effective and efficient national forest management so we hope the remaining research sites are able to provide necessary science.
Most acutely, there are outstanding questions regarding the USFS’s ability to prevent and fight wildfires. America’s West experienced an exceptionally dry winter with snow packs well below average in the lower 48. Is the USFS up for the challenge of managing a monumental fire season while shuffling around the country and working out the kinks associated with major organizational changes? Fire has a significant impact on climbing landscapes, climbing infrastructure and the climbing experience.
The reorganization will take more than a year to implement, and Access Fund will continue to pay close attention to the changes so that we can learn how to best keep working with our partners at USFS and help steward our national forest climbing areas.