Dismantling the U.S. Forest Service harms public lands and communities

Dismantling the U.S. Forest Service harms public lands and communities

When I led the Bureau of Land Management under President Biden, the hardest part of my job was reassembling the agency after the first Trump administration had scattered its headquarters from our nation’s capital. The move crippled the agency — as intended.That experience led me to understand that the current Trump administration’s unpopular plan to move the U.S. Forest Service headquarters will be every bit as destructive. It will hurt forests,…

No way to treat people, communities or the forest

The Tongass is the largest national forest in the country, and that’s no small thing to trifle with. But trifle the Trump administration is doing, treating the Tongass, the U.S. Forest Service employees who work in the Tongass and the communities that live here as not worthy of being told about their future. The U.S. Department of Agriculture, which takes its orders from the White House and which runs the Forest Service, announced three weeks ag…