Almost a month after the Trump Administration announced it was going to "restructure" the U.S. Forest Service, environmental groups are growing increasingly worried about what this move means for a number of important, historical files in the agency’s archives.
The restructuring would be a major shift for the U.S. Forest Service – moving the agency’s headquarters from Washington D.C. to Salt Lake City and consolidating scores of research centers and regional offices across the country.
While the Trump administration says the change is to bring federal workers closer to the national forests they manage, environmentalists are skeptical, claiming it would put public lands at risk by moving managers closer to the influence of Republican-led state legislatures.
In the initial March 31 announcement, U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said the restructuring also includes “promoting policies that boost timber production,” to lower consumer costs.
U.S. Forest Service Chief Tom Schultz echoed the Secretary’s message, adding: “effective stewardship and active management are achieved on the ground, where forests and communities are found – not just behind a desk in the capital.”
Republican lawmakers in the West, such as Utah Senator Mike Lee, have come under widespread scrutiny for past proposals to sell off swaths of public lands meant to unleash American energy and spur affordable housing development.
In fact, on the very day he was sworn into his second term, Republican President Donald Trump declared a “national energy emergency,” calling for expanded oil and gas drilling on public lands.
He also recently proposed to slash the Public Lands Rule, which elevates conservation efforts as a valid “use” of public lands – much like drilling or recreation.
In total, nine regional offices would disappear as a consequence of the Forest Service restructuring. In their place, 15 state directors would be scattered across the country, managing one or more states and their national forests.
Each one of these regional offices holds over a hundred years worth of public documents, ranging from scientific research to cultural records.
“These massive troves of documents contain more than a century of research and knowledge, built with taxpayer support and belonging to all Americans,” said Brian Nowicki, a biologist at the Center for Biological Diversity in a statement.
On Thursday, the environmental non-profit Center for Biological Diversity filed a Freedom of Information Act request requesting copies of these records in the case that there is no plan to save them.
Under federal law, agencies are required to preserve all records that document their actions, policies, and decisions.
According to the FOIA obtained by KUNM, the conservation group wrote the restructuring announcement was “entirely silent” about the Forest Service’s large collection of hard-copy documents, data, and historical photographs currently stored within its soon-to-be-closed regional offices.
They also want to know what will happen with any raw data that might be waiting to be catalogued and analyzed.
A Thursday press release issued by the Center for Biological Diversity stated they had alerted the U.S. National Archives about the documents and will try to obtain them to make sure they are properly preserved.
KUNM reached out to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which oversees the Forest Service, about a plan or status for the historical records within USFS regional office archives. If KUNM hears back, we will update this story.
