The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Forest Service (FS) has announced it will move its headquarters to Salt Lake City, Ut., and begin a sweeping restructuring of the agency to move leadership closer to the forests and communities it serves.

Secretary Brooke L. Rollins says, “Establishing a western headquarters in Salt Lake City and streamlining how the Forest Service is organized will position the Chief and operation leaders closer to the landscapes we manage and the people who depend on them.”

Alongside the relocation of its headquarters, the FS will begin transitioning to a state-based organizational model designed to shift authority closer to the field by organizing leadership around state-level accountability, supported by shared operational service centers and a unified national research enterprise.

Under the new model, 15 state directors will be distributed throughout the country to oversee FS operations within one or more states. State directors will serve as national leaders with primary oversight of forest supervisors, operational priorities, and relationships with states, tribes, and other partners. Each state office will include a small leadership support team responsible for functions such as legislative affairs, communications, and intergovernmental coordination.

This approach is intended to simplify the chain of command, strengthen local partnerships, and give field leaders greater ability to respond to conditions on the ground.

“This is about building a Forest Service that is nimble, efficient, effective and closer to the forests and communities it serves,” says Forest Service Chief Tom Schultz. “Effective stewardship and active management are achieved on the ground, where forests and communities are found—not just behind a desk in the capital. Through this transition, we will strengthen our connection to the forests and the people who depend on them, while supporting our employees and honoring the dedication that has always defined our service. I’m honored to help guide this new chapter for the Forest Service, following the vision set forth by President Theodore Roosevelt and Gifford Pinchot more than a century ago.”

As the agency transitions to the state-based model, the FS will shift many functions currently housed in regional offices to a network of operational service centers that will be established in Albuquerque, NM; Athens, Ga.; Fort Collins, Colo.; Madison, Wis.; Missoula, Mont.; and Placerville, Calif.. Additional service center locations may be added as the transition progresses.

The FS will also consolidate leadership of its research enterprise. The agency currently operates multiple geographically dispersed research stations, each with its own leadership structure. Under the reorganization, the FS will bring those stations together under a single FS research organization, located in Fort Collins, Colo. These changes are designed to unify research priorities, accelerate the application of science to management decisions, and reduce administrative duplication.

Under this reorganization, the agency’s Fire and Aviation Management program will retain its existing Geographic Area Coordination Center structure, which remains the backbone of national incident coordination. There will be no interruption or change to our field-based operational firefighters or their positions. The program will continue reporting to the Deputy Chief for Fire and Aviation Management at the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Id. This structure ensures the agency’s ongoing, close coordination with the Department of the Interior and interagency partners. It will reinforce the unified, national approach essential to effective wildland fire response until the FS’s wildland fire management operations are unified into the U.S. Wildland Fire Service (USWFS) within the Department of the Interior (DOI).

The restructuring will also drive a review and consolidation of facilities nationwide. As part of this transition, all regional offices will close; however, several facilities will be retained to support ongoing mission needs. Additional phases of the reorganization, including the formal elimination of regional and station office structures and the full transition to a state-based model, will be implemented over the coming year.

The agency’s retained facilities will support essential functions during and after the transition, with the facility in Juneau, Ala. serving as a state office, the facility in Vallejo, Calif. repurposed as a national training center, and the facility in Albuquerque, NM retained as a business support service center and state office.

The Forest Service will provide employees and partners with detailed transition guidance as different milestones approach.