During a congressional hearing and public comment period on the subject last summer, more than 80% of the 14,000 public comments submitted were negative, with many tribal representatives, conservation groups and former Forest Service staffers opposing the move. Regardless, Trump's administration will move the U.S. Forest Service headquarters out of the nation's capital to Salt Lake City and will shutter research facilities in 31 states.
“Nobody is asking for this,” said Robert Bonnie, who oversaw the Forest Service as a Department of Agriculture. “None of the farm groups want this. No one in conservation wants this. Nobody.”
To Bonnie and other former Forest Service staff, the plan, which will uproot thousands of employees, looks like it will only make the agency’s existing troubles worse, especially given the past year of deep cuts and chaos. Taylor McKinnon at the Arizona-based Center for Biological Diversity described the move as "a costly bureaucratic reshuffle" that will put more power in the hands of corporations and states to log, mine and drill public lands. National forests belong to all Americans," said McKinnon, the environmental group's Southwest director. "Our nation's capital is where federal policy is made and where the Forest Service headquarters belongs."
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“Nobody is asking for this,” said Robert Bonnie, who oversaw the Forest Service as a Department of Agriculture. “None of the farm groups want this. No one in conservation wants this. Nobody.”
To Bonnie and other former Forest Service staff, the plan, which will uproot thousands of employees, looks like it will only make the agency’s existing troubles worse, especially given the past year of deep cuts and chaos. Taylor McKinnon at the Arizona-based Center for Biological Diversity described the move as "a costly bureaucratic reshuffle" that will put more power in the hands of corporations and states to log, mine and drill public lands. National forests belong to all Americans," said McKinnon, the environmental group's Southwest director. "Our nation's capital is where federal policy is made and where the Forest Service headquarters belongs."
CLICK HERE to see complete article.
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