Sierra Club Says USFS Move Will Negatively Impact Oregon Forests

The Forest Service is pushing ahead with reorganization plans, including moving its headquarters to Utah.  Groups like the Sierra Club worry it’ll negatively impact Oregon’s national forests, ahead of fire season.

"One of the big cuts in this reorganization is all these regional research stations, including one in Portland," said the Sierra Club’s Lia Brewster.  "These are the places where research happens that is specific to our forest type."

Brewster, a former Forest Service worker, said previous restructuring plans led large numbers of employees to quit.

"The idea that you could take all these people and ask them to relocate and that you wouldn’t be losing just a huge amount of institutional knowledge and knowledge about these places is pretty wild," Brewster said.  "People aren’t chess pieces, so you can’t just move them."

Brewster said the plan is advancing without any direct public input, although more than 180 outdoor brands are speaking out against it, in the hopes Congress will step in.

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