The U.S. Forest Service is closing 23 research and development stations in more than a dozen states as part of an organizational overhaul under President Donald Trump intended to trim costs and concentrate the agency's resources in Western states, officials said Thursday.
Work being done at the research stations will continue at other sites, Forest Service Associate Chief Chris French said in an interview. An additional 41 research facilities that faced possible closure will remain open after local officials and members of Congress raised concerns about the reorganization, which was announced in March.
"Our primary goal was to get our facilities costs under control," French told the Associated Press. "We're not closing any ongoing science activities. We're not closing any of the experimental forests that are important to our researchers."
The 95 workers at the stations being closed will be reassigned elsewhere, Forest Service Communications Director Chad Douglas said. Officials noted the closures, combined with previously announced plans to shut regional offices in Atlanta, Milwaukee and Portland, are part of the broader reorganization effort.