Look West: Public lands and energy news from the Center for Western Priorities


** Forest Service to close 23 research stations nationwide
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September 4, 2026
The Caldor Fire burned over 200,000 acres in the Eldorado National Forest and other areas of the Sierra Nevada; USDA Forest Service photo by Preston Keres ([link removed])

The U.S. Forest Service announced Wednesday ([link removed]) it will close 23 research stations ([link removed]) across more than a dozen states, as part of a restructuring that has already cost the agency roughly 6,000 employees ([link removed]) . Forty-one other facilities originally slated for closure will stay open ([link removed]) after pushback from Congress and local communities, and the agency says 95 employees at the shuttered sites will be relocated rather than laid off.

Associate Chief Chris French said the move ([link removed]) will save USFS about $16 million and that the cuts won't affect ongoing science. But forest researchers see it differently. "It's just madness to me that we would decide that we've learned everything and shut these places down," Elizabeth Leger, a biologist at the University of Nevada, Reno, told the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists ([link removed]) when the closures were first proposed in April ([link removed]) . One anonymous Forest Service biologist said ([link removed]) : "You can't manage wildfire, invasive species, if you don't know what changes are
occurring in those dynamics."

An office in Albuquerque that will be closed currently employs six scientists and conducts research on Southwestern grasslands, riparian ecosystems, restoration, and sustainability, according to USFS ([link removed]) . The station closures are happening as the agency moves its headquarters ([link removed]) from Washington, D.C. to Salt Lake City and shutters regional offices ([link removed]) in Atlanta, Milwaukee, and Portland.

Schultz's timber ties shape Roadless repeal

Companies and clients U.S. Forest Service chief Tom Schultz once worked for as a lobbyist and executive stand to benefit directly from the Roadless Rule rollback, according to Mother Jones ([link removed]) and Public Citizen ([link removed]) . Schultz spent years leading Idaho's Department of Lands before becoming vice president at Idaho Forest Group, one of the country's largest lumber producers. Schultz went on to lead the Federal Forest Resource Coalition, a trade group representing timber purchasers in 37 states, where he told Congress in 2022 the Forest Service should let states manage more federal timber sales and bypass detailed environmental reviews.


** Quick hits
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Trump administration says agencies may stop working with the Smithsonian

CNN ([link removed]) | Washington Post ([link removed]) | The Atlantic ([link removed]) | NBC ([link removed])

We need to work together to save our public lands, says Backcountry Hunters & Anglers president

RideApart ([link removed])

Judge halts data center construction on public land

Nevada Current ([link removed])

US Forest Service chief with industry ties pushed for more logging on public lands

Mother Jones ([link removed]) | Public Citizen ([link removed])

Postcards for public lands: Greater Yellowstone Coalition launches campaign to protect 45 million acres

Local News 8 ([link removed])

Local advocates discuss border wall construction impact on public lands, wildlife

Arizona Luminaria ([link removed])

Pyrograzing turns ordinary livestock into fire prevention heroes, so why isn’t it used on public lands more often?

The Conversation ([link removed])

Opinion: Trump’s destruction of public lands will be a damning part of his legacy

The Cap Times ([link removed])


** Quote of the day
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” Eroding the Forest Service follows the same logic driving rollbacks across federal agencies: prioritizing extraction over stewardship.”

—Lois Parshley, Public Citizen ([link removed])


** Picture This
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@SaveOurParksUSA ([link removed])
Let us know how you feel about Doug Burgum directing your park fees to Trump’s gold horses, Reflecting Pool, and other DC vanity projects as other desperately needed park fixes and maintenance get shelved. [link removed] ([link removed])

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