Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said Thursday that the Trump administration remains “full-bore ahead” with a sweeping reorganization of the Forest Service and other Agriculture Department agencies after a judge blocked the changes last week, the Associated Press reported from Billings, Montana. Rollins spoke on a conference call with reporters following an announcement on fertilizer production.

Source: Associated Press via The Alabama Newswire

“We are full-bore ahead in the reorganization,” Rollins said, according to AP. “We believe in it more today than we ever have — taking the USDA to our constituents, which is rural America, the Forest Service out West.” Administration officials say the plan would trim costs and concentrate resources in Western states that are home to nearly 90% of national forest lands.

23research stations slated to close under the plan
~90%of national forest lands are in Western states, per administration officials
39,000 → 33,000Forest Service workforce, a cut of about 16% under Trump, per government data cited by AP
Oct 13date Judge Chhabria halted the reorganization

What the plan would change

The administration wants to move Forest Service headquarters from Washington to Salt Lake City, shutter 23 research stations, and close many regional offices and replace them with state offices, AP reported. The broader Agriculture Department realignment would also change programs for food and nutrition and rural development. Last month the administration scaled back part of the plan and said 41 research facilities that faced possible closure would remain open; almost two dozen stations still are slated to close.

Source: Associated Press via Tri-City Record (New Mexico)

Why a judge halted it — and the opposing case

U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria in California sided with opponents in an October 13 order halting the reorganization while their lawsuit proceeds, AP reported. “If implemented, the planned reorganization activities will likely put thousands of USDA employees to the choice of relocating far from their current home — often to a different state — or losing their job,” Chhabria wrote, adding that the administration “almost certainly” violated congressional restrictions on using money intended for other purposes on the reorganization. The Sierra Club's account of the same October 13 order notes the judge cited protecting congressional prerogative and preventing irreparable harm to federal employees.

Source: Sierra Club (editor's note on Oct 13 order)

Federal employee unions, environmental groups and local officials, including in California, Maryland and Washington state, are trying to quash the plan and say the shuffling of employees is, in their allegation, a ploy to achieve deep workforce cuts. The National Federation of Federal Employees union said a survey of Forest Service workers showed a large majority opposed the plan and most were unwilling to relocate, according to AP. Utah Governor Spencer Cox, by contrast, has described the reorganization, including a new headquarters in Salt Lake City, as “a big win for Utah and the West,” and GOP lawmakers said it would ensure officials get more local input.

The plan is stalled under court order for now, but the administration has already appealed, AP reported. Trump also wants to move wildfire-fighting — one of the Forest Service's most prominent roles — to a new federal Wildland Fire Service; Congress so far has blocked that move, according to AP.