SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH — The Trump administration announced on March 31 that it would relocate the U.S. Forest Service headquarters from Washington, D.C., to Salt Lake City, Utah. The move is part of a broader restructuring that will shut down nine regional offices and 57 of the agency's 77 research facilities across 31 states.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture said the relocation is part of an effort to make the agency more effective and tie it closer to the lands it oversees, noting that public lands are overwhelmingly concentrated in the West. The USDA said the move will save money and boost employee recruitment, citing Salt Lake City's lower cost of living, proximity to an international airport and a family-focused way of life. No timeline for the headquarters move has been announced.

Under the plan, the administration will shut down regional offices and transition the USFS to a state-focused model, shifting authority closer to field operations. Fifteen state directors will be distributed across the country to oversee USFS operations within at least one state, and many functions of the regional offices will move to a network of centers in New Mexico, Georgia, Colorado, Wisconsin, Montana and California.

The Forest Service manages 154 national forests and 20 national grasslands covering 193 million acres in 43 states, the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. The agency handles fire management and other safety initiatives, and its land base is the second-largest public or private land base in the United States, after the Bureau of Land Management. The USFS also retains the largest road network in the world, eight times the length of the interstate highway system.

Utah Governor Spencer Cox and Colorado Governor Jared Polis both expressed support for the plan and its state-focused approach. The restructuring announcement came as the Trump administration has also cut staff at national parks and other locations.

The National Federation of Federal Employees, the labor union representing tens of thousands of USFS workers, condemned the changes, saying they would disrupt the agency's workforce. A coalition of 70 companies, including REI Co-op, The North Face, Columbia Sportswear Company, Elkhorn Coffee Co and Flickr, also opposes the restructuring. The coalition estimates that recreation on USFS land annually drives $23.3 billion in economic output.

Outdoor retailer Patagonia was among the critics. Patagonia said: "By shutting down its research stations, culling its staff, and moving the headquarters to Salt Lake City, it will be surprising if USFS can effectively manage anything at all." The company added: "The only beneficiaries of the move and other rollbacks to public land policy from this past year are billionaires and extractive industries."

The Forest Service was established in 1905 under President Theodore Roosevelt. Half of all designated wilderness in the lower 48 states is included in the national forest system.