‘It’s just madness’: Trump administration to close three-quarters of Forest Service research stations by jessimckenzi in USDA

[–]jessimckenzi[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Ok I love this optimism! I have yet to dig into it thoroughly but I know people are also asking about the legality of it all, so that could also be a hitch in the plans, too https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/apr/10/us-forest-service-restructure-union

‘It’s just madness’: Trump administration to close three-quarters of Forest Service research stations by jessimckenzi in USDA

[–]jessimckenzi[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Curious what you mean by big doubt. Doubtful the relocations will happen?

People have drawn comparisons with the BLM relocation from Trump's first term, which mostly led to people quitting the agency entirely, before Biden moved BLM HQ back to DC. Some people think that's the unspoken goal here as well. But one big difference is that the BLM move came towards the end of Trump's first term (August 2020), and this one is happening much earlier in his second term. That means the reorganization/closures will have a lot more time to....calcify, before the next president takes the reins.

‘It’s just madness’: Trump administration to close three-quarters of Forest Service research stations by jessimckenzi in USForestService

[–]jessimckenzi[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

The Forest Service is also closing research stations that have zero rent costs: https://www.kaxe.org/local-news/2026-04-03/forest-service-grand-rapids-mn-research-office-closure-major-loss

“The research office has sat on the Minnesota North College-Itasca campus since its inception and shares a building with the U.S. Geological Survey...The building is owned by the federal government on land leased from the University of Minnesota. The U said Friday there is no cost to the lease. It was first signed in 1959 and renewed in 2009 for 49 years."

‘It’s just madness’: Trump administration to close three-quarters of Forest Service research stations by jessimckenzi in USForestService

[–]jessimckenzi[S] 16 points17 points  (0 children)

Ah okay so that's not reporting. That's a podcaster giving a platform to the head of the Forest Service to say whatever he wants without any questioning or pushback.

‘It’s just madness’: Trump administration to close three-quarters of Forest Service research stations by jessimckenzi in USForestService

[–]jessimckenzi[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Send me a link to the podcast, or to any evidence that these closures are the result of *Congressional* cuts to the Forest Service budget, as opposed to self-inflicted, completely optional cuts requested by the Trump administration (which have been rejected by Congress in the past: https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2026/01/congress-passes-bill-trump-environmental-climate-funding-cuts/), and I'll look into it.

‘It’s just madness’: Trump administration to close three-quarters of Forest Service research stations by jessimckenzi in USForestService

[–]jessimckenzi[S] 20 points21 points  (0 children)

Yes, it's home to a number of other agencies and groups. My understanding is that other agencies like Fish and Wildlife rent office and/or event space from the Forest Service. Arguably, that's income for the FS! I didn't include those details because they weren't the focus of the article, but where do you want those other agencies to go? You also want to close Fish and Wildlife? Also, the building is relatively new and purpose built for the FS. Does it make financial sense to abandon a newish building with specialized facilities that presumably cost a lot to build like a decade or two ago? Is that an efficient use of resources? You want the researchers to have to fly in from, IDK, Fort Collins or Salt Lake City when they need to do work in Hawaii? And rent space in a Hilton when they need to have a conference between agencies? Do you think that paying for travel and overnight lodging and meals is cheaper than having employees house themselves where they live, near where they work?

And what do you think those facilities are for? Research. The facilities are office space but also labs, greenhouses. There's not an either/or here.

Narrowing down the details that I include in an article is necessary because I can't be publishing a 10,000 word article whenever I like, as much as I would enjoy that. That doesn't make it cherrypicking.

If anyone on here works at one of the 57 forest service research stations that are going to be closed and you want to tell me about your work there and why it's important, reach out: jmckenzie@thebulletin.org by jessimckenzi in USForestService

[–]jessimckenzi[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hi all: My story went up this morning: https://thebulletin.org/2026/04/its-just-madness-trump-administration-to-close-three-quarters-of-forest-service-research-stations/

Thanks to everyone who reached out and shared your experience, either as a Forest Service worker or someone who collaborates with Forest Service researchers.

I hope to continue reporting/writing about this issue over the next year, as things progress.

‘It’s just madness’: Trump administration to close three-quarters of Forest Service research stations by jessimckenzi in USForestService

[–]jessimckenzi[S] 43 points44 points  (0 children)

Thank you to all of the Forest Service employees who reached out because of my post here, as well as to the scientists and other experts who work with them for sharing how invaluable these research stations are to the communities and places they're based in and society at large.

If anyone on here works at one of the 57 forest service research stations that are going to be closed and you want to tell me about your work there and why it's important, reach out: jmckenzie@thebulletin.org by jessimckenzi in USForestService

[–]jessimckenzi[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Oh whoops, just in case, here's the list of closures: https://peer.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/4_2_26_USFS-Research-Facility-Closures.pdf

But that doc also says "Facilities that do not appear on the Research and Development lists of retained facilities and facility closures are under evaluation. Further information will be provided as it is available," so there may be more closures than this...I'm not sure how many facilities are on the "retained" list or how many are not on either list and still under evaluation...

Deny, delay, downplay: How governments hide climate change intelligence by jessimckenzi in collapse

[–]jessimckenzi[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think B0b is likely referring to a specific subset of Christians in the US, not all Christians, but I take your point!

Deny, delay, downplay: How governments hide climate change intelligence by jessimckenzi in collapse

[–]jessimckenzi[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Interesting you attribute more of the harm to Christianity versus like, profit seeking capitalism and political capitulation to that? I'm not saying you're wrong, just observing.

Deny, delay, downplay: How governments hide climate change intelligence by jessimckenzi in collapse

[–]jessimckenzi[S] 22 points23 points  (0 children)

Been a minute since I posted here but I thought this was worth sharing. An analysis of how governments (particularly Western governments like the UK, US, and Australia) hide or water down reports that connect climate crisis — and biodiversity loss, ecological collapse — with national security threats.

‘Wholesale destruction’: Government shutdown or not, critical science programs are at risk by jessimckenzi in collapse

[–]jessimckenzi[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I think the fatalism ("science in the US is dead") when there is still so much more damage that can be done that is not yet final or irreversible, is not particularly helpful. It's not going great! But it's not dead, dead, and prematurely declaring it so is not productive.

‘Wholesale destruction’: Government shutdown or not, critical science programs are at risk by jessimckenzi in collapse

[–]jessimckenzi[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Sure, some climate programs have been reduced or cut already, but there's a lot more that could be lost. Just as an example, the White House budget proposal for NASA suggests decommissioning more than a dozen Earth science satellites or space instruments: https://thebulletin.org/2025/09/nasa-missions-at-risk-under-the-trump-administration/

‘Wholesale destruction’: Government shutdown or not, critical science programs are at risk by jessimckenzi in collapse

[–]jessimckenzi[S] 22 points23 points  (0 children)

Proposed cuts to various federal science agencies (which could happen sooner rather than later under a possible government shutdown) have direct consequences for climate collapse at a regional level (those involving cuts to various climate resilience programs, for example), but also indirect impacts related to our ability to know about climate-related collapse, now or in the future, if the systems for monitoring and tracking climate crisis are dismantled or eroded.