U.S. Forest Service Closures & Layoffs Will Impact Alaska Tourism, Communities & Jobs
Public Comment Ends In Three Days On September 30th, 2025 U.S. Forest Service office at Crooked Creek in Valdez. (Photo, Country Journal) ...
Public Comment Ends In Three Days On September 30th, 2025
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| U.S. Forest Service office at Crooked Creek in Valdez. (Photo, Country Journal) |
FROM THE ALASKA BEACON
Trump administration plans to close unknown number of U.S. Forest Service offices in Alaska
A Forest Service ranger with the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center acts as bear crossing guard as visitors look on. (Photo by Cam Byrnes)
The Trump administration is planning to close some U.S. Forest Service offices in Alaska under a national reorganization announced this summer by the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture.
Public comment on the reorganization is open through Sep. 30.
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| (Photo, Country Journal) |
The Forest Service, which is part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, currently has offices in Anchorage, Juneau, Cordova, Valdez, Girdwood, Seward, Craig, Hoonah, Ketchikan, Petersburg, Sitka, Thorne Bay, Wrangell and Yakutat. It isn’t clear how many of those offices will remain open after the reorganization.
The status of the Forest Service’s tourist-focused visitor centers in Portage, Juneau and Ketchikan also isn’t clear.
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| Portage Forest Service Visitor Center (Photo, Country Journal) |
Contacted for details, a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Agriculture said by email on Friday, “Some aspects of the reorganization will take place over the coming months, while others will take more time. We will continue to provide updates as the reorganization moves forward.”
They added, “We recognize this may be difficult, but we are hopeful that affected employees will remain with us through this transition as we work to improve and continue delivering benefits to the people and communities we serve.”
In a July memo outlining the basic details of the plan, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins said she intends to close the Forest Service’s nine national regional offices “over the next year” but “will maintain a reduced state office in Juneau, Alaska, and an eastern service center in Athens, Georgia.”
Research stations, like the Juneau Forestry Science Laboratory in Auke Bay, will be closed and “consolidated into a single location in Fort Collins, Colorado.”
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| (Photo, Country Journal) |
Nationally, Rollins said she intends to scatter more than half of the Agriculture Department’s 4,600 Washington, D.C.-based administrators to five regional hubs; one each in Utah, Colorado, North Carolina, Missouri and Indiana.
This follows prior actions by the federal Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, which earlier this year fired about 3,400 Forest Service employees nationally, including more than 100 in Alaska.
Before the firings, the Forest Service had about 700 employees in Alaska.
Rollins’ proposed Forest Service budget for the coming year calls for a 34% cut to its operations, likely requiring further layoffs.
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| National Forests |
