The National Federation of Federal Employees (NFFE-IAM) criticized the Trump administration’s announcement on April 7 to relocate the U.S. Forest Service headquarters to Salt Lake City, Utah, and eliminate all regional offices. The union said this decision would disrupt the workforce responsible for managing forests, fighting wildfires, and serving public lands across the country.
The issue is significant because it affects research scientists who provide key forestry studies and recreation technicians who maintain safe access for millions of visitors each year. NFFE-IAM National President Randy Erwin said, “The Trump administration cannot dress up a mass workforce disruption as common-sense management. Our members are in our nation’s forests every single day, helping manage watersheds, wildfires, and the lands that millions of Americans count on. Uprooting their careers and blowing up the structure they work within is not a reform. It is chaos, and the American public and our public lands will pay the price.”
The restructuring announcement follows recent labor developments at Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest in Nevada and eastern California where 174 workers voted to join NFFE-IAM. According to the union, this move reflects a growing demand among Forest Service employees for job protection amid what it calls increasing attacks on federal workers by President Trump’s administration.
NFFE-IAM represents tens of thousands of U.S. Forest Service employees under a Master Agreement that ensures workplace protections. The union emphasized that before any worker can be relocated or reassigned due to restructuring plans, there must be bargaining over its impact as required by law.
With approximately 110,000 blue- and white-collar government workers represented nationwide by NFFE-IAM, future negotiations with agency leadership may determine how these changes affect both staff stability and public land management.
