A U.S. Forest Service reorganization announced May 31 has raised concern among employees, senators and members of Congress about the future of research operations, including those at the Chico Seed Orchard.
Despite some conflicting messaging from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), which made the end-of-May announcement, the Chico Seed Orchard will, at least for now, remain fully operational. The walking trail will remain open for the same hours and the seed collection for reforestation efforts will continue, according to an email from a USDA spokesperson.
The Chico Seek Orchard harvests seeds that are eventually sent to the Forest Service’s regional seed bank, where they are frozen and used as needed for reforestation efforts, according to an article by Laura Leidner, the Mendocino National Forest public affairs officer.
Employees on site and for the Mendocino National Forest, which oversees the Chico research facility, verified that they’ve been told that the seed orchard is not closing in spite of the transition that will take place with re-organization.
“Throughout the transition, frontline mission work will continue uninterrupted,” the USDA spokesperson stated. “Forest Service seed orchards and nurseries, like the seed orchard in Chico, are important field facilities, vital to reforestation efforts and part of our frontline mission work. It will remain open and operational as part of this reorganization effort.”
R&Ds on “possible closure” list
How exactly that reorganization will take place remains unclear. A USDA reorganization website published last month originally listed Chico, among five other research facilities in California, in a section headed, “Research & development facility closures,” according to the Internet Archive.
The heading for that section has since been changed and now reads, “Research & development facilities evaluated for possible closure.”
Before it was changed to “possible closure,” reporters made efforts to understand what changes were planned. Numerous Forest Service staff said they didn’t know of any specific plans, including a staffer in Placerville, where the USDA would appear to be centralizing the management of research sites in California. When asked about the reorganization, the staffer said they had “no idea what’s going on.”
When asked directly, the USDA press desk did not explain why the wording on its website changed. The press office also denied ChicoSol an interview with management at the seed orchard regarding this story about the reorganization.
The reorganization website now lists 20 research and development facilities that will apparently be retained, while 57 are listed as “evaluated for possible closure.” It also states that the reorganization is only expected to affect around 500 of the 30,000 employees of the Forest Service.
“I have no idea if I’ll have a job in a couple months” — U.S. Forest Service employee
The research and development division of the Forest Service focuses on studying issues like wildfires, climate change and watershed management in both forests and grasslands. Employees regularly contribute to peer-reviewed scientific journals, and Forest Service data is made available to the public to help guide policy decisions, according to its website.
In Chico, the Seed Orchard collects cones from its seven seed production orchards over a six-week window during the summer. Once the Ponderosa Pine and Douglas Fir cones are harvested, they are shipped to a Forest Service nursery in Camino for extraction and processing, Leidner’s article says.
Employee relocation will occur in phases, beginning with those working in the Washington, D.C. area, according to the USDA. But the lack of clear communication about potential options for employees has some workers concerned about their future.
“They haven’t told us what the reorganization will look like, so I have no idea if I’ll have a job in a couple months,” said one Forest Service employee who wished to remain anonymous due to fear of retaliation. “We’re all doing our jobs the best we can without knowing what our fate is. It’s been a year and a half of waiting to get fired.”
Union members and U.S. senators worry
The National Federation of Federal Employees is the union that represents Forest Service employees. In a statement to its members on April 15, it pushed back against the USDA’s assertion that research would remain unaffected by the reorganization.
“The reorganization dismantles the Washington office, eliminates 9 regional offices, and establishes 15 state offices and 5 service centers. Research operations are heavily impacted, affecting 2,700 employees across 31 states and numerous experimental sites,” the statement said.
“If this plan is carried out, the agency will lose its ability to effectively and safely combat wildfires, and to carry out its critical missions of research operations and maintenance of public lands.”
The union plans to fight what it calls a “reckless plan” that is “designed to indirectly and illegally carry out a reduction-in-force (RIF), dismantle critical programs, and ultimately privatize the work of the USFS.”
Over 30 senators signed a letter sent April 21 to USDA Deputy Secretary Stephen Vaden. The letter expressed their “strong concerns” and suggested the reorganization “may lead to additional capacity and workforce reductions throughout the agency, harming its ability to deliver on its mission.”
They pointed out some of the inconsistent messaging coming from the federal government. “For example, the reorganization plan proposes closing 57 R&D facilities while maintaining 20, yet the President’s Fiscal Year 2027 budget proposes fully eliminating funding for USFS R&D altogether. These conflicting proposals only create confusion and underscore the chaos the reorganization could have on critical research across the country.”
The letter stated several direct questions to Vaden and requested a response no later than March 5. The questions pertained to details regarding the plan, its timeline, and the data used to develop it.
Vaden’s office had not responded to the questions as of March 6, according to Senator Jeff Merkley’s (D-OR) office.
It also asked: “For staff in the 57 R&D facilities subject to closure, how will the USFS determine where they will be transferred? Will R&D facilities slated for closure be reassessed for remaining open if suitable space cannot be found in appropriate geographic areas for the research activities?”
Forest Service Chief Tom Schultz testified before the House Interior Environment and Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee on April 16. Despite warnings from representatives that, barring congressional approval, the changes would violate budget laws, Schultz said that the USDA will proceed with the reorganization plans and believes it has the legal authority to do so.
Forest Service Tom Schultz. Photo courtesy of USFS
Schultz maintains that employees’ concerns are being addressed throughout the process. In a message to Forest Service staff on April 1, he said, “Change of this magnitude affects people, families, and communities — not just organizational charts. We are committed to approaching this work with transparency, empathy, respect, and an understanding of the real impacts on your lives.”
In a meeting on April 30, in front of another congressional committee, Schultz said, “We are trying to reach out to employees, and we are having regular roundtable discussions. Employees are being engaged in the design of the restructuring. We have a general structure, and we are engaging our employees in this process on these topics, so they are at the front and center of this effort.”
Meanwhile, several employees at Forest Service sites across California have verified to ChicoSol that they have received no communication about how the reorganization will affect their workplaces, other than assurances that research work will not be affected.
“Additional phases of the reorganization, including the formal transition to a state-based model, will be implemented over the coming year” — USDA
A USDA spokesperson responded to those concerns.
“The number of relocations beyond those already identified in the National Capital Region is unknown at this time,” the spokesperson said. “Additional phases of the reorganization, including the formal transition to a state-based model, will be implemented over the coming year.”
In the first half of 2025, largely due to cuts by the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency, the Forest Service lost 5,860 employees, according to a USDA staffing report.
For now, it would appear that elected representatives, Forest Service employees and the general public will have to wait to see exactly how the USDA’s plans will affect the 57 research facilities that are being “evaluated for possible closure.”
Sean Shanks and Chris Hutton recently graduated from Chico State University with journalism degrees. Reach them at se*********@***il.com or ch*************@***il.com.