The National Federation of Federal Employees (NFFE-IAM) criticized the Trump administration’s plan, announced 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 national forests, fighting wildfires, and serving public needs.
Union leaders argue that moving headquarters and closing regional offices could negatively affect employees such as research scientists and recreation technicians who play key roles in maintaining public lands. 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.”
This announcement follows a recent development where 174 workers at Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest in Nevada and eastern California voted to join NFFE-IAM. The union described this organizing victory as evidence that Forest Service employees are seeking greater protection amid what it calls escalating attacks on federal workers by the current administration.
According to NFFE-IAM leadership, there has been growing concern about employment security due to efforts by President Trump’s administration to eliminate federal jobs and dismantle collective bargaining agreements for government workers.
NFFE-IAM represents tens of thousands of U.S. Forest Service employees covered under a Master Agreement providing workplace protections. The union stated that before any restructuring can occur—such as relocations or reassignments—the agency must meet its legal obligation to negotiate with employee representatives over how these changes will be implemented.
