Concord, N.H. – Last week, Congresswoman Maggie Goodlander (NH-02) and Congressman Chris Pappas (NH-01) joined 60 of their colleagues in a letter to the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Forest Service opposing the proposed reorganization of the U.S. Forest Service. This would close New Hampshire’s Bartlett Experimental Forest and put other facilities, including those at Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest, at risk.
The members wrote: “We write to express our strong opposition to the proposed reorganization of the U.S. Forest Service announced by the Department of Agriculture on March 31, 2026. The Forest Service manages more than 193 million acres of public lands across our nation, making it the federal government’s second-largest public lands agency. The decision to relocate the agency’s headquarters and eliminate its world-class research program undermines our efforts to confront the dual crises of climate change and catastrophic wildfires while worsening the already severe loss of staff and expertise since the start of President Trump’s second term.”
They continued: “This reorganization proposal would close 57 of the agency’s 77 research stations across 31 states, including stations that study wildfire, drought, pests, and climate change—all of which pose immediate and growing threats to our national forests and nearby communities—and threaten to take decades of staff expertise with them. Already, this administration’s efforts to dismantle the Forest Service have led to a nearly 40 percent reduction in hazardous fuels work, leaving forests, public lands, and surrounding communities vulnerable, and the proposed reorganization threatens to make that damage even worse.”
They concluded: “We therefore ask that you provide Congress with the details of any consultations, comment opportunities, analysis, and decision-making processes related to this proposal so that Congress can fully evaluate it and represent the interests of our constituents and the American people, who have a direct stake in keeping Forest Service lands public, accessible, and healthy.”
Last week, Goodlander advanced an amendment in committee to protect critical U.S. Forest Service research facilities from closure without explicit congressional approval. The amendment comes in response to the Department of Agriculture’s proposed reorganization plan, which would shutter dozens of Forest Service Research & Development sites—including New Hampshire’s Bartlett Experimental Forest—and place others like Hubbard Brook under review. These experimental forests are world-class research assets, supporting decades-long studies that inform forest management, conservation, and climate resilience. Goodlander’s amendment ensures that these vital resources cannot be closed or reorganized without an Act of Congress, safeguarding longstanding scientific investments and the communities that rely on them. Congressman Pappas is a cosponsor of the amendment.
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