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 move would disrupt the workforce responsible for managing national forests, fighting wildfires, and serving the public.
The proposed restructuring affects a range of employees, including research scientists who conduct forestry studies and recreation technicians who help keep public lands safe 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.”
This announcement follows an organizing effort at Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest in Nevada and eastern California where 174 workers recently voted to join NFFE-IAM. The union said this result reflects growing concern among Forest Service employees about job security as federal workers face what it calls escalating attacks from President Trump’s administration.
NFFE-IAM represents tens of thousands of U.S. Forest Service employees under a Master Agreement that outlines workplace protections. The union emphasized that before any relocation or reassignment takes place due to restructuring plans, the agency must fulfill its legal obligation to bargain over these changes with employee representatives.
NFFE-IAM is a national union representing approximately 110,000 blue- and white-collar government workers across the United States.
