Turns out, the old saw that the nation’s capital was built on a swamp isn’t exactly true; it was mostly built on solid, elevated ground, although there were some marshlands that have been filled in over time.
Still, "swamp" perfectly describes what goes on there in the modern day, and Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins announced Tuesday that the department’s Forest Service will be moving its headquarters from the mean streets of Washington, D.C. to Salt Lake City, Utah.
The move not only reduces the federal government’s footprint in the capital, but it puts the HQ closer to where most of the forests they actually oversee are located.
In a statement, the department said they would be conducting a “sweeping restructuring” of their operations:
Today, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Forest Service announced it will move its headquarters to Salt Lake City, Utah, and begin a sweeping restructuring of the agency to move leadership closer to the forests and communities it serves.
For an agency whose lands, partners, and operational challenges are overwhelmingly concentrated in the West, the shift represents a structural reset and a common-sense approach to improve mission delivery.
President Trump is bringing common sense back to government. Here at @USDA, we’re helping carry out that mission by moving out of the DC Beltway and into the communities we serve.
— Secretary Brooke Rollins (@SecRollins) March 31, 2026
By establishing a western headquarters in Salt Lake City, the @ForestService will be closer to the…
By establishing a western headquarters in Salt Lake City, the @ForestService will be closer to the forests we manage—improving stewardship, strengthening operations, and saving taxpayer dollars.
This move aligns the Forest Service with the realities on the ground across the western United States while streamlining how the agency operates and delivers results. It ensures decisions are made closer to the land itself, strengthening accountability and advancing the core mission of managing and protecting our nation’s forests.
Read about our latest reorganization effort below. 🐻🇺🇸🌲
It’s a bold move, but somewhat of an obvious one. Why have bureaucrats in suits calling the shots from afar when most of the relevant issues are thousands of miles away?
Even if it is a commonsense step, it’s hard to imagine this happening under any other modern administration. Team Trump continues to shake things up in ways we’re just not used to seeing.
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Seems Like a Good Idea - Department of Agriculture Moving Closer to Agriculture
In July 2025, as our Ward Clark reported, Rollins had already overseen the USDA’s move from D.C. to decentralize operations into five different locations: Raleigh, North Carolina; Kansas City, Missouri; Indianapolis, Indiana; Fort Collins, Colorado; and Salt Lake City, Utah. This just adds to that effort to put agencies in areas where they’re needed.
Republican Utah Senator John Curtis welcomed the move and said that since a huge percentage of our public lands are nowhere near D.C., this was the right thing to do:
I want to warmly welcome @USFS Chief Tom Schultz and the all the hardworking Forest Service staff to Utah.
— Senator John Curtis (@SenJohnCurtis) March 31, 2026
Nearly 90 percent of our nation’s public lands are located in the West, and the best decisions about how to manage them are made closest to the land itself.
Western…
Western communities live with, work on, and steward these lands every day, and bringing leadership closer will lead to more informed, practical, and responsive management.
Perhaps the Forest Service can send some experts to California to teach Gov. Gavin Newsom how to reduce wildfire risk, since apparently that’s an alien concept to him.
In the meantime, enjoy Utah, forestry people. If you haven’t been there, it’s one of the most spectacularly beautiful states in our union. And unlike in Washington, D.C., there are lots and lots of forests there.
No word yet if Judge James Boasberg will jump in and throw down a temporary restraining order on the plan.
Editor's Note: President Trump is leading America into the "Golden Age" as Democrats try desperately to stop it.
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