Backcountry Horsemen of California (BCHC).

A youth and family oriented nonprofit organization. 

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Forest Service Reorganization Announced

BCHA Director for Public Lands & Recreation Randy Rasmussen recently announced a major reorganization of the United States Forest Service.

The following changes are being made:

  1. The Forest Service will phase out the nine Regional Offices over the next year and implementation activities will take into consideration the ongoing fire season. The Forest Service will maintain a reduced state office in Juneau, Alaska and an eastern service center in Athens, Georgia. The current stand-alone Research Stations will be consolidated into a single location in Fort Collins, Colorado. The Forest Service will retain the Fire Sciences Lab and Forest Products Lab – the former, vital for protection from forest fires and the latter, critical for assessing market development opportunities for timber and other forest products and related industries.
  2. 15,364 individuals (note: this is UDSA wide) voluntarily elected deferred resignation. This re-alignment will be undertaken to mitigate adverse consequences to those agencies which rely upon temporary workforces that increase at different times of the year. Examples include Forest Service Consolidate grants and financial assistance to provide better controls and promote efficiency. This consolidation will include, where feasible, the transfer of grant making and administration functions from USDA offices and agencies that currently have limited capacity to perform such duties to other offices and agencies. increases during the spring and summer months due to wildland firefighting.
  3. Consolidate Legislative Affairs functions into the Office of Congressional Relations

This may or may not mark a change in how the Forest Service does business and how accessible it is to partners like BCHA and BCHC, including its grants and agreements. This could mean a difference in how grants are processed, how volunteer agreements are handled, and even saw agreements. More information will be posted as it becomes available.

See the official announcement from U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins, July 24, 2025.