Missoula officials, forest retirees urge USDA to keep Northern Regional Office in Missoula

Missoula County commissioners reviewed a draft letter to U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Rollins urging the agency not to consolidate the Northern Regional Office and related functions out of Missoula.

Staff read the draft letter, which asked USDA to reconsider consolidation of regional U.S. Forest Service and Natural Resources Conservation Service offices and emphasized Missoula’s concentration of federal resources, including a Fire Sciences Laboratory and other technical centers. The letter calls for retaining a local presence because the federal government owns roughly 58% of the land in Missoula County and because local staff provide technical expertise and interagency collaboration, the staff reading said.

Several former Forest Service officials and regional experts spoke during the public-comment period, pressing the board to strengthen the letter. Mike Burnside, representing Conservation Matters, a group of retired Forest Service staff, said the proposal appears short on details and urged more public disclosure and analysis; he offered the group’s written comments and described prior outreach to members of Congress and the agency. “It doesn’t seem workable to not have everyone reporting here,” Burnside said, arguing that consolidation would remove local technical capacity.

Carolyn Upton, who retired last year as forest supervisor for the Lolo National Forest, recommended three specific edits: list the seven local Forest Service offices the county relies on; cite the memorandum statement that the USDA would retain critical service centers (naming St. Louis, Lincoln and Missoula); and press the agency to address mission delivery and staffing consequences if positions are reduced. “Who’s going to do the work?” Upton asked, describing maintenance and recreation functions that depend on local staff.

Jim Birchfield, former dean of the University of Montana’s College of Forestry and a retired Forest Service field forester, urged the county to highlight the lack of analysis accompanying the reorganization. He recommended that the letter note potential implications for public participation under laws such as the Administrative Procedure Act and the National Environmental Policy Act, saying the proposed change could impede legally required opportunities for community voice.

Commissioners discussed the suggested edits and indicated they would add comments from the speakers before finalizing the draft; staff said the public comment period on the federal proposal runs through Aug. 26 and that the county will submit the letter as one of several venues for input. No formal action to send a finalized, signed letter was recorded during the meeting.

The board said it will incorporate technical edits and consider the county’s additional language before circulating the final draft for signature.