The Forest Service says it's closing offices to cut costs. But the math doesn't add up

Former Forest Service researcher, Morgan Grove, examines a white oak tree planted by agency scientists in the Cylburn Arboretum in Baltimore, MD.KT Kanazawich for NPR hide caption When dead trees fall in Baltimore, the city doesn't pay thousands of dollars to dump them in landfills like some cities do.

The trees are transported to a sorting and recycling facility that turns the old wood into furniture, flooring and other products.The facility makes money for Baltimore and has become a model for other cities.But Shaun Preston, who runs the site, called Camp Small, said it might have imploded without operational research support from U.S.

Forest Service scientists based in the agency's office in Baltimore."When this program started, the U.S.Forest Service was right there to offer expertise to help us with research, to help develop ideas," said Preston.

"And then the Forest Service was like, let's look at how we can grow Camp Small and take it to the next level."More than 1,000 Forest Service employees work in hundreds of Research and Development facilities and structures located across the country.Staff work out of greenhouses, laboratories and cabins in urban areas like Baltimore and in more rural offices near the 193 million acres of national forest and grassland that the agency manages.

The employees work on a range of projects, from restoring native trees in Hawaii after invasive species take over to learning how to prevent wildfires in Montana.Those projects often include local partners like Camp Small, Forest Service employees said, and theirs is the largest forestry research network in the world.But on March 31, the Forest Service announced a reorganization of the agency that would close facilities used for research, including the one in Baltimore.

Three days later, President Donald Trump's 2027 budget proposed allocating $0 for Fores...