Story perspectives

Trump's Forest Service Overhaul Sparks Rural Concerns

4/7/2026

Summary

Story summary

U.S. President Donald Trump is overseeing significant changes to the U.S. Forest Service, sparking concern in rural America, including central Vermont.
The agency manages 154 national forests and 20 national grasslands.
It will lose its regional headquarters and many research facilities.
Gifford Pinchot shaped the agency to support conservation for industrial growth, a perspective that has guided the Forest Service for over a century and clashed with preservationists like John Muir.

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Story summary

U.S. President Donald Trump is overseeing significant changes to the U.S. Forest Service, sparking concern in rural America, including central Vermont.
The agency manages 154 national forests and 20 national grasslands.
It will lose its regional headquarters and many research facilities.
Gifford Pinchot shaped the agency to support conservation for industrial growth, a perspective that has guided the Forest Service for over a century and clashed with preservationists like John Muir.