Forest Service staffing in Southeast down 30% from a year ago

U.S. Forest Service leadership is in flux as the agency takes sweeping actions in managing the 17-million-acre Tongass National Forest and making regulatory and administrative changes at all levels, Alaska-based officials reported last week.

At the beginning of a four-day federal subsistence Regional Advisory Council meeting in Juneau on March 10, Tongass Supervisor Monique Nelson spoke about shifts in the agency since President Donald Trump took office in January 2025.

Nelson said staffing on the Tongass is down 30% from this time last year. In the wake of federal workforce reductions by the...