In reversal, Forest Service's Grand Rapids research office to stay open

GRAND RAPIDS — The U.S. Forest Service research lab in Grand Rapids will remain open following changes to the agency’s large-scale reorganization plans originally announced last March.

In a news release Thursday, Sept. 3, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service announced it completed a national review of regional offices and labs and determined it would retain 61 offices nationwide.

Of those retained offices, 41 were told back in March they would be closing. This includes the research lab in Grand Rapids, which is located on the Minnesota North College-Itasca campus.

The 65-year-old office produced world renowned research on forests and water, including pioneering developments in peatland usage and the concept of ecological forestry.

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The U.S. Forest Service will close its decades-old Grand Rapids research office as part of a national reorganization. The lab produces world-renowned work on woods and water.

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The Forest Service site in Ely is also on the list of those retained. The Kawishiwi Experimental Forest there, along with other experimental forests, were already not part of the closures.

A request for comment from the Forest Service was not returned by late Thursday afternoon. A full list of the retentions and cuts is available at the Forest Service website.

Twenty-three offices are still slated to close. As part of the agency-wide reorganization — which includes moving the headquarters from Washington, D.C., to Salt Lake City — the Forest Service will consolidate leadership of its research division.

According to the Forest Service, the cuts were made based on occupancy, use, cost and the ability of impacted staff to commute to other offices.

“For too long, the Forest Service has carried the burden of underutilized space and buildings that sit partially vacant — square footage that drains resources without advancing the agency’s work,” stated Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Stephen Vaden in the release. “This review gives us a path to put more of those dollars to work, supporting our employees, our mission and the American people.”

Current and retired researchers told KAXE this spring that closing the Grand Rapids facility would be tragic, raising concerns about research being centralized at the state’s other facility in St. Paul, far from the ecosystems being studied.

The research office has sat on the Minnesota North College-Itasca campus since its inception and shares a building with the U.S. Geological Survey. About 10 Forest Service employees work out of the office, and some university researchers also work out of the space.

The building is owned by the federal government on land leased from the University of Minnesota. The U said this spring there is no cost to the lease. It was first signed in 1959 and renewed in 2009 for 49 years.