Trump Administration Backs Off Plan to Close Forest Service Job Corps Centers

Less than a month after announcing plans to outsource or close two dozen Forest Service job corps centers that train young people for conservation and firefighting work, the Trump administration is reversing course under pressure from both Republican and Democratic lawmakers. The plan would have transferred the Civilian Conservation Centers from the Forest Service, which is part of the Agriculture Department, to the Labor Department before closing nine of them this summer and outsourcing the rest to contractors over the coming months. In all, 1,100 federal Forest Service positions would have been eliminated under the plan, which officials promoted as part of Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue’s broader effort to streamline USDA operations.