MISSOULA — Plans to restructure the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the branches within it — including the U.S. Forest Service — have city and county officials watching and waiting for the potential impacts.

The loss of the Region 1 USFS office in Missoula could hurt the local economy, local programs and on-the-ground work within the agency, said Eric Melson, a member of the Missoula City Council and the program director at the Selway-Bitterroot Frank Church Foundation.

“It would be a big mistake if these regions were consolidated,” he said. “We need to keep all the Forest Service folks who are employed at the Region 1 office here in Missoula.”

Melson said a young Forest Service dedicated the Region 1 office in Missoula in 1908. By 1930, it was redesignated and fully staffed. Over ti

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