Meet the Agencies: Touring the US Forest Service’s Modern New Digs
The work of the US Forest Service: Pisgah National Forest Forest Service biologist Lorie Stroup installs a sign to remind forest users about the sensitivity of streambed habitats. US Forest Service
The agency is now saving $5 million a year on rent and $200,000 a year on shuttle buses.
The U.S. Forest Service turns 110 this year. Its long and remarkable history features larger-than-life figures, such as Theodore Roosevelt who championed the creation of the agency, and noted conservationist Gifford Pinchot, who served as its first chief.
But when it came time to renovate a historic D.C. building that would serve as the agency’s new headquarters, it was thinking futuristic.
The renovated Sidney Yates Building houses over 250 employees, recently moved from their rented headquarters in Rosslyn, Virginia. In the process, the Forest Service is saving $5 million a year on rent and $200,000 a year on shuttle buses.
Driving the renovation was the Forest Service’s own expansive mission, encompassing 36 million acres of wilderness, 193 million acres of national forest and grassland, 20 national recreation areas, six national scenic areas, six national monument areas, two national historic areas and two national volcanic monument areas.
Translate that mission into an office, and you get vast open work spaces and beautiful nature themes.
Last month, Nextgov stopped by to visit the new digs.
All photos by Katie Strylowski.