"One of the agency’s largest and most storied research facilities will be closed along with most forest research stations"
"The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will close its flagship, but deteriorating research site in Maryland as part of a major reorganization aiming to shift 2600 employees away from the nation’s capital area, the agency announced this week. At the same time, USDA said it plans to shutter most of its forest research stations around the country.
“It's a real punch to the gut,” says a senior scientist at the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, which is slated for closure.
USDA says the decision will cut costs and red tape. The plan will also free up governmental office space in downtown Washington, D.C., for other federal purposes. The fate of the Beltsville, Maryland, campus is unclear, but a memo from the secretary of Agriculture mentions the possible sale of the headquarters office there."
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