LOGAN — Utah State University could lose its forest research lab under a proposed Forest Service budget currently before Congress.
John Walsh, media program manager with the Forest Service in Washington, D.C., said the action stems from a new emphasis away from research and toward forest inventory and analysis efforts.
Employees at the Rocky Mountain Research Station in Logan declined to comment.
Mark Brunson, chairman of the Utah chapter of the Society of American Foresters, said the lab's two areas of research, pine beetles and aspen restoration, are the biggest concerns for foresters across the state.
"It seems a little ironic they would improve their ability to monitor recognized forest health problems while impairing their ability to find ways to do something about them," he said.
But Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah, is confident the lab will not be shut down. His spokeswoman, Mary Jane Collipriest, said the senator has received assurances from Dale Bosworth, the head of the Forest Service, that he will try to keep the lab open.
Walsh said no final decision will be made until the appropriations bill is passed.