Beltsville Agricultural Research Center Faces Closure Under Trump Plan

The Trump administration is considering a plan to shut down the USDA’s Beltsville Agricultural Research Center.

With more than 6,500 acres, the research center is often described as the world’s largest and most diversified agricultural research complex.

Since it opened in 1910, it’s been a favorite of Route 1 residents who bike on its roads on the weekend or park their cars to look at meteors and other celestial events. It’s popular with birders, who have spotted more than 230 species on site.

It’s also home to the Washington’s Birthday Marathon, one of the nine oldest marathons in the country and is the longest-running marathon in the greater D.C. area. And it’s one of the various origin stories for the legendary Goatman of Prince George’s County.

Now, as part of a reorganization of several government agencies, the Trump administration is considering shutting it down and moving about moving about 2,600 D.C.-area jobs to hubs around the country.

The Anacostia Watershed Society opposes the change, warning that turning the site over to the General Services Administration means it would be “potentially sold to private interests within a few years.”

“A lot of the BARC site is left wild, only lightly managed, and has been protected from development for decades,” the nonprofit wrote in an alert to its members. “As a result, BARC contains some of the largest intact habitat areas in the Anacostia watershed.”

You can read more about the plan here or see a sample letter from the Anacostia Watershed Society here.

The USDA is taking public comment on the proposal through Aug. 31. You can submit a comment by emailing reorganization@usda.gov.