Get a daily roundup of Urban Milwaukee’s top stories
A sign is posted outside the USDA Forest Products Research Institute building on Thursday, Oct. 30, 2025, in Madison, Wisconsin. Angela Major/WPR
For more than a century, the federal government has located its timber research headquarters in a giant stone building on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus, an exit from the Forest Service, part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The Forest Products Research Institute has expanded in recent years to a more modern facility, where researchers are studying things never thought of before, such as ways to slow the spread of mold in munitions boxes. How to recycle stamps. How to build taller buildings than ever out of wood.
“Even though wood has been used for thousands of years, there’s still a lot we don’t know from a mechanical standpoint,” says Nathan Beckl, a materials research engineer who has worked to improve the safety of everything from baseball bats to wood.
The institute’s buildings are currently closed and Bechl and most of his colleagues have been furloughed, as part of the government shutdown that began on October 1st. Meanwhile, the Trump administration is trying to lay off some employees and threatening to not pay back wages.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Products Research Institute will close on Thursday, October 30, 2025, due to the government shutdown in Madison, Wisconsin. Angela Major/WPR
It’s unclear how many of Wisconsin’s 18,000 civilian federal employees have been furloughed and how many are considered exempt, meaning they must report to work without pay.
But at a time when federal workers face unprecedented instability and uncertainty as the shutdown continues with no end in sight, these lab buildings and the hundreds of Forest Service and U.S. Geological Survey employees within them are an example of the hidden influence of federal workers.
“It looks like it’s going to be a long-term closure,” Bechl said. “No one knows anything. So by the time we got to that situation, we were already feeling like the work we were doing wasn’t really supported or recognized.”
Lab officials and fire scientists say closure will cause setbacks
Mr. Bechl and many other lab employees are presidents of the National Federation of Federal Employees Local 276. They spoke to WPR in a trade union capacity, not on behalf of a government agency.
Karl Houtman is the president of that union. He said these labs generate datasets based on national building and safety standards that are used by manufacturers and private industry.
“The Forest Products Institute has always been thought of as a kind of neutral arbiter, because if it’s a company or a university[doing research]you often find yourself in a situation where you have to ask the question, ‘So who funded this research?'” Houtman said.
Some scientists who reside here and are employed through a federal partnership between states oversee and study prescribed burns. These are purposeful fires, set to manage bushfire risk, regenerate soils, reduce pest populations and protect ecosystems. For example, fires can reduce tick populations in Wisconsin.
One fire scientist told WPR that the seasonal window for prescribed burns to occur is relatively narrow. She spoke on condition of anonymity. She said the current climate toward federal employees is frightening for herself and her family.
Thursday, October 30, 2025, USDA Forest Products Research Institute, Madison, Wisconsin Angela Major/WPR
Her time away from work is partly spent weaving scenarios. Which of her projects can be rebuilt after leaving? Which are “forever in ruins”?
She worries that a prescribed burning project in Georgia’s national forests, which has been planned for years and was scheduled to take place this winter, could fall into the latter category.
“I don’t think that burn will heal if (the closures) continue,” she said. “If we don’t have the right weather conditions, we can expect some pause. But when you add in furloughs on top of that, you end up with a complete shutdown of the entire (prescribed burn) season.”
Workers are reeling from uncertainty over pay and employment status
Federal employees have faced criticism and suspicion since the beginning of President Trump’s second term. Some Republicans argue that the federal workforce is bloated, with workers hired on unimportant or wasteful projects.
Rep. Glenn Grossman (R-Glenbeulah) told WPR’s “Wisconsin Today” this month that he wants to lay off up to 200,000 federal employees, saying it would reduce government spending levels and claiming that many employees “are not working as hard.”
Materials scientist Nayomi Plaza disputes that characterization. She said she pursued this career path because she wanted to have an “impact.”
“I wanted to work on something that would help tomorrow,” she said. “For many of us, it’s not just a job, it’s a career.”
But she said she was concerned that the current climate would discourage young scientists from working on government research.
“If you get this many responses, you’re probably going to give up at some point,” Plaza said.
The USDA Forest Products Laboratory in Madison, Wisconsin, will close on Thursday, October 30, 2025. Angela Major/WPR
Bechl, a materials engineer, said financial stress and uncertainty have also taken a toll. The family had a tough conversation, he said.
“My oldest son just had his birthday and I don’t know what the current financial situation is, so I definitely cut back on my spending and the amount of things I want to do,” he said. “Depending on how long this situation lasts, it could be a very different Christmas than we are used to.”
These workers also say there’s a difference between planning for a few extra weeks of pay with the promise of back pay and planning for a possible layoff.
Recently, a sign has been posted on the front entrance of the laboratory building. “Currently closed” is written in bold. “Once Congress restores funding, the office will reopen.”
However, as the government shutdown enters its fourth week, negotiations in Congress have not made any progress. Both parties are blaming the other, and neither is winning the battle of public opinion.
Workers here say they feel caught in the crossfire.
“It’s heartbreaking,” the fire scientist said. “We have some really top-notch scientists working incredibly hard on behalf of the public to move things forward as quickly as possible.”
Listen to the WPR report
Wood scientists in Wisconsin say the government shutdown has halted important research. This article was originally published on Wisconsin Public Radio.
