WASHINGTON, DC—Several initiatives underway will effect information technology services for Forest Service uses. USDA is moving all Forest Service mailboxes to the Government Community Cloud by Dec. 31. Email mailbox migration is now underway; some of you have already been migrated. You’ll receive migration preparation emails one week before your account’s actual migration date to notify you of the upcoming change. The migration process should require minimal action from users; however, if you have a government-furnished smartphone or tablet configured to receive your emails, you’ll need to re-enroll the device after your mailbox migrates.

Second, all USDA employees are moving to a unified email address as part of Secretary Perdue’s OneUSDA initiative. USDA and the CIO are working together to have the new Forest Service email addresses fully in use by March 1, 2019. Users won’t see any immediate change in how their email functions. The CIO will provide detailed information as it becomes available.

The CIO has technical teams actively working to reduce the impact to users—including those on fire assignment—resulting from both of these initiatives.

Be sure to monitor your emails for important upcoming information and be prepared to respond promptly to any action instructions you receive.

If you would like more information about the GCC migration, please refer to KBA00105997 FS: Government Community Cloud (GCC) Mailbox Migration Master Document. The CIO will continue to update this article with relevant news and information on the migration effort.

For questions, concerns or feedback about the Microsoft Government Community Cloud migration, please email the GCC Migration team. 

For questions, concerns, or feedback about the OneUSDA unified email initiative, please email the OneUSDA email team.