The U.S. Postal Service is considering closing more than one in 10 of its retail outlets.
The financially troubled agency was announced Tuesday that it will study more than 3,600 local offices, branches and stations for possible closing. Thirty-nine of those locations are in Washington State.
For small communities that rely heavily on the local branch of the post office, the closure could have a big impact on the community.
"It would be devastating," said Steve Westover.
Westover owns the Baring General Store & Eatery in tiny Baring - all 1.8 square miles of it - just off Highway 2 a few clicks up from Index, population 213.
The store is also home to the town Post Office, which is considered the community gathering spot for almost everyone who lives in Baring.
Nearly all of the local residents pick up their mail at their P.O. Box in the store. The branch was established in 1899. It is also on the list to be “reviewed” for potential closure.
"Without the Post Office, we will lose a lot of our character here," said Westover.
"People are going to have to travel to get their mail because we don't
really have rural delivery," he said.
If the post office closes, residents would have to travel eight miles to the next branch in Skykomish.
"It’s like they are forcing us to start using the Internet more to do bills," said Ron Lawson, Baring resident. "Except, we don't have many Internet choices here."
Currently the Post Office operates more than 31,000 retail outlets across the country, down from 38,000 a decade ago, but in recent years business has declined sharply as first-class mail moved to the Internet. In addition, the recession resulted in a decline in advertising mail, and the agency lost $8 billion last year.
Most of the offices that face review are in rural areas, but postal officials say they are looking into alternative service, such as locating offices in local businesses, town halls or community centers.
In those cases the so-called Village Post Office would replace one to be closed.
Coming under review doesn't necessarily mean an office will close. The post office announced in January it was reviewing 1,400 offices for closing. So far 280 have been closed and 200 have finished the review process and will remain open.
Once an office is selected for a review, people served by that office will have 60 days to file their comments. If an office is to be closed, they will be able to appeal to the independent Postal Regulatory Commission.
List of Washington Post Offices
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