Postal Service Won’t Shutter Rural Post Offices

The U.S. Postal Service says it is backing off its plan to close up to 3,700 low-revenue post offices sometime after May 15th. Citing strong community opposition, the agency will now reduce full-time staff but maintain a part-time post office presence in rural areas.

Postal Service spokesman David Rupert says no post office would be closed, but more than 13,000 rural mail facilities, including about 71 in Wyoming,  would see reduced hours of operations.

Rupert says the Postal Service intends to seek regulatory approval and get community input on the new plan, a process that could take several months. The new strategy would then be implemented over two years and completed in September 2014.

The Postal Service estimates the reductions will mean the agency will save about a half billion dollars  annually.