The U.S. Forest Service has decided to transfer $250,000 in global climate change research funds to the Orono Research Unit, according to the office of Sen. George J. Mitchell.

President Bush’s proposed budget for fiscal year 1991 contained no funding for the Orono facility, but the transfer would keep it open. Mitchell said a large number of forest products companies and members of the public have indicated their support for the facility, which has conducted studies on the spruce budworm and spruce fir forests in northern Maine.

The final decision on the Orono Research Unit will be made by the House and Senate Interior Appropriations subcommittees, which have jurisdiction over the Forest Service’s research budget.