Articles

New research addresses the first priority of the Native Seed Partnership plan, which was co-developed with agency and non-profit partners, native seed businesses, and researchers, to improve the success of native seed restoration.

A long-term at the Penobscot Experimental Forest in Maine, which started in 1964, compares no harvesting and clearcutting with whole-tree harvesting, stem-only harvesting (in which branches and residues are left on site), and stem-only harvesting with prescribed burning over time in a spruce-fir forest. The 50-year results of this experiment, and data from repeated treatments implemented in 2018, demonstrate that whole-tree harvesting had a smaller impact on forest productivity, both in terms of stand structure and nutrient availability, than expected.

The interagency Oregon Postfire Research and Monitoring Collaborative recently convened its science and leadership teams in Corvallis, Oregon. The group serves as a valuable resource across Oregon for shared stewardship of wildfire-affected landscapes, through expanded connections, shared learning, robust knowledge, and increased awareness of research and monitoring information and tools.

The Forest Service manages many of the most popular recreation sites in southern California and is working to preserve and enhance public benefit by integrating the best available scientific understanding of various risks to recreation and recreation sites into management. Researchers from the Forest Service’s Pacific Northwest and Pacific Southwest Research Stations and Western Wildland Environmental Threat Assessment Center worked with the Forest Service’s Pacific Southwest Region to assess potential risks to visitors’ outdoor experiences and determine actions to address those risks.

In early July, the Fishlake National Forest teamed up with the Bureau of Land Management and Utah Division of Wildlife Resources to do a fish rescue in a stream in the potential path of the Cottonwood Wildfire. The Bonneville cutthroat trout is a Forest Sensitive Species on the Fishlake National Forest. When areas burn in a wildfire, fish populations are at risk from ash flow, sedimentation, and flooding. While fire is a natural process and fish are adapted to it, their habitats aren’t connected like they used to be due to water diversions and the introduction of non-native fish species; thus recovery after a fire is harder. That’s where aquatics biologists step in! The fish collected will be taken to a fish hatchery to preserve the genetics of this special population and assure they will be available to repopulate local streams in the native range of Bonneville cutthroat trout after they recover from the wildfire.

A new dataset allows managers to rapidly assess current watershed conditions and evaluate road effects within the watersheds that will be affected by proposed fuel treatment areas.

The first application of a robust method to calculate water yield change post-fire from satellite data is available that is much less expensive than traditional stream gauge based approaches.

Researchers have built a computer model to predict how rivers change their shape after restoration interventions that are being used extensively in Front Range rivers.

A new study is the first North American assessment to measure the impact of tethered logging on hillslope erosion.

For decades, national participation in hunting has been on the decline. One population of hunters, however, is bucking the trend: Women.

A new study highlights the importance of seed conservation programs like Seeds of Success and ongoing seed collection efforts in preserving adaptive and resilient traits in native plants.

Forests provide the cleanest and most stable supply of water compared with other land-uses. A new USDA Forest Service report,Benefits of Southern Forests for Drinking Water, connects forests, water quality, and drinking water treatment costs, providing data to build partnerships between forest managers, private landowners, and water utilities. Most forest lands in the South are privately owned,...

This People, Places, and Priorities project provides a framework to help communities develop a shared plan for future forest health work across multiple ownerships. The framework brings locally relevant information into the planning process while building upon existing statewide and federal prioritization efforts.

Forest Service researchers have pioneered a unique and powerful method to characterize how similar the traits of six commercial varieties of bottlebrush squirreltail, a native bunchgrass species used in post-wildfire rehabilitation, are to wildland populations. The results can be used to predict where these commercial varieties can be used most effectively in the future.

A new publication synthesizes 20+ years of experience across federal native plant programs that support science-management collaboration to improve the development and use of native seed in restoration.

Forest Service researchers tested the performance of 98 wild seed sources of bottlebrush squirreltail, a ‘workhorse’ species in post-wildfire rangeland rehabilitation. Managers using these new seed transfer guidelines can better predict which seed sources are the best match for a rehabilitation site.

A new web-based tool that quickly identifies areas unlikely to regenerate naturally.

A new framework that considers important aspects of wilderness character supports managers dealing with the immense challenge of climate adaptive management in wilderness areas.

A new manuscript, the first of its kind since the Forest Service began producing Tree Canopy Cover data for the National Land Cover Database in 2011, documents a redesigned and rebuilt production workflow that delivers reliable and repeatable methods for users who rely on the Tree Canopy Cover dataset.

Firefighters create firelines to stop fire spread and support wildfire suppression tactics. This year, researchers developed a way to track and understand fireline performance in near-real time.