Articles

A new review describes how conifers react to various forest insects and diseases of the western United States and illustrates what remote sensing technologies are available for detecting conifer responses.

America's wildlife are increasingly experiencing drought with southwest birds already showing declines during dry years.

We provide a roadmap for incorporating animal communities clearly into opportunities for ecological integrity monitoring using new advances in monitoring technology, data availability, statistical methods, and computation power.

Subalpine prey, plants, and the snowy habits that support them likely help the endangered Sierra Nevada red fox coexist with widespread generalist carnivores. More information about the status and trends of these key prey species, especially white-tailed jackrabbits and snowshoe hares, are important for conservation of specialist montane carnivores, such as the Sierra Nevada red fox.

Fire weather, treatment design, and surface fuel load all influence potential fire severity, but when restoration treatments integrate small tree removal, they are as effective as fuel hazard reduction treatments at reducing fire behavior and effects.

Replacing traditional wood burning outdoor fire pits and fire rings with fire pits specifically designed to function as low-smoke could significantly reduce fine particulate matter and other air pollutants produced during recreational outdoor burning.

Trees are less able to survive fire when they are affected by severe drought, which may reduce the resilience of western forests.

The Fireshed Registry is a geospatial dashboard where land managers and decision makers can view and map data related to wildfire exposure, completed management actions, and past and predicted wildfires.

The Forest Inventory and Analysis Program led a study that combined its national ground inventory with a new satellite-based albedo record to compare the cooling caused by carbon storage in American forests with the warming caused by associated reductions in albedo (surface reflectiveness).

Through development and application of a sophisticated and efficient mathematical technique, we improved yearly estimates of key forest attributes for individual U.S. States using nationwide forest measurement data from the Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) Program.

This study introduces an online tool that allows citizens to develop strategies for benefiting pollinators in their own backyards.

The establishment of a Social Science Research Group (SSRG) for wildfire – a group of social scientists from multiple disciplines along with highly experienced practitioners – offers a unique opportunity to examine the complex interactions required to address wildfire. For much of the Forest Service’s history, investments related to wildfire risk have focused on calculating risk based on ...

No previous research has examined wildland firefighter injuries to figure out which activities and hazards are most dangerous, even though firefighting is known to be an occupation that exposes employees to many hazards. From the Rocky Mountain Research Station, researcher Erin Belval and fire management specialist Brad Pietruszka collaborated with co-author Alex Viktora of Fire and Aviation Ma...

Different landscape factors explain patterns of genetic connectivity across species.

This national study found that long-term efforts to promote desired vegetation species and reduce fuels for wildfires can be accomplished using restoration treatments like thinning, mastication, and prescribed burning if the treatments and goals are tailored to local ecosystem type and maintained over time.

With just a click or two, you can learn about the forests of every state, including information about how much forested land is present, timber volume, the most common species of trees, and more.

Rapid implementation of fuels reduction treatments in the southern Sierra Nevada, CA, has the potential to not only safeguard our forest resources, but also save the habitat of fishers.

Wildfire risk information must be deemed useful to have positive correlations with acceptability of public land fuels treatments.

Rocky Mountain Research Station researcher David Flores partnered with Jasper de Vries, researcher at Wageningen University and Research, to create an interactive game that puts Integrated Fire Management (IFM) strategies into practice within the fictional community of ‘Pyrotown’. This learning tool prepares players for the complex scenarios Integrated Fire Management practitioners face in ...

Forest managers can harvest timber while supporting thriving wildlife populations, clean water, and healthy soil. Forest Service science helps them accomplish these goals.