Articles

As agency crews replant millions of acres and billions of trees following increasingly severe wildfires and other disturbances, reforestation science ensures seedlings thrive. This means the agency can spend tree planting resources wisely and ensure timber-producing trees survive to harvest.

Participate in a public engagement session to help evaluate emergency messages.

This study synthesizes existing and new datasets to develop a west-wide spatial prioritization for conifer management to improve sagebrush ecological integrity.

Scientists identified drone image processing settings that optimize the balance of data accuracy and processing efficiency for mapping individual trees.

The performance of tree seedlings planted after wildfire is shaped by a host of factors, including average planting site climate, post-planting weather, and seed lot sources.

Many stream organisms like the Idaho giant salamander are difficult to find, and descriptions of their key habitat conditions and species ranges are imprecise. Now, combining historical observations with new eDNA samples and modeling techniques make it possible to generate accurate species’ maps.

A collaborative research endeavor at Rocky Mountain Research Stations Manitou Experimental Forest is reshaping our expectations of how water is stored in western forests.

The hatchR software ecosystem allows users to check and summarize data, create custom models, and predict when fish hatch or emerge in wild environments.

Naturally occurring soil microbes like Armillaria altimontana may help increase forest productivity by suppressing Armillaria root disease in conifer forests. Fire severity may influence the abundance of these soil microbes to suppress or enhance the disease.

Flood damage to road-stream crossings presents a safety hazard and is expensive to repair. While crossing structure design has progressed over time to address flood resilience, little research has been conducted to evaluate the performance of culverts and bridges after floods. In 2016, an extreme flood in northwestern Wisconsin created an opportunity to address this knowledge gap.

The occurrence of wildfires and subsequent need for personnel is more likely to impact if the Okanogan–Wenatchee conducts prescribed burns in the fall rather than in the spring.

Climate warming in southwest drylands has been associated with changes in vegetation and fuels and decreases in resilience to wildfire indicating that climate smart management strategies are needed to help direct ecosystems into conditions that can decrease fire risk, increase resistance to plant invasions, and reduce vulnerability to climate change.

Using past wildfire data to analyze where firelines were successful, burned over, or unengaged provides data-driven insights for safer, smarter, and more effective wildfire response strategies and decisions.

Widespread stream incision across the Western U.S. has led to the loss of floodplain connectivity, lowered water tables, and the degradation of riparian ecosystems. These changes reduce biodiversity, diminish water storage capacity, harm grazing lands and wildlife habitat, increase vulnerability to drought, and eliminate wetland corridors that once functioned as natural firebreaks.

The Oregon coast region is now better prepared for the future thanks to an innovative working group of scientists and land managers called the Oregon Coast Adaptation Partnership. This collaboration brought together multiple branches of the USDA Forest Service, along with external partners, to compile the best available science to assess the vulnerability of federal forests and surrounding lands under future conditions and develop adaptation options.

The Fire Effects Information System has moved and improved – now it is even easier to find information about individual species, ecosystems, and their relationships with fire.

Our scientists are providing the best available knowledge about stabilizing, reforesting, restoring, and preserving water quality after fire.

GeoLCES provides a geospatial framework for evaluating wildland firefighter lookouts, communications, escape routes, and safety zones.

The Wildfire Risk to Carbon dashboard allows users to visualize and analyze risk to forest and rangeland carbon from wildfire and estimate annual smoke emissions.

The Rocky Mountain Research Station has co-produced a vulnerability assessment for aquatic and riparian ecosystems in the southwestern United States.