Articles

Eastern hemlock is a foundational species in forests across the eastern United States. The invasive insect, hemlock woolly adelgid, has killed millions of hemlocks across the eastern United States and altered forest dynamics since it was first discovered in 1950. In response, forest managers have sought proactive silvicultural strategies to strengthen hemlock resilience before infestation occurs. Researchers at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service are studying how thinning hemlock stands might be used as a proactive strategy against HWA establishment and spread by improving tree vigor and increasing light availability.

The Behave Fire Modeling System is one of the most used computer programs for modeling both wildfire and prescribed fire. Behave was recently reworked into a new version that is designed to be more intuitive and easier to use, while still offering the same functionality as previous versions.

Northern Research Station scientists use terrestrial laser scanning to record detailed, three-dimensional data models of vegetation structures as they interact with fire in order to identify areas of high fire risk and develop targeted fuel reduction strategies. They are also investigating the complex factors that contribute to firebrand spread.

Wildfire risks will continue to evolve as both society and forests change across the southeastern United States, according to a new report.The report is one part of the Southern Forest Outlook, a project undertaken by the USDA Forest Service in partnership with the Southern Group of State Foresters to help forest managers and the public understand changing forest conditions in the South over th...

Forty-five years after the most catastrophic volcanic eruption in United States history, one of the world's biggest outdoor laboratories for studying environmental disturbance continues to yield new knowledge for the next generation of Forest Service scientists, research partners, and the American public.

Researchers are collaborating with the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community in Baraga County, Michigan to use plants to absorb heavy metals along the shorelines of Sand Point through a process called phytoremediation.

The Southern Research Station recently supported a tree climbing workshop. Nine Southern Region employees became certified climbers and will be ready to help with hazard limb removals, cone collection, and other projects.

The reintroduction of gray wolves in the western continental United States has been an ecological success story. But wolf interactions with livestock continue to pose challenges for ranchers. In a close collaboration with land managers, research social scientist Susan Charnley offers innovative perspectives on the human dimensions of wolf-livestock conflict and the possibilities for coexistence.

Amidst escalating risks posed by wildfires in the eastern United States, fire researchers at Silas Little Experimental Forest are making significant contributions to better understand the relationship between fuels and how fires spread across the landscape.

Assisted migration involves the selection and relocation of non-local seed sources to areas better suited to future climate conditions. The Desired Regeneration through Assisted Migration (DREAM) project is an international collaboration that seeks to diminish uncertainties through a structured process that uses basic and applied forest research to informed tree planting approaches.

Research fire ecologist Morris Johnson works with partners such as Forest Service fuels specialist Hinda Darner to jointly explore tough questions about postfire management. His research goals are embedded in National Environmental Policy Act purpose and need statements—exemplifying coproduction of knowledge and the mutual benefits of collaboration across research and management.

Categorizing wildland-urban interface (WUI) types into intermix and interface categories allows for a deeper understanding of the ecological and management implications associated with different forms of WUI development.

New monitoring approaches with terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) developed by Northern Research Station scientists and partners are revolutionizing vegetation monitoring and helping managers collect better monitoring data faster and more easily than ever. This data allows allow managers to quantify fuel hazards, run fire behavior simulations that inform how prescribed fires and wildfires may progress under different weather and forests, and evaluate ecological impacts of different management decisions.

New physics-based models like QUIC-Fire are simple enough to run on a laptop yet complex enough to represent the physical processes and interactions among fuels and the atmosphere needed to produce accurate wildland fire predictions offer managers the opportunity for sophisticated fuel treatment and wildfire planning. Researchers used QUIC-Fire to simulate the Spring Hill and run alternative management scenarios to better understand how forest management can reduce wildfire spread.

Lincoln County, Montana, and the Kootenai National Forest recently stepped into innovative collaborative territory. The two groups entered into a new stewardship agreement, working together to reduce wildfire risk in Lincoln County. Forest Service scientists tracked the evolution of this collaborative effort as part of a larger research project assessing the success of the agency’s work to reduce wildfire risk. Their goal is to share innovations and success stories that could be replicated elsewhere.

New research measures and communicates wildfire risk to people and infrastructure across the Southeast, including a suite of maps and tools. This new ‘geography of fire’ can help decision makers manage risk, build community and forest resilience, and improve conservation outcomes.

Researchers recently created a new field method to measure soil temperature during fire and developed a new model, SheFire, to describe soil heating during fires across soil depth and over time.

Although managers of northern hardwoods forests practicing single-tree selection may be concerned about cutting too heavily, the latest results from the Cutting Methods Study at the Argonne Experimental Forest in northern Wisconsin shows that heavy selection can produce optimal benefits after 65 years, depending on the stand objectives.

Researchers produced an updated stand density management charts for eastern spruce-fir forests. The new decision-support tools provide updated guidance, and results from their use suggest that these forests can maintain a much higher stocking level than was previously recognized.

This 20-year investigation demonstrates that repeated prescribed fire treatments can promote oak and hickory regeneration and underscores the importance of integrating fire management with silvicultural practices to maintain forest health, enhance biodiversity, and mitigate wildfire risk.