In the News

As Wildfires Increase in the West, So Does Suppression Spending

A new study projects the intertwined relationship between fires and the money spent fighting them.

Wildfire study findings shared at Columbus community meeting

Researchers and local fire officials gathered at the Palladium Draughthaus on May 18 to share the results of a wildfire risk study conducted in select wildland urban interface (WUI) areas in and around Stillwater County — and the timing could hardly have been more pointed. Just days earlier, a fire had broken out near Greycliff, burning roughly 80 acres in high winds through a mix of grass and timber, a reminder that the risks being quantified on the projector screen were anything but abstract.

Scientists uncover a troubling wildfire paradox as fewer fires torch far more land

The West's wildfire crisis may be even stranger than it looks. A new study found that while the region is seeing fewer fires overall, the blazes that do ignite are burning dramatically more land than they used to.

According to KUNM, researchers from the U.S. Forest Service, the University of California, Boise State University, and other institutions reviewed 30 years of wildfire data and found a surprising pattern across the American West. The study, which appeared last month in Environmental Research Letters, found a 31% annual decline in fires between 1992 and 2006 and 2007 and 2020.

Wildland firefighting snag hazards: Reducing the risk of falling trees

Working in and around trees is one of the most persistent and underestimated hazards in wildland firefighting. Dead and dying trees — commonly called snags — and other tree-related hazards, including overhead limbs and hung-up trees, are a documented source of severe injury and fatality when they strike or collapse on firefighters.

Injury data and recent research clarify how and when these incidents occur, where exposure tends to increase and which tactics meaningfully reduce risk. From specialist faller programs to targeted training and the use of modern analytics to inform operational decisions, mitigating tree hazards requires more than awareness — it requires deliberate, data-informed action.

Wildland firefighting is dangerous, but no single activity is more dangerous than another, report finds

The job of wildland firefighters is “inherently dangerous,” but an analysis of nearly 500 wildland firefighter injuries over four years in the United States found that, aside from aviation, no single category of activities on the job is more dangerous than another.

WSU livestock management platform named Microsoft ‘AI for Good’ winner

A livestock grazing management tool developed by researchers at Washington State University, the University of Arizona, and the U.S. Forest Service is one of 20 projects to receive recognition and support through Microsoft’s $5 million “AI for Good” program.

Launched in early 2025, AI For Good supports academic institutions, individuals, startups, and other Washington state organizations that use AI to promote sustainability, public health, and human rights. As a winner, StockSmart will receive $100,000 in Microsoft Azure cloud computing credits, and its creators will have an opportunity to work with AI for Good Lab scientists.

Naturalist Nights: Untrammeling the Wilderness: Restoring Natural Conditions Through the Return of Human-ignited Fire

Each winter season, the Aspen Center for Environmental Studies partners with Roaring Fork Audubon and Wilderness Workshop to co-host the Naturalist Nights speaker series.  The 2024/25 season's series ended with a presentation by Clare Boerigter, a fire research fellow with the USDA Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station's Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research Institute, and colleague Jonathan Coop, from Western Colorado University. During their talk, "How human-ignited fire can benefit forest ecosystems" the two discussed Western concepts of wilderness and indigenous land stewardship.

This event was recorded on March 6, 2025 at the Pitkin County Library, produced by ACES and Wilderness Workshop, as part of the 2025 Winter Naturalist Nights Series, in partnership with Aspen Public Radio.

What old trees can teach us about modern wildfires

This article describes a research study, "A fire deficit persists across diverse North American forests despite recent increases in area burned," which was recently published in Nature Communications and co-authored by USDA Forest Service Research Ecologist Sean Parks. The paper underscores how humanity’s success in extinguishing fires over the past century has allowed dead wood and other flammable material to pile up in ecosystems, putting today's communities at greater risk of catastrophic fires.

Fire lab scientist says we're still not doing enough to prevent massive wildfires

Forest Service scientist describes why wildfire research from the Missoula Fire Sciences Lab has never been more important.

Naturalist Nights: the case for burning

Each winter season, the Aspen Center for Environmental Studies partners with Roaring Fork Audubon and Wilderness Workshop to co-host the Naturalist Nights speaker series.  The 2024/25 season's series ended with a presentation by Clare Boerigter, a fire research fellow with the USDA Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station's Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research Institute, and colleague Jonathan Coop, from Western Colorado University. During their talk, "How human-ignited fire can benefit forest ecosystems" the two discussed Western concepts of wilderness and indigenous land stewardship.

Montana scientists alarmed by wildfires encroaching on US towns

Forest Service scientists from the Missoula Fire Sciences Laboratory discuss the characteristics of recent urban wildfire disasters and how better knowledge of fire behavior and wildfire risk can help fire managers make decisions when responding to fires. 

Fewer forest fires happen today than in the past, ironically causes bigger issues

North America’s forested ecosystems have long been shaped by wildfires, which maintain ecological balance. However, recently released research suggests that forests today burn far less than in previous centuries.

While this might, at first, seem like a positive change, fewer wildfires could lead to more severe and destructive fires in the future.

The study, published in Nature Communications, demonstrates that modern forests are experiencing a significant “fire deficit.”

Without fire, flammable materials such as dead wood and dry vegetation accumulate, setting the stage for larger, more intense wildfires later.

This research challenges the common belief that wildfire frequency is increasing and highlights how fire suppression has created dangerous conditions for both forests and communities.

How satellites and AI help fight wildfires today

This article provides a quick summary of the technologies used to track fires and predict where wildfires might burn. 

The homes are the fire's fuel: Why firefighting was no match for a California disaster decades in the making

“Once the initial ignition comes into a community, the homes become the ignition source and you’re totally in a whack-a-mole situation,” said Dave Calkin, a research forester at Rocky Mountain Research Station in Missoula, Montana. “It’s not a forest management problem. It’s really almost not a wildfire suppression problem. It’s a community design problem, and thinking about the amount of work to retrofit these communities is really staggering.”

What sparks a wildfire? The answer often remains a mystery.

The source of more than half of all wildfires in the western United States remains unknown. This article highlights research from Boise State University and the USDA Forest Service that used AI in combination with historical wildfire data to analyze the conditions around more than 150,000 unsolved wildfire cases in the western United States. 

For wildlife, human noise is the downside of outdoor fun

As more people explore wild places, researchers aim to understand and minimize the impacts recreation has on birds and other animals.

Return of the Giants

This hour-long episode of "Outdoor Idaho" highlights the cultural, historical, and ecological importance of western white pine - the state tree of Idaho. Rocky Mountain Research Station scientists Dr. Jason Reinhard and Dr. Patrick Bennett describe their research on the threats and recovery of this iconic tree species. The documentary features footage of current and long-term research experiments on the on the Priest River Experimental Forest. 

Season 4, Episode 1: Data on Fire

In this episode, "Where the Internet Lives" examine how data centers enable researchers, policymakers, and NGOs to mitigate climate threats like forest fires, reduce emissions, and enable a wide range of decarbonization solutions.

Where the Internet Lives: S4E1 Data on Fire

As wildfires grow more destructive and more unpredictable, fire experts need better ways to account for extreme variability. In this mini-documentary, we spend a day with US Forest Researcher Mark Finney, who is collaborating with Google Research on new models for understanding fire behavior. This film accompanies Episode One, on Climate, of Season 4 of the Webby Award-winning podcast Where the Internet Lives, about the unseen world of data centers.

Can AI help firefighters manage wildfires?

This video covers Google and their partner companies' efforts to create a satellite system that uses AI to identify fires at a much smaller scale than is currently possible. Google has partnered with the Missoula Fire Lab to expand fire modeling efforts using machine learning and increased computing power. This technology has the potential to revolutionize firefighting by identifying fires early and being able to predict their spread and behavior more accurately. 

Colorado's fragile prairie ecosystem is at risk as Front Range development spills into the plains

Development from Colorado's Front Range is encroaching on the threatened shortgrass ecosystem of the state's eastern plains, such as that found at Pawneee National Grasslands. Rocky Mountain Research Station research ecologist Brice Hanberry discusses the effects of such development on wildlife that inhabit the area.

Can the ‘Magic’ and ‘Angels’ That Make Long Trails Mystical for Hikers Also Conjure Solutions to Environmental Challenges?

The fourth installment in the series "Miles to Go", Inside Climate News fellow Bing Lin explores the role hiking trails can play as wildlife corridors and talks with Rocky Mountain Research Station research ecologist Sean Parks about challenges and constraints to wildlife persistence in the face of climate change and other disturbances.

IUCN WCPA Recognises Wilderness Champions at the 12th World Wilderness Congress

IUCN and IUCN WCPA were pleased to award two Fred Packard Awards for Outstanding service to Protected Areas at the 12th World Wilderness Congress (WILD12) being convened in He Sapa, Black Hills, South Dakota, USA from 25-31 August, 2024. This prestigious award, named after Fred Packard, former Secretary of IUCN WCPA in the 1970s, honours individuals who have shown extraordinary valour and dedication to the preservation and protection of nature.

Missoula fire sciences lab develops tools to help keep public, firefighters safe

Research Ecologist Dr. Matt Jolly describes the history and intent of the Missoula Fire Sciences Laboratory and highlights how the research and tools developed at the Fire Lab are used on the ground.

Unique Missoula Fire Lab born from the Mann Gulch tragedy

Journalist Ben Wineman interviews Dan Jimenez, a research engineer with the Rocky Mountain Research Station Missoula Fire Sciences Laboratory. Jimenez describes the connections between the 1949 Mann Gulch Fire tragedy, wildfire research, and the development of the Missoula Fire Sciences Lab.

Recreation noise causes wildlife to flee

A study in Bridger-Teton National Forest found elk and black bear were the most sensitive.

Invasive species are thriving thanks to climate change while worsening global heating

Invasive species have long been a serious threat to native species and ecosystems, and climate change is worsening the problem. Scientists are faced with the difficult task of predicting how climate change will impact invasive species and their spread. Tackling this problem will require collaboration between citizens, governments, scientists and other groups. 

Researchers enhance tool to better predict where and when wildfires will occur

A newly enhanced database is expected to help wildfire managers and scientists better predict where and when wildfires may occur by incorporating hundreds of additional factors that impact the ignition and spread of fire.

Hikers scare off wildlife, Boise researchers found. The impact may be bigger than you think

A new study looked at the response of animals like deer and elk to the sounds of human recreation in the forest. The researchers found that animals reacted very strongly to these sounds, causing them to flee areas they would normally frequent and remain vigilant afterwards. Human recreation noises led to an overall decrease in animal abundance at the sites studied. This research has important implications for balancing the use of natural spaces between humans and animals. 

River habitat thrives following Eleven Mile Canyon dam removal

Last year, an unused dam on the stretch of South Platte River near Lake George was removed as part of a plan to unite 45 miles of river. The river and its surrounding ecosystems have already experienced benefits from this removal, particularly for the fish living in the river. Monitoring of this stretch of river will continue for five years to observe the pace of recovery and the full scope of benefits that the dam removal has caused. 

The hills are alive with the sound of recreation — and a study shows animals react to that noise

A new study sought to understand the impact that sounds generated from human recreation might have on wildlife. The researchers set up trail cameras and boom boxes that played a variety of different human sounds including engines and conversation. They found that animals reacted strongly to these noises, and the week after the study was completed, wildlife in the area were less abundant than was typical. This study helps us understand the impact that humans have on wildlife and forest ecosystems and can contribute toward solutions to minimize that impact. 

We’re Polluting Our Forests—with Noise

A new study looked at the response of animals like deer and elk to the sounds of human recreation in the forest. The researchers found that animals reacted very strongly to these sounds, causing them to flee areas they would normally frequent and remain vigilant afterwards. Human recreation noises led to an overall decrease in animal abundance at the sites studied. This research has important implications for balancing the use of natural spaces between humans and animals. 

Hiking, biking causes elk, bears to flee

A new study looked at the response of animals like deer and elk to the sounds of human recreation in the forest. The researchers found that animals reacted very strongly to these sounds, causing them to flee areas they would normally frequent and remain vigilant afterwards. Human recreation noises led to an overall decrease in animal abundance at the sites studied. This research has important implications for balancing the use of natural spaces between humans and animals. 

If you go out in the woods today.....

A new study found that the noise of human recreation drives away animals and elicits an anti-predator response. This applies to both loud noises and the quiet sounds of recreation like those associated with hiking. 

Researchers rethink rural wildfire mitigation

It’s wildfire season. Rural communities and those on the outskirts of urban centers face greater danger than others. New research urges homeowners and state officials to rethink how they mitigate risk for those areas.

‘Let burn’ narrative put to the test on USFS lands

Researchers from the USFS Rocky Mountain Research Station wanted to put the “let burn” narrative to the test — by quantifying the damage from consequential lightning-caused fires such as the Tamarack Fire.

Collaboration gets the waters flowing

Scientists from Rocky Mountain Research Station work with collaborators from the Pike-San Isabel National Forest & Cimarron and Comanche National Grasslands and the University of Colorado Boulder on the Lake George dam removal, restoration, and monitoring project.

Researchers find dam removal in Eleven Mile Canyon already a boon to fish

Reporters from Colorado Springs' The Gazette visited the Lake George dam removal site to learn more about the monitoring efforts underway following the dam's removal as well as interview the researchers involved.

A new approach to fighting wildfires combines local knowledge and AI: Potential operational delineations, or PODs, are helping U.S. land managers

On June 4, 2021, amid flowering saguaros and prickly pear cacti, a wildfire bloomed in the Sonoran Desert in central Arizona. Its nascent flames gorged on nonnative grasses desiccated by a long, severe drought, and the fire was further nourished by the weather. A nearby weather station recorded a temperature of 36° Celsius (97° Fahrenheit). And it was so dry that the blades of firefighters’ bulldozers — used to clear brush — sparked small flames as the heavy vehicles dragged on rocks.

Fire ecologist Mary Lata of the U.S. Forest Service first heard about the fire over the radio while conducting fieldwork off to the north, in the Tonto National Forest. “I remember hearing them talking,” she says, “and little by little realizing they weren’t going to catch this one.”

Invasive grasslands research could provide insight into Maui fire recovery

Flammable invasive grasses, like buffelgrass and Guinea grass, were found to have fueled the Maui wildfires on Aug. 8, 2023. In the aftermath, many have wondered if anything can be done to replace these non-native grasslands with fire-tolerant native grasses and shrubs.

The issue is going to be hard to uproot. The National Interagency Fire Center recently reported that Hawaiʻi has “above normal” potential for a significant wildfire this spring and summer.

U.S. Forest Service rangeland scientist Stephanie Yelenik has researched invasive grasslands in Hawaiʻi and several western states, as well as in South Africa.

Choosing a Fire Future: Lessons from Southwest Colorado

During the 2023 fire season, managers on the San Juan National Forest shifted their thinking and approach to wildfire response. Rather than suppress wildfire as quickly as possible, they used decision support tools such as Potential Operational Delineations (PODs) and collaborative processes such as the Incident Strategic Alignment Process (ISAP) as they managed a series of six consecutive wildland fires ignited by lightning. This blog post, as well as a video they created to share their story (linked in the text) chronicle their decision-making, outcomes, and lessons learned about how they believe we can live with wildfire.

Camps Versus Hotels: A Potential Cost-Saving Scenario (co-authored by several USFS employees, two from RMRS)

While managing wildfires, incident management teams (IMTs) can save costs by using existing local facilities, e.g., hotels and office spaces, instead of setting up temporary living and office quarters in a fire camp. This "fixed facility approach" has secondary benefits, too; it can improve reliability of IMT functions, benefit local economies, build relationships between IMTs and local community members, and better sustain the health and safety of team members on assignment.

Lead author Jeffrey Morisette is the Program Manager for the Human Dimensions program at the Rocky Mountain Research Station.

Fighting every wildfire ensures the big fires are more extreme, and may harm forests’ ability to adapt to climate change

In the U.S., wildland firefighters are able to stop about 98% of all wildfires before the fires have burned even 100 acres. That may seem comforting, but decades of quickly suppressing fires has had unintended consequences.

Fires are a natural part of many landscapes globally. When forests aren’t allowed to burn, they become more dense, and dead branches, leaves and other biomass accumulate, leaving more fuel for the next fire. This buildup leads to more extreme fires that are even harder to put out. That’s why land managers set controlled burns and thin forests to clear out the undergrowth.

However, fuel accumulation isn’t the only consequence of fire suppression.

Updated Community Wildfire Protection Plan prioritizes vulnerabilities in Routt County

Routt County has updated its Community Wildfire Protection Plan after more than a year of collaboration between key stakeholders and community members. It replaces the previous plan from 2010. It will guide the county's wildfire preparedness and identify strategies for wildfire resilience and mitigation across the community.

The Routt County Wildfire Mitigation Council has taken other measures to mitigate risk of wildfire hazard to the community. Among them, they have partnered with the Wildfire Research Center to begin a study about social attitudes toward wildfire and wildfire preparedness.

Record-breaking fires, COVID-19, and impacts on firefighters

Risks posed by COVID-19 to wildland fire responders catalyzed changes to their working conditions. Some of these changes were improvements that stuck. As research shows, additional efforts could further support firefighter health, safety, and well-being. Examples include firefighter pay and technological developments -- including those that adapt equipment used during the COVID-19 pandemic to treat symptoms and protect against disease spread among the general public -- for use by firefighters in the field to reduce smoke inhalation.

Long term study finds combination of prescribed burns, thinning effective at reducing wildfire risk

Prescribed fire and mechanical thinning are strategies used to reduce and prevent high severity wildfires. A new study that summarized the results of 20 years of research found that the use of both of these strategies together is more effective than either treatment alone. The use of both treatments is most likely to produce the lowest intensity wildfire and highest tree survival. 

Wildfires used to die down after dark. Drought has changed that.

Night was once a time of reprieve during wildfire season, when the cool air and moist ground would temporarily slow the spread of angry blazes.

But that’s changing as the climate warms.

Recent studies have found that nighttime burning is growing more intense across the globe, including in North America, where the annual wildfire season has already been worsening for decades. Researchers have found that rising temperatures and increases in the drying power of the nighttime air may be playing a role in a switch to 24-hour blazes that has long worried fire managers.

How animals are adapting to the rise of wildfires

Lizards that can outrun blazes. Birds that lay ash-colored eggs. Wildlife may have a limited ability to evolve in this fiery new era known as the Pyrocene.

Saving the Pacific lamprey

Taking deliberate steps along the rocky bank, Monica Blanchard waded into the Stillaguamish, a roiling river that snakes through the lush conifer forests of northern Washington. It was a rare cloudless October day, and golden maple leaves rained down, flapping in the breeze like butterflies before joining their withered brethren on the riverbank. Blanchard, a fish biologist for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, held two long white sticks in her hands — electrofishing wands designed to stun fish. The wands were connected to a backpack outfitted with knobs and switches to control the small electric current that runs through them. “This is my Ghostbuster backpack,” Blanchard joked. As the gray-green river gurgled around her ankles, she dipped the wands into the water and sent out tiny pulses meant to coax lamprey out from the sediment where they’d buried themselves. Sure enough, a larval lamprey wriggled out of the mud. 

Banning Starr and the Experimental Forest

DJ Abby talks about the Fraser Experimental Forest with Banning Starr, Research Scientist with the Forest Service.

Fire is driving animals’ evolution

Increasing frequent and intense fires are shaping how species change, according to a paper published last year in the journal Trends in Ecology & Evolution. While previous research tended to focus on a blaze’s immediate impacts — Did population numbers go up or down? — scientists are starting to consider a longer timeline, said study co-author Gavin Jones, a Forest Service research ecologist at the Rocky Mountain Research Station.

Wildland-urban fire disasters are not actually a wildfire problem

In this interview, David Calkin reframes the issue of wildland urban fires like the one that ripped through Lahaina, Hawaii last year. He has developed a community wildfire risk framework that starts with a focus at the individual home level and identifies realistic objectives, effective mitigations, and responsible parties to reduce wildland urban interface fire risk.

The New Wildfire Reality: Mapping a Response

This post relates how Chris Dunn, researcher and assistant professor at Oregon State University's College of Forestry, drew on his experience as a firefighter to help pioneer data-driven solutions to tackle today’s unprecedented wildfires. He and other members of the Wildfire Risk Management Science Team at Rocky Mountain Research Station co-developed the map-centric framework known as PODs (Potential Operational Delineations). PODs are areas on a map whose border lines are human-made or natural fire-stopping boundaries such as roads, ridges, and water. PODs can range in size from a few hundred to thousands of acres.

“The real benefit of this is engaging people in fire management and getting them thinking about their place, within the context of how fires burn,” said Dunn.
 

Human activity disrupts functional connectivity

Functional connectivity – the extent to which landscapes actually facilitate species movement – is key for designing effective corridors that benefit wildlife. While it’s easier to identify structural barriers to connectivity, identifying factors that disrupt functional connectivity requires a more detailed understanding of how species use a landscape.

Different bee species have unique nutritional needs and appetites

Have you ever wondered why certain flowers are more appealing to bees? New research on bees and nutrition seems to have found the answer to this question.

Recent research from the USDA Forest Service’s Rocky Mountain Research Station and the University of Nevada, Reno sheds light on this.

Their study reveals how the nutritional value of plant pollen influences bee foraging behavior and community composition in gardens.

US Forest Service innovates stakeholder engagement

December’s USU Ecology Center seminars focused on how the U.S. Forest Service is changing the way they engage stakeholders in landscape management.

Chris Armatas is a research social scientist at the U.S. Forest Service's Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research Institute. Armatas gave two seminars last week, closing out USU's Ecology Center seminars for the year.

"For me, it's really about kind of understanding diverse relationships or interactions that people have with nature and natural spaces, and how do you link up with social processes to kind of communicate and enhance kind of mutual understanding or social learning of those diverse kinds of relationships," Armatas said.

Christmas tree scientists work to identify, manage grinchy fungal foes

Plant pathologists at Washington State University are studying a surge of fungal diseases striking down young Christmas trees already weakened by climate change.

Study: Pay, experience positively impact wildland firefighter retention; competing wages not so much

Retention in the federal wildland firefighter workforce has been getting a lot of attention in recent years. New research has insight into some of the factors that influence whether firefighters return.

California wildlife pays the cost of megafires

The extreme ‘megafires’ that ravaged California in 2020 and 2021 were more severe and about ten times more widespread than the yearly average in the region since records began. To estimate the impact of these megafires on wildlife, the authors overlaid maps of burned areas and the predicted habitats of more than 500 mammals, reptiles, amphibians and birds. The authors warn that wildlife could struggle to adapt to increasingly severe megafires that are exacerbated by climate change, unless measures to restore natural, low-intensity wildfires are implemented with more urgency.

California wildfires altering ecosystems, disrupting wildlife habitats: Study

"Researchers assessed the impact of the wildfire seasons in 2020 and 2021 on California wildlife by comparing maps of habitats for 508 vertebrate species with indices of fire coverage and severity. Those two seasons are significant because about 58% of the area affected by wildfires in California since 2012 occurred in those years, the researchers said, describing the amount of fire activity during that period as 'unprecedented.'"

Researchers still hazy on effect of intense wildfires on California wildlife

"There’s no question that there are some benefits to some species of animals, including gray owls, when there are periodic low level fires. Fires can even be 'restorative,' Jones said. Usually the scale and intensity of the kinds of fires that take out whole swaths of trees like California saw in the 2021 to 2021 are usually not good for biodiversity, but the sheer heat and destructiveness of the fires was so unique, that past research of how fire affects the habitats of animals might not apply to those fires, he added."

Protecting Grasslands with a Research Ecologist!

Did you know some of the grass you've come in contact with could be one hundred years old? Well, that's because grass can clone itself! But even so, America's grasslands are threatened. Research Ecologist Dr. Jacqueline Ott shares her grassiest research with Fig! 

The wildland-urban interface: why wildfire fatalities seem so prevalent in the U.S.

"This year, despite what by all accounts has been the worst wildfire season ever in North America in terms of area burned, there have been only six fatalities in Canada...But regardless of fatality rates, neither [Canada nor the U.S.] is confronting the threat properly, said Chris Dunn, an Oregon State forestry professor who specializes in wildfire management and how to manage the risk."

‘Like butter for bears’: the grizzlies who dine on 40,000 moths a day

All summer, Grizzley Bears trek up to the barren mountain slopes of northwest Wyoming in search of one thing: the army cutworm moth. These moths make their way each spring from the great plains - as far East as the Missouri river and as far North as Canada's Northern territories - to spend hot summer days beneath high mountain rocks. During this time, the bears rely on them as a rich food source to pack on the pounds for hibernation. This article discusses RMRS work with partners to understand how the sustainability of these moths may impact the ability of the Grizzley to continue to thrive.

New research pinpoints best locations for wolves in Colorado

This piece discusses the work Research Ecologist Dr. Mark Ditmer has done around providing guidance for the reintroduction of grey wolves into Colorado wilderness, and where they will be released with least likelihood of conflict with people and livestock. 

A Hero's Journey

Amy Gulick recounts her experience going into the field in Idaho with Russ Thurow and Ed Cannady. Russ is a fisheries research scientist, and Ed is a retired recreation specialist. They were in Marsh Creek, Idaho to monitor Chinook salmon, an ecologically vital species that is at high risk for extinction. Eight hydroelectric dams, four on the Columbia River and four on the lower Snake River are threatening the survival of these salmon as they undergo their yearly migration. 

How artificial intelligence plus local expertise can promote ‘good fire’ in Montana

This article discusses PODs, or Potential Operational Delineations, which help to guide landowners and fire managers to work together concerning where to best suppress fire when it may start in areas that threaten people, property or critical infrastructure. This article discusses the science behind PODs, how it has been in practice by many forests and communities and is continuing to be embraced by more. 

Fire Tech Series: We Talk to Jason Forthofer of the Missoula Fire Lab

Jason Forthofer speaks to The Hotshot Wake Up Podcast about his journey to his current career with the Missoula Fire Lab as a Mechanical Engineer, starting as a seasonal USDA Forest Service firefighter himself. He's passionate about exploring fire behavior and has a vested interest in keeping firefighters safe. 

The Hotshot Wake Up Podcast is an organization that donates to firefighter charities through its paid subscribers, but this episode is available for free here:

The US is spending billions to reduce forest fire risks – we mapped the hot spots where treatment offers the biggest payoff for people and climate

The U.S. government is taking action to address the wildfire crisis. Areas at highest risk in the Western U.S. are outlined, and current fuel reduction strategy is explained.  

Fire Tech Series: We Talk to Jason Forthofer of the Missoula Fire Lab

In this interview, Jason Forthofer (Rocky Mountain Research Station Fire, Fuel, and Smoke Science Program) talks about what’s happening at the Missoula Fire Sciences Lab in Montana. Forthofer is an Engineer, Researcher, and wildland firefighter with robust on-the-ground and operational experience. He discusses new tools and tech coming out of the Fire Lab, how AI can be used and its shortcomings, as well as how to find a career in this field. 

Researchers say Ridge Fire provides experimental opportunities

The Ridge Fire burned about a tenth of the 7,200 acre Coram Experimental Forest, including much of the 800 acre Research Natural Area. The Coram Experimental Forest is located within the Flathead National Forest of Montana. Lead scientist in charge of the experimental forest Justin Crotteau and forest manager David Wright discuss the new research opportunities that have emerged from the wildfire. 

Fuel treatment effectiveness at the landscape scale: a systematic review of simulation studies comparing treatment scenarios in North America

In this episode of Fire Ecology Chats, Fire Ecology editor Bob Keane speaks with Francis Kilkenny and Jeff Ott about a systematic literature review, which examined the results of 86 fuel treatment studies and summarized  what they reveal about factors determining fuel treatment effectiveness at landscape scales.

Eyes on Earth Episode 102 – LANDFIRE 2022 Update

 In this episode of Eyes on Earth, we learn about how LANDFIRE is including more up-to-date information than ever about disturbances to the land with guest Inga La Puma, a USGS EROS contractor at the time of the recording but now with the USDA Forest Service, still as a LANDFIRE fire scientist.

The wildland-urban interface: why wildfire fatalities seem so prevalent in the U.S.

This article discusses the risk that residential areas face in the future, concerning wildfire, and the steps being taken to try to encourage communities to assess planning for fire preparedness within communities and urban areas, that the focus can't only be on preparing wooded & natural spaces. 

Kootenai Valley Resource Initiative summarizes Biochar as explained by RMRS research soil scientist Debbie Page-Dumroese

Rocky Mountain Research Station research soil scientist Debbie Page-Dumroese gave a talk to Salish Kootenai College on Biochar, and her presentation was summarized by KVRI and included in their organizational blog.  It is a very friendly read, explaining the uses of biochar and its potential for helping reduce effects of climate change.  

Land use, nutrient conditions contribute to oak decline

In recently published paper, scientists study how nutrient conditions and land use disturbances play a role in the decline of oak forests. The study: "Forest mycorrhizal dominance depends on historical land use and nitrogen-fixing trees" was coauthored by Chelcy Ford Miniat, the current RMRS Manager for Maintaining Resilient Dryland Ecosystems Programming.

Q&A: Rapid-fire evolution in the Pyrocene

For a recent paper published in Trends in Ecology & Evolution, Gavin Jones, an ecologist with the U.S. Forest Service, assembled a team of researchers—including wildlife biologists, evolutionary ecologists and geneticists—to consider how catastrophic fires may force species to evolve quickly to survive. 

Moscow research station scientists receive awards

Three Rocky Mountain Research Station scientists received Forest Service Deputy Chief Awards for their work: Andrew Hudak, Kasten Dumroese, and Ned B. Klopfenstein. 

Science in Action

In this excerpt from the July 27, 2023 episode of BBC Science In Action, reporter Melanie Brown discovers how experts study the physics of fire behavior on a tour at the Missoula Fire Sciences Laboratory. Listen to interviews with Thomas Dzomba and Mark Finney (RMRS Fire, Fuel, and Smoke Science Program Deputy Program Manager and Research Forester, respectively) as they demonstrate test burns in the Fire Lab combustion chamber.

Listen to the full Science in Action episode here.

Five animals that have evolved to cope with wildfires

A beetle that can sense infrared light. A bird that lays eggs the color of charred ground. A woodpecker that specializes in hunting in burned bark.

Animals have long learned to live alongside wildfires, but those coping skills are being tested as Earth enters the Pyrocene, a new era of unprecedented conflagrations like those this summer in Canada that have stained the skies orange and sent suffocating plumes of smoke over American cities.

A century of fire suppression is worsening wildfires and hurting forests

As parts of the country typically unaffected by wildfires have been blanketed in smoke in recent months, experts are turning to a centuries-old practice as one way to help manage increasingly severe forest fires.  

At the root of the problem, experts say, is the longtime policy of fire exclusion: keeping fire out of the forest.

Is There Such a Thing as an Eco-Friendly Hike?

Does the presence of human-caused sounds in the woods affect the way wild animals behave? And if so, where and when do humans cause the most disturbance to wildlife? To address these questions and others, scientists from the Rocky Mountain Research Station and the Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research Institute are using camera traps and speakers to investigate the effects of recreation-related noise on wildlife.

When the woods get noisy, the animals get nervous

Does the presence of human-caused sounds in the woods affect the way wild animals behave? And if so, where and when do humans cause the most disturbance to wildlife? To address these questions and others, scientists from the Rocky Mountain Research Station and the Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research Institute are using camera traps and speakers to investigate the effects of recreation-related noise on wildlife.

Climate change is a wake-up call for hibernating squirrels

As the planet warms because of human-caused climate change, the rodents’ hibernation patterns are getting thrown off. Females are leaving their burrows earlier and earlier each spring. Their male counterparts, on the other hand, don’t seem to have changed when they end hibernation. This mismatch could eventually spell trouble for the species’ reproductive success, according to a new paper published last week in the journal Science.

Billions are being spent to turn the tide on the US West’s wildfires. It won’t be enough

“As much money as we’re receiving, it’s not enough to take care of the problems that we are seeing, particularly across the West,” said Forest Service Chief Randy Moore. “This is an emergency situation in many places, and we are acting with a sense of urgency.”

Amid growing concern over salmon, House Republicans head to Richland to defend Snake River dams

Russ Thurow, an emeritus fisheries research scientist at the U.S. Forest Service who has spent four decades studying salmon and steelhead in Idaho, said that despite the debate over the fate of the dams, “The science is pretty clear.”

“There is a lot of misinformation out there, unfortunately,” he said. “The best way to sift through that is to really go to the rigorously peer-reviewed published science, and if you do that, I think you see a much more consistent story.”

Climate change could mean fewer 'date nights' for Arctic ground squirrels: study

As temperatures rise in the North, scientists say it's affecting how Arctic ground squirrels hibernate - and it could have serious consequences for the species.

Warming Arctic could put chill on squirrel 'date nights'

As Alaska's bleak winter sets in, arctic ground squirrels burrow deep into the ground to begin an eight-month-hibernation before popping up again in spring, famished and eager to breed.

Scientists studying the critters have now discovered a startling new consequence of climate change: as temperatures rise, females of the species have been gradually advancing the date they re-emerge, now a full 10 days earlier than a quarter century ago.

Just Between Us Squirrels, There Might Be Trouble in the Arctic Dating Scene

Male Arctic ground squirrels go through puberty every year. As if that wasn’t hard enough, now the females have a problem, too.

According to a paper published on Thursday in the journal Science, climate change appears to be making them emerge from hibernation earlier. That matters, because it could throw off the timing of the animals’ mating cycle.

Black gold for forest restoration? Not exactly, but it's another useful tool

Finding a product that can be generated by forest restoration, and be sold to fund the efforts, has been the perpetual challenge for officials in northern Arizona.

Now, scientists and forest officials are looking at a new tool to help in that effort.

Dubbed the CharBoss, the machine can burn material generated during forest thinning operations and create that charcoal-like substance, a material called "biochar," said Coconino County Forest Restoration Director Jay Smith.

New CharBoss fire prevention technology has potential for short and long-term benefits

As temperatures rise here in Arizona, fire prevention is critical in keeping our vulnerable communities safe. In the High Country, forest thinning has been a constant preventative method to limit wildfires. But new technology called the CharBoss will soon allow year-round burning to reduce overgrowth. Coconino County recently got a presentation on the CharBoss and how it works. 

Black Is The New Green: Exploring Biochar's Potential to Moderate Wildfire, Store Carbon

Utah forests have had an especially tough couple of decades, and foresters are grappling to manage the remnants. An emerging tool — biochar — shows potential to benefit both forest and the greater ecosystem, according to USU forestry resources specialist Darren McAvoy.

Forest thinning in Arizona produces mostly useless wood. New tech is trying to change that

Coconino County has aggressively been thinning its forests to try to reduce the amount of overgrowth that leads to violent fires like those last year that burned more than 30 homes and 80 square miles. But current thinning practices don’t create desirable logs with any real use. So it’s trying out different technologies to eliminate a growing problem ahead of any new fires. 

An Interview with Katherine Zeller

Welcome back to Corridor Conversations, and the next interview in our series on women working in connectivity conservation.

Today, Harshad Sambamurthy speaks with Dr. Katherine Zeller, Research Biologist with the Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research Institute.

One of the oldest climate change solutions may be one of the best

Sometimes the best ideas are those hiding in plain sight. That may be the case with trees and forests.

Is turning forest waste into black char a green solution?

‘Biochar,’ promoted at a Tooele event, has proponents, but the process has yet to catch on.

New project at Holiday Farm Fire site turns woody debris into biochar

The Bureau of Land Management on Tuesday unveiled a new project that will turn leftover woody debris from the Holiday Farm Fire into charcoal, also known as biochar.

The project, established by BLM and the U.S. Forest Service, aims to find a safer, cleaner way to burn the unusable woody waste from the fire in 2020 and study how biochar can be used to benefit soil, project officials said.

New technology for forest cleanup being used for Holiday Farm Fire recovery

It has only been three years since the Holiday Farm Fire burned over 100,000 acres, leaving the land scorched and burnt woods in place of the forest.

To help reduce the forest waste and revitalize the burned landscape, the Bureau of Land Management showed off a new mechanical prototype that they say will ultimately help bring life back to heavily affected burn areas.

The West’s iconic forests are increasingly struggling to recover from wildfires – altering how fires burn could help

Wildfires and severe drought are killing trees at an alarming rate across the West, and forests are struggling to recover as the planet warms. However, new research shows there are ways to improve forests’ chances of recovery – by altering how wildfires burn.

In a new study, we teamed up with over 50 other fire ecologists to examine how forests have recovered – or haven’t – in over 10,000 locations after 334 wildfires.

New forest technology offers alternative to burning slash piles

Debbie Page-Dumroese, a researcher with the USDA Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station, is a leading expert in soil enrichment and the use of biochar. She helped develop and patent the CharBoss technology.

“This allows us to put a pulse of organic matter back into the soil so the soil can do everything we expect it to do,” Page-Dumroese said in an interview last week.

Lean Green Burning Machine

Flathead National Forest touts forest-management benefits of new mobile biochar production burner

In a clearing on the Flathead National Forest outside Coram, a low bass-like grumble rippled the winter air. Gathered around a giant green machine and a large metal barrel, both emanating heat, were dozens of people representing sectors of the forest industry. It was a gathering that could easily be mistaken for an illicit party, complete with bonfires, if not for the excess of government trucks parked nearby, and Forest Service patches adhered to Carhartt jackets and hats.

The gathering was prompted by the sedan-sized bright green machine that was continually loaded with branches and small tree trunks. From the bottom, a small conveyor belt pushed blackened lumps into a water-filled tray before the charred remains were raked out into a pile for examination.  

...While traditional burning produces a large amount of particulate matter such as smoke and ash and releases carbon into the atmosphere, pyrolysis generates minimal smoke and renders the biomass as a high-carbon biochar with a variety of applications that appeal to private landowners and forest management agencies alike.  

Biochar: Uses and Potential Benefits

We have been hearing a lot about biochar recently. Biochar is the charred material leftover after partially burning organic material, which is then used to improve soil health, remediate polluted soils, sequester carbon, and even improve soil water holding capacity and soil moisture. This month we spoke with Dr. Debbie Page-Dumroese and Dr. Nate Anderson, both with the USFS Rocky Mountain Research Station, to learn more about biochar and its many uses.

Montana researchers are highlighting the human role in wildfires

Fire season normally follows the heat of the summer, but now it's stretching nearly year-round.

"The counterintuitive aspect is all happening all the time with fire," said Mark Finney, Missoula Fire Sciences Laboratory research forester. "If you have a fire problem in our wildlands, chances are you need more fire in order to solve it, not less. We don't have a choice about fire. Every year we prove we do not have the power to choose not to have it. The only power we have is when to have it and what kind to have, and that's it."

Potential Operational Delineations: New horizons for proactive, risk-informed strategic land and fire management

In this episode of Fire Ecology Chats, Fire Ecology editor Bob Keane speaks with Matt Thompson and Kit O’Connor of the Rocky Mountain Research Station, USDA Forest Service, to learn about PODs (potential operational delineations) and discuss current and future opportunities for using PODs in cross-boundary and collaborative land and fire management planning.

Scientists, land managers work to restore whitebark pine nationwide

Just south of Gallatin Gateway, the Little Bear Seed Orchard on the Custer Gallatin National Forest is playing an important role in national efforts to restore ailing whitebark pine.

Robert Keane, a research ecologist and associate director at the Whitebark Pine Ecosystem Foundation, said that having rust-resistant seedlings is the key, because they will create the forests of tomorrow.

Because of the seedlings' importance, maintaining genetic diversity is a must, since the species could lose other genetic properties that may contribute to its resilience in the face of climate change and other disturbances.

Thinning forests won’t help restore the Great Salt Lake, scientists say, and could even make things worse

The Uinta Mountains, however, had a natural thinning event more than a decade ago when bark beetles ravaged the national forest. Today, about one in four of the trees across that range are dead, mostly due to insects, according to information provided by the U.S. Forest Service. That includes areas lumberjacks can’t access.

“That ‘natural thinning event,’ I have not used that phrase and I really like it,” said Sara Goeking, a biological scientist with the U.S. Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station, “... That’s what the mountain pine beetle epidemic really was. And there were a handful of studies that showed water yield didn’t increase, it didn’t change. Some of them found some decreased water yield.”

It ran counter to prevailing beliefs at the time — forestry scientists had hypothesized since at least the 1960s that reduced forest cover would yield more water. While working on her Ph.D. in watershed sciences at Utah State University, Goeking wanted to explore why it wasn’t always the case in forests across the West.

“Most of the studies were done in wetter places,” she said. “No one ever really thought maybe that doesn’t hold true everywhere.”

Machine turns waste-wood into climate-friendly product

CharBoss is a mobile machine that converts waste-wood products into biochar, a nutrient-rich product that can be used for soil restoration or to enhance agricultural land.

Debbie Page-Dumroese is a researcher with the USDA Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station who helped develop and patent the technology and is a leading expert in the use of biochar. She shared her excitement in the latest developments, “The ability to process woody residues on-site reduces open burning or the need to transport materials off-site, so there is less smoke and air pollution. Even better, we can create this terrific product that can be used to restore damaged soil.”

Slash to cash?

Research scientists from the U.S. Forest Service and a private company have teamed up to create equipment that could result in cleaner burning of logging slash piles while producing a soil amendment product. 

Debbie Page-Dumroese, a soil scientist at the Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station in Moscow, said biochar can help rehabilitate soil at logging sites while sequestering some of the carbon from the wood waste. 

“It’s highly porous, so it holds a lot of water. It also has a high exchange capacity, so it holds nutrients and you don’t get as much leaching. Nutrients are bound to this charcoal. It’s kind of like a slow-release fertilizer.”

Healing abandoned mine ecosystems with biochar

The Gold Rush of the 1800s is inextricably tied to USA history. Mining towns popped up wherever precious metals could be extracted, with many of these towns and mines now lying abandoned as ghostly reminders of the old wild west. Abandoned mine land poses a threat to environmental and human health, and methods to rehabilitate this land has gathered much interest over the past few years. Dr. Carlos Rodriguez-Franco and Dr. Deborah Page-Dumroese from the US Department of Agriculture have been evaluating the use of biochar as a sustainable method to remediate abandoned mine lands.

Inside the lab that starts fires for science

At the Missoula Fire Sciences Lab, scientists research the elements that make up forest fires. In this episode of WIRED Field Trip, we take a tour of this facility and learn how these teams develop a greater understanding of wildfires.

Deliberate burning shielded historic Southwest, study finds

RMRS scientists are among the coauthors of the study this article references.

Historic burning by Native American tribes in the American Southwest shielded landscapes from prior episodes of climate-induced wildfires, a new study has found.

Deliberate use of fire by Apache, Navajo and Jemez communities between 1500 and 1900 protected large swaths of their desert homelands from destructive climate-induced fires, according to the paper published on Wednesday in Science Advances.

Called to waters: Casting stories with John N. Maclean

For Sara Brown, the program manager for the Fire, Fuels, and Smoke Science program with the U.S. Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station, Maclean’s ownership of his father’s legacy in writing about fire is not only impressive but has contributed significantly to the public’s understanding of wildfire and the approach to firefighting culture.

“You know he could have shied away from being the son of a famous author, or he could have just owned it. It has continued on with him [Maclean] and it’s a cool legacy. Together, he and his dad have captured a pretty good snapshot of these fatality fires over time and describe some of the changes that we’ve seen over time in fire culture,” Brown said.

The impact of “Fire on the Mountain” went beyond awards and accolades from the writing and publishing industry and directly touched those like Joe Harris, now the deputy director of accident reviews for Innovation and Organizational Learning with RMRS. Harris’ role is to review accidents on wildland fires and he is appreciative of Maclean’s outside perspective.

“He’s never been a firefighter. He’s never done the job,” Harris said. “But he does this for a living where he looks at other people doing this job, and tries to figure out what there is to learn. Looking at [fire accidents] from the perspective of a journalist helps us out so that’s why I like to read his books.” 

Documentary: The Lost Salmon

Russ Thurow, Emeritus Fisheries Research Scientist at the Rocky Mountain Research Station, is featured at timestamp 22:20.

The Lost Salmon chronicles the plight and potential recovery of the iconic spring chinook salmon of the Pacific Northwest. Faced with extinction in many river systems of the West, a new genetic discovery could aid in their recovery. Once teaming in the millions and a sacrament for the oldest civilizations in the Americas, time is running out for the genetically distinct wild salmon.

Conducting Wilderness Relevant Research with Dr. Kellie Carim

(Beginning at time stamp 00.36) Episode 196 of the Fisheries Podcast features Dr. Kellie Carim, a RMRS Research Ecologist at the Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research Institute in Missoula, MT. Kellie’s research combines genetics tools and information, as well as aquatic ecology to inform stewardship of wilderness areas, and to understand the benefits of wilderness to broader landscapes and ecosystems. Her research interests are broad and include engaging diverse partnerships to address conservation and management of aquatic resources. Kellie's work has evolved from her PhD throughout her current role, her advice on conducting collaborative work with Tribal partners, as well as some really exciting projects on lamprey genetics, and using ultrasounds to assess maturity in salmonids.

UC Berkeley researchers study damages to forests, wildlife

During the past decade, extreme disturbances such as droughts and wildfires have had a devastating impact on California’s natural environment. A study conducted by UC Berkeley researchers and RMRS Research Scientist Zach Steel details the specifics of that damage and its effects on the state’s species of wildlife. The study paid attention to two unique species in the southern Sierra Nevada mountains that face severe transformations in their habitats: the spotted owl and the Pacific fisher. The two species thrive in dense forests with canopy cover, but these ideal habitats are increasingly under threat.

Asteria Chilambo and Jing Shang Receive Best Video Presentation at eUSR Conference

The Harvard University Statistics Department congratulates undergraduates Asteria Chilambo and Jing Shang on receiving the best video presentation at the 2022 Electronic Undergraduate Statistics Research Conference for their summer research work. Retired RMRS scientist Raymond Czaplewski and RMRS mathematical statistician George Gaines collaborated with the students.

Nearly a third of Sierra Nevada’s conifer forests destroyed by drought, wildfires

RMRS Scientist Zach Steel was the lead author of a recent study done measured the decrease in conifer forests that cover the southern Sierra Nevada range utilizing geographical forest structure estimates, wildfire perimeter data and forest disturbance tracking algorithms. The region has been hit by constant drought, leaving pines more exposed to wildfires and bark beetle invasions. From 2011 to 2020, 30 percent of conifer forests in the southern Sierra Nevada have died due to these threats. During the same time, 85 percent of the region’s dense mature forests have either died or substantially thinned.

Forest vanishing in the southern Sierra Nevada

RMRS Research Biologist Zaxh Steel discusses the key findings of research regarding forest decline in the Sierra Nevada mountains. Between 2011 and 2020, canopy cover across 30% of conifer forests of the souther Sierra Nevada declined, changing to either sparse woodland/savanna or in many cases to a different type of non-tree vegetation. This was attributed to compounding megafires and an historic drought. 

‘Just madness’: Concerned scientists lobby to save space station’s forest-mapping laser

RMRS Research Biologist Zaxh Steel discusses the key findings of research regarding forest decline in the Sierra Nevada mountains. Between 2011 and 2020, canopy cover across 30% of conifer forests of the souther Sierra Nevada declined, changing to either sparse woodland/savanna or in many cases to a different type of non-tree vegetation. This was attributed to compounding megafires and an historic drought. The International Space Station has an instrument attached to it that scientist have been using since 2019 to create 3D forest estimates and estimate the wood and carbon they store. The Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation (GEDI) uses near-infrared light and measures the reflections that bounce back from treetops, midstory branches, and the ground. RMRS Research Ecologist Sean Healey says that GEDI has revealed that unmonitored areas in the United States holds a surprising among of carbon.

Nearly a third of southern Sierra forests killed by drought and wildfire in last decade

Findings in a recent study by RMRS scientists Zach Steel and Gavin Jones reveal that 85% of forests in the southern Sierra’s high-density mature forests either lost density or transition to non-forest ecotypes. Wildfire, drought, and bark beetle infestations between 2011 and 2020 contributed to the loss of nearly a third of all conifer forests in the southern Sierra’s.

California tree carnage: A decade of drought and fire killed a third of Sierra Nevada forests

RMRS Research Biologist Zackary Steel analyzed forests in the Sierra Nevada mountains between Lake Tahoe and Kern County. A combination of fire, drought and bark beetle infestations has killed 30% of the forest from 2011-2020.

Countering Wildfire Misinformation

Wildfires are a complex phenomenon: their causes are diverse and the factors influencing their growth, intensity, and impact can vary widely by geography, local climate, and ecosystem. As the consequences of wildfires for human and natural communities grow more severe, the circulation of misinformation around them has also intensified. RMRS Research Ecologist Gavin Jones discussed the characteristics and consequences of wildfire misinformation and provided suggestions on how to combat it.

For Tribes, Reforesting Means Reconnecting to History, Culture

Nurseries are a critical element in any reforestation projects. Some tribes are taking the lead in growing the trees, wild foods and pollinator species that have become scarce on the landscape. RMRS Research Plant Physiologist and Tribal Nursery Specialist Jeremy Pinto helps manage the Intertribal Nursery Council, an association that provides a forum for information-sharing and technical assistance. "I'm constantly learning of new tribal nurseries popping up and interested in doing restoration,” Pinto said. “There’s an uptick in the diversity of the programs and the plants that they grow. It’s a really good investment to be in control of the plants they’re using, to ensure that the seed sources and types of plants are appropriate.”

Colorado researchers examine how soil rebuilds itself after wildfires

After a wildfire, we can see the effects of the fire on the landscape, but what are the effects to the soil? How do wildfire affect soil microbes, tiny living things invisible to the naked eye that exist all around us and include bacteria, fungi and viruses. Wildfires can burn up to 96% of them. RMRS scientist Chuck Rhoades’ work focuses on how the whole ecosystem builds itself back and if it builds back to what would be expected in a less-disturbed forest.

Why Grasslands Are Worth Saving

Beginning at time stamp (1:45-3:14) and (14:33-20:19) RMRS Research Ecologist Dean Pearson discusses grassland restoration and a study he did to improve seed germination. A drawback in any grassland reseeding project is the germination rate of seeds due to predation by granivores, in this case, deer mice. Pearson and his team coated grass seeds with a compound made from ground “ghost” pepper seeds that made the grass seeds unpalatable for mice to eat

Wildfire debate misses crucial science

This article first appeared in the Missoulian, and was picked up by other media outlets:

Science has clear evidence but a muddled message about how to treat forests and protect homes from wildfire, local researchers said in response to national controversy over fire management.

"We want to reassure folks that the science is solid, despite rumors they are in conflict,” retired Missoula National Fire Lab Director Colin Hardy said during a National Forest Foundation webinar on Monday.

Environmental genes could be the problem solver of the century

Environmental DNA, e-DNA is an emerging science used to detect the presence or absence of animals in an area. Using e-DNA, scientist can sample water and soil to detect remnants of what was left behind, mucus, slime, and feces. RMRS Senior Scientist Michael Scwartz said, “It’s about 10 times more cost-effective than some of the field methods we were traditionally using.”

Forestry Leaders Scramble to Turn Massive New Funding Into Trees

RMRS Research Plant Physiologist Kasten Dumroese was the keynote speaker at the Reforestation Pipeline In The Western United States conference in Missoula, MT. His presentation discussed funding provided by recent legislation to grow more trees, replant burned areas and help communities prepare for the effects of climate change. The funding is designed to address the loss of forest landscape caused by wildfires, drought, disease and pests. Forests are threatened by climate change, and some leaders are paying increased attention to the vital role they play in sequestering carbon and providing “green infrastructure” in urban areas.

When Wildfires Heat Up, Size Isn't What Matters Most

In recent years, scientists have taken a different approach to studying burn severity by using satellite imagery and cloud computing tools. Burn severity is an assessment of a fire's impact measured in tree mortality and soil damage. High-severity fires bring profound transformation. Innovations in the field are ongoing, and researchers are still working to build better tools for analyzing burn severity. In 2018, Sean Parks, a RMRS wildfire ecologist, published a method using the power of cloud computing in Google Earth Engine (GEE).

As wildfires become common, Idaho’s smoke season becomes a public health hazard

Two pulmonologists discuss the rise in hospital visits they see every year when fire season arrives and air quality decreases. The article quotes a 2020 University of Montana study from scientists including Shawn Urbanski and Matt Jolly with RMRS, “While recent studies have shown air quality improving for the contiguous U.S. from the reduction of industrial and vehicular emissions … air pollution in wildfire-prone areas, particularly in the mountain West region of the U.S., has increased and is projected to further worsen due to climate-mediated increases in wildfire activity.”

AGU Announces the 2022 Class of Fellows

Dr. Charles Luce, RMRS research hydrologist, was among 54 individuals selected by the American Geophysical Union to the 2022 Class of AGU Fellows in recognition for their outstanding achievements and contributions to Earth and space science.

Scientific paper raises awareness about wildfire misinformation

As wildfires spread at sometimes an alarming rate through the western United States, so does the misinformation about fire science and wildfires. A group of fire scientists have penned an article published this month highlights the misinformation about wildfires. “Misinformation confuses people about the causes, contexts, and impacts of wildfire and substantially hinders society’s ability to proactively adapt to and plan for inevitable future fires,” the authors wrote in the paper. Gavin Jones, a research ecologist at the U.S. Forest Service’s Rocky Mountain Research Station based in Fort Collins, Colorado, was the lead author in the paper. He said the main goal was to raise awareness about the issue.

‘Moneyball’ analytics help fight wildfires. This year’s blazes are testing their limits.

The Forest Service’s Moneyball effort began in 2017, spurred by growing alarm within the agency at the emergence of complex “megafires,” blazes of more than 100,000 acres. Forest Service researchers Matthew Thompson and Dave Calkin enrolled in an MIT course
on how the data-analytics movement that was revolutionizing professional sports could be applied to other businesses.

The two said it got them thinking: If the Houston Rockets’ then general manager, Daryl Morey—known for using analytics—could use data to conclude that three-point shots were a more efficient way to score than midrange jumpers, could a similar concept be applied to firefighting resources?

Use of Analytics in Fire

Beginning at time stamp 1:15:25 RMRS scientists Kit O'Connor and Matt Thompson join hosts for a third annual discussion on the use of analytics in fire.  Kit and Matt cover a range wildfire topics including fire severity, erosion, spacial index of sepression difficulty, potential control locations atlas, and other topics.

Potential wolf release area identified by Colorado Parks and Wildlife includes ski resorts

Biologists with the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission plan a wolf reintroduction on Colorado’s Western Slope. RMRS Research Ecologist Mark Ditmer was the lead author of a social-ecological modeling map study the state wildlife agency is using to help determine where to release wolves. His map modeling takes into consideration such ecological elements as habitat, prey base, terrain, housing and road densities, and livestock production. What largely separates his modeling from previous maps is it includes social suitability based on how counties voted on Proposition 114.

Here’s the general region where Colorado plans to reintroduce wolves

Biologists with the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission presented information at a meeting on September 9 on wolf reintroduction plans on Colorado’s Western Slope. During the presentation a study was referenced that Colorado Parks and Wildlife used in their efforts to select reintroduction locations. The study’s lead author, RMRS Research Ecologist Mark Ditmer said that data from the study shows southwest Colorado has high-altitude mountains with enough prey and high levels of social acceptance.

Arizona’s forests are in bad shape

Different studies in Arizona draw conclusions on the declining health of some 6 million acres of forests in northern Arizona. One of the studies reported on came from the U.S. Forest Service’s Rocky Mountain Research Station in Flagstaff, published in the Open Journal of Forestry. Dead trees on forest floor, the number of dead trees on the forest floor increased significantly between 2004 and 2009, according to a census of fallen trees in both ponderosa pine and mixed conifer forests in the study. “This large pulse of new logs has implications for fire behavior, not only in terms of fuel loads, but also with respect to fuel types,” said the researchers.

The Terrifying Choices Created by Wildfires

Wildfires present a unique challenge among natural disasters. In the moment of cataclysm, there’s little that a homeowner can do to protect a house from a hurricane, flood, earthquake, or tornado. But it’s sometimes possible to stay and fend off a wildfire. And yet staying to fight is exceedingly risky. It’s tempting to hold off on evacuating for as long as possible while planning to leave when conditions get rough. “That’s the worst of the two worlds,” says Sarah McCaffrey, a research forester with the U.S. Forest Service in Fort Collins, Colorado. “Evacuating at the last minute is probably the most dangerous thing you can do.”

Counteracting Wildfire Misinformation

Beginning at time stamp 1:13:40 – 1:23:54 RMRS Research Ecologist Gavin Jones discusses countering wildfire misinformation. The interview covers how wildfire misinformation has flourished in media and political discourse and can hinder effective wildfire management.

Utahns, are you ready to drink your recycled toilet water? A mobile lab aims to prove you can

This story is part of The Salt Lake Tribune’s ongoing commitment to identify solutions to Utah’s biggest challenges through the work of the Innovation Lab...

... In the past week Utahns have witnessed the air simultaneously filled with smoke, rain and hail. With climate change, we can expect the unexpected.

“What we’ve seen all this summer is rapid climate change,” said Tara Bishop, a research ecologist for the Maintaining Resilient Dryland Ecosystems science program of the US Forest Service. 

‘If they can’t make it, none of them will.’ These Idaho salmon may hold key to survival

Wild Chinook salmon in Central Idaho’s rugged wilderness may be the key to the threatened species’ recovery throughout the Northwest. Chinook salmon born in the crystal-clear waters of the Middle Fork might be able to adapt to climate change, researchers say. Russ Thurow, research fisheries scientist at the Rocky Mountain Research Station expects the Middle Fork’s Chinook to be best positioned to adapt to future challenges.

Colorado River strain casts shadow over recreation

In the midst of a 22-year megadrought, the water level along the Colorado River is declining. It affects all aspects of water recreation including fishing. Rocky Mountain Research Station Research Fish Biologist Dan Isaak has studied rising water temperatures for years. According to Isaak's research, rising water temperatures could eventually lead to a 31% loss of habitat. 

Scientists: Fires in American West Bigger, Hotter, More Destructive

Wildland fires have gotten larger over the last 40 years putting more homes and resources in danger. Forest thinning and prescribed fires are tools resource mangers use to reduce the risk of large fires. RMRS Scientist Jamie Sanderlin points out that fire is ecologically important to create habitat for wildlife like the black-backed woodpecker. 

Constructing Resilient Energy Systems: Salmon and Electricity in the Pacific Northwest

Beginning at time stamp 16:43 – 23:51 RMRS Fisheries Research Scientist Russ Thurow discusses ecology of Chinook salmon in the Middle Fork of the Snake River. Snake River wild Chinook salmon populations have been in steep decline since 1957. Wild, locally adapted Idaho Salmon are best-suited to adapt to an uncertain future.

Scientists rush to save 1,000-year-old trees on the brink of death

...After her grisly discovery atop Telescope Peak, Millar immediately contacted Barbara Bentz, a research entomologist for the Forest Service based at the Rocky Mountain Research Station in Logan, Utah.

Just a few years earlier, Bentz had surveyed bristlecone populations across the West and found that few were succumbing to the bark beetle outbreaks that decimated so many other species. She felt confident that the trees would remain resilient even as rising temperatures caused beetle populations to explode.

Graceful Endurance

Steven Hawley shares a letter he wrote to the White House Council on Environmental Quality on what should be done to restore salmon to the Columbia River Basin. RMRS Fisheries Research Scientist Russ Thurow provided information about Chinook salmon in the Middle Fork Salmon River.

In the US West, Researchers Consider a Four-Legged Tool to Fight Two Foes: Wildfire and Cheatgrass

Cheatgrass can set down roots in fall or spring and it germinates early, shooting out of the soil early enough to beat many perennial grasses for resources. It releases its seeds and cures into fuel for wildfires early, too. After a burn, those seeds sprout quickly, beating out native species and allowing it to spread further.

“It’s just highly competitive,” said Jeanne Chambers, a senior scientist emeritus at the U.S. Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station. “Once it begins growing in a favorable environment, it can grow very rapidly, and it can mature high numbers of seeds.” 

California drought, bark beetles killing the oldest trees on Earth. Can they be saved?

For thousands of years, bark beetles were held in check or eliminated by the harsh conditions of the stony, storm-battered mountain crests where the grotesque, twisted trees have evolved an arsenal of survival strategies.

Now, scientists say, these living symbols of longevity, strength and perseverance may be at an evolutionary crossroads. Hotter droughts and bark beetles are for the first time in recorded history killing bristlecones, according to a recent study published in the scientific journal Forest Ecology and Management.

The study led by U.S. Forest Service biologists Barbara Bentz and Constance Millar found that bark-beetle-caused mortality was most likely in areas where bristlecone pines are intermixed with other tree species that are known to host the beetles.

Climate change challenges biodiversity within protected areas

Sean Parks led a study published in Environmental Research Letters looking at how climate types within protected areas may change and where the same climate may show up elsewhere in the future. These areas where climates will be similar to current ones in another area are considered climate analogs.

These shifts in climate can provide insight into where new optimal climate tolerances may be for species. “The assumption is that as the climate moves, the organisms associated with that climate also need to move,” he said. The problem is that it may not be easy for species to move to these optimal areas.

Salmon 1: Mountain Origins

Beginning at minute stamp 14:05 RMRS Fisheries Research Scientist Russ Thurow discusses ecology of Chinook salmon in the Snake River. This is the first of three part series of podcasts on salmon in the Snake River and what actions are needed to restore at risk population levels. 

Over 20 years, the Hayman fire's footprint opened a window into Colorado wildfire future

For most Coloradans at the time, Hayman represented the first wildfire of monstrous proportions.

In some respects, and in some areas where it burned with low to moderate severity, the Hayman fire performed beneficial functions — like helping to reduce forest density produced by a century of fire suppression policy and other land use activities. But the devastation surrounding Cheesman Reservoir illustrates the opposite extreme, forest destruction on an unprecedented scale, notes Paula Fornwalt, a research ecologist at the U.S. Forest Service’s Rocky Mountain Research Station in Fort Collins.

“There’s no way around that,” she said. “In those areas, the forest is gone. It used to really break my heart because I knew that forest from before the fire. Just to see it change was devastating. Maybe I’ve just become used to it now, 20 years later. I don’t get that visceral reaction when I see those large, high-severity patches, but it’s definitely not the way an ecosystem is supposed to operate.”

California properties at risk of wildfire expected to see sixfold increase in 30 years

Just over 100,000 properties in the state currently have a 1% or greater annual chance of being affected by wildfire. The number is expected to reach about 600,000 by 2052, according to the data from First Street Foundation.

The modeling, which marks the first effort to calculate the fire risk of each property in the United States, assumes that development will remain constant and takes into account only climate inputs, according to Jeremy Porter, the foundation’s chief research officer.

Greg Dillon, director of the Fire Modeling Institute at the agency’s Rocky Mountain Research Station, said the methodology appeared sound.

“I think the more we can get homeowners and communities thinking about their risks and what they can do to take action about them, the better,” he said.

Dillon led the modeling efforts used in the Forest Service’s Wildfire Risk to Communities mapping, which models fire risk at a community level. He said the agency does not drill down to the parcel level in its modeling because there are potential uncertainties and because it believes the community is an appropriate scale for action when it comes to mitigating risk.

“If one home in a neighborhood works to mitigate their wildfire risk, but their neighbors aren’t doing anything, then they’re not effectively reducing their risk very much,” he said. “It takes community action.”

Here are the wildfire risks to homes across the lower 48 states

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First Street’s analysis of property-level exposure to risk is underpinned by a high-resolution model of wildfire behavior across the country. The model is based on a number of factors, including the proximity to combustible fuels that contribute to wildfire — like shrubs, grasses and trees — historical weather, previous fires, and warming climate conditions like temperature and precipitation. It builds on estimates from the United States Forest Service of community-level wildfire risk.

Researchers at the Forest Service and elsewhere said First Street’s approach was reasonable, though they cautioned that such granular projections should be viewed as estimates only, with significant levels of uncertainty.

Greg Dillon, director of the Forest Service’s Fire Modeling Institute, said people also shouldn’t discount the threat of wildfire just because they’re not in the highest risk categories on such maps. “If you’re in anything but the lowest risk category, you should be talking to your neighbors about risk mitigation and what you can do,” he said. “In a lot of the United States, there’s a potential for fire.”

Is your house at risk of a wildfire? This online tool could tell you

A non-profit research group is releasing a first-of-its-kind tool for homeowners. Produced by First Street Foundation, the ratings tool shows the wildfire risk for properties across the lower 48 states, and shows how that risk will change as the climate gets hotter.

In 2018, Congress mandated that the U.S. Forest Service create nationwide wildfire maps. The result, Wildfire Risk to Communities, shows how cities and neighborhoods are vulnerable to wildfire, but isn't detailed enough to be used for individual properties and homes.

"Because it's a broad, national mapping project where we don't have property level data on how susceptible each person's home is –what the siding material, roofing material is, et cetera – we take a very coarse look at that," says Greg Dillon, director of the Fire Modeling Institute with the U.S. Forest Service.

Fire fighters may get artificial intelligence to help fight Colorado wildfires

Lockheed Martin Space, based in Jefferson County, is tapping decades of experience of managing satellites, exploring space and providing information for the U.S. military to offer more accurate data quicker to ground crews. They are talking to the U.S. Forest Service, university researchers and a Colorado state agency about how their their technology could help.

The company is also talking to researchers at the U.S. Forest Service Missoula Fire Sciences Laboratory in Montana. Mark Finney, a research forester, said it’s early in discussions with Lockheed Martin.

“They have a strong interest in applying their skills and capabilities to the wildland fire problem, and I think that would be welcome,” Finney said.

The lab in Missoula has been involved in fire research since 1960 and developed most of the fire-management tools used for operations and planning, Finney said. “We’re pretty well situated to understand where new things and capabilities might be of use in the future and some of these things certainly might be.”

Colorado's fly-fishing industry faces the growing threat of climate change

Over the past decade, a team led by Dan Isaak, an Idaho-based biologist with the U.S. Forest Service’s Rocky Mountain Research Station in Fort Collins, has been compiling temperature records from various rivers and streams across the Western United States into a comprehensive database. In 2014, Isaak and other researchers began using that data to predict temperature shifts in the region’s waterways; four years later, they found that by 2050 there will be an average increase of 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit. Furthermore, Isaak’s research shows that unless the world gets serious about tackling the climate crisis, the increase will jump to nearly 5.5 degrees by the end of the century.

That’s not enough to make trout disappear, but it could have major effects on where they’re able to live, much less thrive. “As the water gets warmer, they’re going to have to move up in elevation [where it’s cooler] to maintain their equilibrium with the environment,” Isaak says. According to his research, that could result in an eight to 31 percent decrease in suitable habitat in the West as some rivers and streams are pushed past trouts’ thermal tipping point.

Burn area still looks barren, 20 years after Hayman Fire

Mike Battaglia is a research forester with the U.S. Forest Service. He said the process of replanting cannot keep up with the need and the size of fires like Hayman.

"You have to grow them out in nurseries, then you have to transport them back out to the field two years later and then plant them," Battaglia said.

The answer, Battaglia said, is thinning out forests by cutting down trees and using prescribed burns.

"We think we can start living with fire rather than just trying to avoid fire," Battaglia said.

He said the U.S. Forest Service has a 10-year strategy that includes expansion of replanting trees in burned areas like the Hayman Fire scar and the use of more controlled burns to reduce wildfire danger across Colorado.

Millions of Americans own forestland at high risk of wildfire. Protecting it is a daunting task.

Clearing flammable brush and debris from privately owned forests is a key way to prevent major wildfire damage to homes, property and communities, especially in the parched West. Hundreds of millions of acres owned by more than 10 million families — nearly 40 percent of U.S. forestland — need this kind of management. But wildfire fuel reduction takes knowledge, labor and money. Small landowners need help to do it.

Scientists tracking wildfire risk to Colorado communities

As the so far busy year continues for fire crews on the ground in Colorado, eyes are on the ever-changing wildfire risk along the Front Range from out of state.

At the U.S. Forest Service's Missoula Fire Sciences Lab in Montana, a team put together an interactive map, as directed by Congress, to help show the wildfire risk to communities across the United States.

"We have a collection of research scientists doing science on a whole range of issues around wildland fire, everything from studying fire behavior to studying smoke and the chemistry of smoke to studying fire ecology and how fire operates on the landscape and in ecosystems," said Greg Dillon, Director of the Fire Modeling Institute at the lab. 

New Mexico communities at greatest risk of a wildfire

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – If you’ve been in New Mexico during wildfire season, you know the all-too-familiar smell of smoke in the air and the sound of fire trucks racing to the scene of another New Mexico wildfire. You probably remember fires in the Jemez mountains, blazes near Ruidoso, or flames in the Albuquerque foothills in years past. But have you ever wondered what communities are at the greatest risk for fire damage?

Wildfire researchers sure have. In fact, it’s a question the U.S. Forest Service has been researching for years now.

...The U.S. Forest Service didn’t just collect wildfire risk data for the fun of it. The data is intended to help communities better prepare and mitigate wildfire risks, Dillon says. And there are specific things homeowners in at-risk areas can do. Here are some tips from Dillon and the U.S. Forest Service (more info can be found here).

Inside America's 'forest census'

The world's oldest tree ring laboratory helping the U.S. Forest Service predict effects of changing climate.

Even in a seemingly lush forest filled with abundant greenery like the Cibola National Forest, telltale signs of drought are present, explained John Shaw, who leads forest analysis for part of the western U.S.

"If things are hotter and drier, that line where trees can survive is going to creep up to where the climate is a little less stressful," he said in an interview beneath the forest canopy.

Now, the U.S. Forest Service is collaborating with the world's oldest tree ring laboratory, using new data to enhance its projections of how a changing climate is affecting America's forests.

The scientists decoding the ancient mystery of fire

Scientists are still arguing over questions like, what makes a fire spread faster when the wind blows, and why do fires burn faster when they go uphill?

For all that we don’t know, what we do know is that the model we use to determine how quickly a fire will spread is over 50 years old. That’s why fire experts at The Missoula Fire Lab are making a new fire spread model. Will this initiative go up in flames or completely change what we know about fire?

Study finds that climate change could make rapid wildfire blowups like East Troublesome more frequent

"Unprecedented" was how many firefighters and fire scientists described the 2020 East Troublesome fire in Grand County, Colo.

A new study published Wednesday suggests those kinds of dangerous wildfire blowups could soon be far more common.

Jonathan Coop, a study author and professor of environment and sustainability at Western Colorado University in Gunnison, helped investigate the possibility of similar blowups after the East Troublesome fire. His team found single-day extreme events — defined as wildfires growing more than about 2,700 acres in a day — will likely become more frequent as the climate warms. Meanwhile, extreme wildfires "are projected to surpass anything witnessed yet," including the East Troublesome. 

Understanding The Fire Paradox: Why We Need Fire To Prevent Fire

A lab is disproving many theories about how fire spreads. It's studying fire to learn how changing climate conditions affect its behavior.
"We started to realize that a lot of the basics that we thought were the foundation of fire behavior, science, were in fact quite wrong," said Mark Finney, Missoula Fire Sciences Laboratory Research forester. "Not just a little wrong, but exactly wrong."

Dr Jeanne Chambers – Measuring ecological resilience to combat wildfires

Invasive plants can permanently alter ecosystems to promote conditions that support their own persistence. For example, certain invasive grasses can make areas prone to more frequent and larger wildfires, which negatively impact native species but favour fire-resistant invaders. This self-perpetuating process, termed a grass-fire cycle, can be impossible to reverse. Dr Jeanne Chambers of the United States Department of Agriculture’s Rocky Mountain Research Station and her colleagues – Matt Brooks, Matt Germino, Jeremy Maestas, David Board, Matt Jones, and Brady Allred – recently examined how an ecosystem’s resilience to fire and resistance to invasive grasses influence whether a grass-fire cycle will establish. 

The wildlife scientist finding innovation in ancient ideas

A member of the Laguna Pueblo tribe, Serra Hoagland is the first Native American woman with a Ph.D. to work for the Forest Service. She currently serves as liaison officer for Montana’s Missoula Fire Sciences Laboratory, which includes assisting on intertribal partnerships and tribal forest management projects.

“I hate to be so cliché, but my role is really as a conduit, somebody bridging these gaps,” says Hoagland. “I have my academic training, my background in forestry and forest management, but I’m also a tribal member, and I understand where tribes are coming from. I’m trying to connect both those worlds.”

When winter wildfires come, will Utah be ready?

Much of Utah’s population lives along an enormous wildland urban interface (WUI) - the area where human settlement and wildlands meet - thanks to the Wasatch Front’s long, narrow north-south axis. Communities from Logan to Santaquin share a significant border with wildland.

Examples of Utah WUI fires include last year’s fire in Parleys Canyon ignited by a faulty catalytic converter, and the 2020 off-season Range Fire ignited by police target shooting.

Dan Jimenez, a mechanical engineer and researcher for the U.S. Forest Service who grew up in Utah, said he was shocked a couple of years ago when he visited Saratoga Springs.

“There used to be nothing out there, and now you’ve got house after house and it’s all very exposed,” Jimenez said.

'Wildfire season' is dead, agencies transitioning to year-round approach

The growing severity of wildfires has sparked discussion on how to best approach fire mitigation. The threat of wildfires over the last decade has changed the thinking from "wildfire season" to a year-round event. People are asking what can be done to stop it, slow it, or control it as they see federal financial support headed in that direction.

United States Forest Service (USFS) Supervisor Research Forester, David Calkin said, "Being really successful in suppressing all fires, especially the small easy ones, is a large part of what has gotten us into this problem."

Don't blame national forests for America's massive wildfires

According to new research, between 1990 and 2019, about 35,000 buildings burned in wildfires in the 11 western states between New Mexico, California, Washington, and Montana.

There were 91 extremely destructive fires, which each burned more than 50 buildings. But only a quarter of those ultra-destructive fires began in national forests. And those fires only caused 15 percent of the total home damage during the two decades.

“I don’t necessarily think I had the intuition that there was more fire burning onto our land,” says Matthew Thompson, a fire researcher at the Forest Service’s Rocky Mountain Research Station. “This is a problem that has risk factors and mitigation measures that have nothing to do with managing a forest.”

Forest fires could boost Western U.S. water supplies

Streamflow in the West has been below average since the early 2000s, but a new analysis shows that streams aren’t as dry as expected. In an analysis of watersheds throughout the western United States, researchers found that on average, streams see higher flows than expected for 6 years after a forest fire ravages the surrounding basin. Accompanying climate models show that this extra water partially offsets a decades-long deficit in streamflow. Vegetation matters, said Sara Goeking, a forest hydrologist with the U.S. Forest Service who was not involved with the study. Dense foliage intercepts precipitation, especially snow. After a large fire incinerates a forest canopy, more of that water reaches the ground and makes its way into streams.

‘Really tight water year’: Drought, low snowpack may foretell Idaho’s climate future

Much of Southern Idaho, cut through in scythe-like fashion by the Snake River Plain, relies on the frozen water stored in the state’s mountains to fill its rivers. When winter ends and summer’s broiling heat arrives, it is these snowy peaks that serve as the state’s reservoir, filling the Salmon, Snake, Big Lost, Boise and other tributaries with cold, clear water. But as the amount of snowfall declines, with scientists citing the effects of climate change as a key contributor, major problems arise for the state’s ecosystems, residents and agriculture industry. By the turn of the century, Idaho could see reductions of 35%-65% of its snowpack, according to a study published in Nature Reviews Earth & Environment last year.

Between the 1940s and the mid-2010s, streams throughout the state saw an average flow reduction of 20%, according to Charlie Luce, a research hydrologist at the Rocky Mountain Research Station, which is part of the U.S. Forest Service. And during the driest years, streams saw reductions of up to 40%. Luce said the changes are associated with shifts in weather patterns consistent with expectations of climate change in the Pacific Northwest region, which have led to reduced precipitation in the high mountains. With an increase in average temperatures, Luce described the lower precipitation in dry years and the larger portion of precipitation falling as rain rather than snow as a “one-two punch” that can further restrict the state’s water supply.

Researchers are using eDNA to track lynx, wolverines, and more

Jessie Golding is the leader of the Multispecies Mesocarnivore Monitoring Program for the US Forest Service’s National Genomics Center and Northern Region. For the past five years, she has been developing a novel method of using environmental DNA, or eDNA, found in snow tracks to identify rare forest carnivore species including Canada lynx, wolverines, fishers, martens, and montane red foxes. These species live throughout the forests of western Montana and northern Idaho but are characteristically elusive. 

New USGS EROS Maps Reveal Species-by-species Prevalence of Exotic Grasses in the Western U.S.

The USGS EROS maps began to gain traction in the user community even before the most recent release. Matt Reeves of the USDA Forest Service, for example, has folded the information into a tool called “Fuelcast,” which calculates biomass each month across the West.

The Fuelcast calculations, which consider precipitation, temperatures and remotely sensed sources, serve two primary purposes. First, they offer a data point for ranchers seeking federal payouts for reductions in expected forage through the Farm Services Agency. Second, the projections help the firefighting community understand the conditions on the ground. High levels of biomass and dry conditions can be a dangerous combination if a fire is sparked.

Fighting fire with WindNinja Mobile

More than 6.5 million acres in the United States burned during 2021, with much of the destruction fueled by the dangerous combination of wildfire and wind. Wind often changes direction, intensity, and speed throughout the day, which can contribute to a wildfire’s spread and sometimes cost firefighters their lives.

That’s why it’s critical that firefighters on scene understand sudden shifts in the wind, wind speed, the effect of terrain on wind, and other factors. With that in mind, the Rocky Mountain Research Station’s Missoula Fire Sciences Lab, a Montana-based division of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service, collaborated with the firm Technosylva to create a mobile version of WindNinja, a high-resolution wind model that the lab first created as a desktop application in 2007.

Eyes on Earth episode 66: Exotic annual grasses

The rangelands of the western United States are changing more quickly than many other parts of the lower 48. Miles upon miles of the area or semi-arid landscapes in states like Idaho, Montana and Nevada are now carpeted by fire fueling invasive grasses. Cheatgrass is the most prevalent, which is troublesome for several reasons. First off, it greens up and browns down really quickly, leaving a layer of tinder-like vegetation. In many areas, it fills in the formerly barren spaces between thicker bunchgrasses and sagebrush, which in turn helps fires move rapidly from fuel source to fuel source. On this episode of Eyes on Earth, we hear from the USGS EROS teams who use satellite data to map exotic annual grasses and a researcher who uses those maps to create monthly grass abundance estimates for firefighters and land managers.

Scientists capture airborne animal DNA for the first time

“If we want to restore ecosystems, we need to understand how our conservation actions influence threatened and endangered species. But to do that we need to be able to detect even the rarest, shyest, and most cryptic species,” Michael Schwartz, senior scientist at the US Forest Service’s National Genomics Center for Wildlife and Fish Conservation in Missoula, Montana, wrote in an email to WIRED. “We need new technologies, like the ability to detect airborne environmental DNA.”

Forest management in spotted owl habitat pays off

Forest management to reduce fuels in California spotted owl habitat not only decreases the risk of severe megafires – it can also benefit the declining species in the long run. That includes measures like forest thinning, tree removal and other techniques, which researchers say can preserve the old-growth forests the owls rely on while reducing fuel for wildfires.

“Under all scenarios we conceived of, even the most pessimistic one, restoring a more resilient forest structure—even if it has a negative effect on the owls in the short term—always pays off,” said Gavin Jones, a research ecologist with the U.S. Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station.

Controlled burns key to containing megafires

Another study underscored the economic challenge of thinning the forest without a significant investment of taxpayer money — and use of relatively low-cost controlled burns wherever possible.

That’s because thinning projects barely make money without a subsidy to get rid of worthless biomass across 80% of the forest, according to another study published in Forest Ecology and Management.

Even when loggers can process the trees up to 20 inches in diameter, they can’t make much money on a thinning project, concluded University of Oregon researcher Chris Dunn and US Forest Service researcher John Hogland in a study of thinning projects in Ponderosa Pine forests in Oregon.

This vast wildfire lab is helping foresters prepare for a hotter planet

But done with care, and with regard for forest ecology, researchers say, these techniques can make forests healthier and more resilient to fire.

“Our past forest management did certainly log a lot of our larger trees out,” said Sharon Hood, a research ecologist with United States Forest Service in Montana. But practices have changed, she said.

“Thinning allows us to quickly change the forest structure and which species are there,” mimicking the way forests were disturbed in the past, she said. “You can design thinning to be as complex or as simple as you want.”

California spotted owls benefit from forest restoration

“Forest restoration often involves some removal of live trees—mostly small and medium-sized trees in the forest understory that have grown in because of fire exclusion. These smaller trees increase fire risk to owl habitat, and removal of these smaller trees will protect the rare, larger trees that owls use for nesting,” lead author Gavin Jones, Ph.D., a research ecologist with the USDA Forest Service (USFS) Rocky Mountain Research Station, tells Treehugger.

Nighttime's not quieting wildfires like it used to, study shows

Wildfire activity generally slows at night as winds die down, temperatures drop and humidity rises. But a new study suggests that’s changing.

U.S. Forest Service researchers examined data from heat-sensing satellites dating back to 2003, and found that increases in nighttime fire activity outpaced daytime increases.

The study's lead author, Patrick Freeborn, based at the Rocky Mountain Research Station in Missoula, Mont., says his team's findings raise safety concerns for firefighters.

Science-based management, fire-resistant homes can offset wildfires

...On Monday, the National Forest Foundation hosted an online panel of fire experts to discuss how fires burn – especially during the more extreme conditions caused by climate change – how different forest projects are affected, and what that means for forests, communities and air and water quality.

Of the three factors contributing to wildfire – topography, weather and fuels – the factor that man can manipulate the most effectively is fuel, said panel moderator Colin Hardy, formerly of the Forest Service Fire Sciences Lab in Missoula. That’s why agencies focus on tree thinning projects – the less fuel, the less likelihood of fire. Research has shown that taking some of the trees out of dense forest stands can reduce the intensity of a future wildfire because the fuels have been reduced...

...Finney said science shows that thinning doesn’t go far enough. To maximize fuel reduction, including the elimination of ground fuels like shrubs, grasses and downed wood, prescribed burning is essential to bring down the wildfire risk..

...Former Fire Lab scientist Jack Cohen said a lot of the pressure could be taken off firefighters if worries about the loss of houses or communities could be separated from the need to manage forests and wildfires. And it can, because Cohen’s research shows that many homes burn because of the fuels attached to and within 100 yards of a house, not the fire. Meanwhile, wildfires sometimes need to be allowed to burn.

The fight to save the salmon

Tramping along the edge of Marsh Creek, a winding stream fed by glacial runoff from the jagged Sawtooth Mountains, Russ Thurow scans the shallows for Chinook parr, as baby salmon are called. “There!” says Thurow, a fish biologist with the U.S. Forest Service, pointing out 2-in.-long spotted fish that could grow into powerful 40-lb. salmon. It darts under the grassy overhang of an eddy. Thirty years ago, when Thurow would lie on his belly with a snorkel and mask in this stream, he would count 200 or 300 Chinook parr in the same conditions.

This grass burns Utah’s valleys

“We grabbed dinner and we just sat and watched it,” said Tara Bishop, a research ecologist with the National Forest Service. “It burned everything you see here,” she said, taking in the mouth of Dry Canyon and nearby foothills with a sweeping gesture.

“Ignition starts a fire, yes,” said Bishop, “but where the fire goes from there — how long and how far and how fast it burns — depends on the fuel.”

Regime change: History of fire ecology in Nevada

From the Ponderosa Pine-covered mountains in the Eastern Great Basin to the arid Mojave Desert and all the sagebrush and grass in between, Nevada’s ecosystems are diverse. Fire behaves differently across these regions, both historically and today. The guests on the latest episode of the Living With Fire Podcast “Regime Change: History of fire ecology in Nevada,” explain why fire is an important process in Nevada, how scientists study fire, and why understanding the history of fire can give scientists and land managers useful clues to help them manage landscapes today.

Monarch Pass could serve as a new model for wildfire mitigation in treacherous areas

MONARCH PASS — Sergio Bernal casually flicks his wrist and the towering spruce falls. The Oregon forester presses a button and buzzing saws de-limb the beetle-killed tree and slice it into 33-foot logs. A giant claw swings the tree to the side and the slash falls to the forest floor. The eight-wheeled Finnish machine — called a harvester — captained by Bernal crawls down the leafy slope and grabs another tree.

In a matter of minutes, Bernal has stacked hundreds of dead spruce trees on the steep slope. Behind him, another forester in yet another massive machine called a forwarder gathers the freshly felled trees for transport to nearby lumber mills or local firewood sellers.

Hydrologists and soil scientists in the U.S. do not have a lot of experience with these mechanized, Nordic logging machines, so the results of Rhoades’ erosion studies, as well as how the logging might reduce the impacts of catastrophic wildfire, could enable more future mitigation in steep terrain, he said.

“If we only treat fuels on flat ground, we are not going to be able to treat many spaces, especially in Colorado,” Rhoades said. “This could allow the Forest Service to think about how this new tool can help the agency be more flexible when it comes to working with steep terrain.

9/29/2021: USDA, Golf, NFL, MLB, Peabody

Sports is a game of numbers. Statistician experts Eric Bradlow, Shane Jensen, Cade Massey, and Adi Wyner team up to tackle the world of sports, from current events to longstanding issues such as: What sports streaks are the most impressive? How do you rank the best players? Can athletes be compared across sports? Wharton Moneyball explains how decision makers in the game can avoid the common mistakes and embrace the data. On this episode, Dr. Matt Thompson and Dr. Kit O'Connor discuss how they use a Moneyball strategy to fight wildfires.

Climate change, logging collide -- and a forest shrinks

The problem is that the forest changed but logging rates have not, said Mike Battaglia, one of the lead authors.

“In the late 90′s, you had twice as much volume” of trees in the forest, he said. “To take out the same amount now, you’re taking too much.”

Forest industry representatives criticized the government’s multi-year study for including only parts of the forest, saying that created an incomplete picture of how many trees are available to harvest.

They estimated up to 80% of the region’s timber industry jobs would be lost if the forest service reduced logging to recommended levels. If that happens, they said the agency would have difficulty finding companies willing to do less profitable thinning work for wildfire protection.

The origin story, history, and controversy of Black Hills National Forest

The Black Hills National Forest is changing. Years of damage from wildfires and pine beetles have shifted the conversation about the sustainability of the forest and the viability of the forest products industry. This month the SDPB Spotlight coverage has focused on the forest.

In order to begin to understand the Black Hills, you need to spend some time there. For me, the forest sounds a little different every time I visit. It's muffled once and ringing the next. One time I sat in silence for an hour and never heard another footstep. Other times I've been in the Black Hills I've heard rustling and rumbling ... a disquiet. But the forest always seems to smell exactly like I remember it does... sweet and fragrant and blanketed with pine.

Scientists are learning more about fire tornadoes, the spinning funnels of flame

Jason Forthofer, a firefighter and mechanical engineer at the U.S. Forest Service's Missoula Fire Sciences Lab in Montana, said funnels like this one are called "fire whirls." He said the difference between whirls and tornadoes is a matter of proportion.

"Fire tornadoes are more of that, the larger version of a fire whirl, and they are really the size and scale of a regular tornado," he said.

Forthofer said the reason for the proliferation of images and videos like that whirl on the Tennant Fire might just be that people are keeping better track of them.

A journey through the scales of fire phenomena with Sara McAllister

Have you ever wondered how is a fire of a match or candle different from a wildfire? Or maybe rather, why is it different? What is it, that makes the fires at different scales behave in such a different manner? What are the phenomena that drive these fires, and are these the same phenomena across the scales? These are the questions I had in mind when starting the interview with a rising star of Wildfire Science – Dr Sara McAllister of the USDA Forest Service.

Helicopter mulching could help forests recover after severe wildfires, but it’s not cheap

An aerial landscaping team has taken flight in the mountains west of Fort Collins, Colo.

Its landing site sits in a broad field at the base of Poudre Canyon. Every few minutes, a helicopter arrives to lift a net loaded with about 1,300 pounds of shredded wood. The payload arcs from a cable as the aircraft banks toward a line of fire-charred mountains, waiting to spread the mulch over a section of scorched forest.

The daily airshow is meant to protect water supplies. Last year, the Cameron Peak Fire — the largest in state history — burned through the Cache la Poudre River watershed, leaving many slopes vulnerable to destructive erosion during rain events.

Research shows wind is a defining characteristic of the Great Plains Grasslands

Scientists still aren't sure what maintains the Great Plains Grasslands and keeps them separate from forests. A very common hypothesis is that there are climatic differences between the areas where each type of ecosystem forms.

"You know, trees can't grow in the Great Plains because it's too dry or something like that," explained Brice Hanberry, a research ecologist with the US Forest Service.

But the boundaries between the two ecosystems have been slowly disintegrating since around 1850, which caused Hanberry to wonder if something else was responsible for keeping them separate. So, she gathered a variety of historical data related to climate variables like precipitation, evaporation, and vapor pressure. But she was also interested in the role fire played.

Firenado: When two of nature’s deadliest forces combine

A fire tornado, or “firenado,” is exactly what it sounds like: a tornado made out of fire… and it is truly the stuff of nightmares. The most famous example occurred when the 2018 Carr Fire spawned an EF3 fire tornado with estimated wind speeds of 143 mph! And as climate change drives increasing wildfires around the planet, it only makes sense that we see more fire tornadoes as well.

Tune into this episode of Weathered to learn what the latest science can tell us about these rare but dangerous phenomena as well as about the surprising ability of burnt forests to store carbon and mitigate climate change. 

Fire ecology (WILDFIRES) with Gavin Jones

As Smashmouth said, “My world’s on fire, how ‘bout yours?” Why yes, Mr. Mouth, it is, indeed, on fire. As so many of us around the globe are sharing in this burning sensation, what better time than now to sit down and fire off a lot of questions at Fire Ecologist, Dr. Gavin Jones. We talk about what fire is, how hot it burns, fire trends, tinderboxes, lots and lots of forest fire flim-flam, tolerant wombats, Angelina Jolie Movies, cunning pine cones, thick bark, Indigenous fire stewardship and more. Please note that this podcast includes some adult language.

When to flee a wildfire: A new interactive map ranks rural communities in Washington and Oregon for wildfire evacuation vulnerability

Around the world, wildfire season seems to be on the verge of becoming wildfire season(s) or even wildfire year(s). The Guardian reports that Greece is battling 56 wildfires. Turkey’s fires, described as the worst in decades, have killed at least ten people. Meanwhile, CNN reports that the United States is fighting 96 active wildfires. National Public Radio reports that Oregon’s Bootleg Fire may not be contained until October. The Bootleg is so intense that it’s generating its own weather .

As unusual as “creating weather” may sound, that’s what the Sugar wildfire in northern California has done this summer. On July 10, the Los Angeles Times reported that the cloud of smoke and ash from the Sugar wildfire sparked lightening.

New report: State of the science on western wildfires, forests and climate change

Exceptionally hot and dry weather this summer has fueled dozens of wildfires across the western U.S., spewing smoke across the country and threatening to register yet another record-breaking year. More than a century of fire exclusion has created dense forests packed with excess trees and brush that ignite and spread fires quickly under increasingly warm and dry conditions.

Beetles, drought, and fires are a ticking time bomb in the West

Extreme drought. Soaring temperatures. Decades of fire suppression. It’s a perfect recipe for the kinds of wildfires now tearing through the West.

But there’s another ingredient that could make fires even more severe, and it’s just the size of a grain of rice: bark beetles.

These tiny insects prey on a large number of tree species, which can make some forests, especially in the American West, more susceptible to severe wildfires. In fact, there’s some indication that beetle-killed trees have helped fuel the Bootleg Fire currently raging in Oregon.

Humans are the cause of most wildfires. Climate change will make that worse

Climate change is exacerbating wildfire dangers across the West, creating the perfect conditions for the main culprits to start damaging fires: human beings.

People are the driving force behind the changing climate, and they are also the driving force behind most fires.

Data from the National Interagency Coordination Center indicates that the vast majority of wildfires, 88 percent on average, were ignited by human sources from 2016 to 2020.

Embracing PODs: Advancing wildfire response planning

PODs, potential wildfire operational delineations, give land managers, fire managers, partnering agencies, and at-risk communities a structured framework for developing landscape-scale wildfire response options before wildfires ignite. 

As wildfires rage, US fire ecologists grapple with lack of data

Each year, tens of thousands of wildfires flare in the US. Most are small, averaging under 200 acres, but a few dozen grow into megafires, often rapidly, in events known as ‘blow-ups’. Right now, amidst heatwaves, 12 US states are battling over 70 wildfires. 

Can wildlife science help track COVID-19 in humans?

In a recent study published in BMC Public Health, U.S. Forest Service researchers used simulations to investigate whether occupancy modeling and repeated testing could overcome low test sensitivity in COVID-19 rapid tests to produce accurate estimates of disease prevalence more quickly and cheaply. A total of 108 scenarios were simulated, with varying values for disease prevalence, test sensitivity, proportion of the population initially tested, proportion of the population repeatedly tested and number of repeat tests.

The researchers found that occupancy modeling and repeated testing can overcome the low sensitivity of rapid tests to provide accurate COVID-19 prevalence estimates. When occupancy models were applied with repeated testing, prevalence accuracy was similar for low-sensitivity rapid compared to higher-sensitivity, slower tests.

Putting people first: Using social science to reduce risk

Data from a 2014 community survey showed that most Town of Mountain Village residents were willing to remove trees to reduce wildfire risk. However, almost half of the residents viewed local homeowner association restrictions on tree cutting as a barrier. The availability and presentation of locally relevant social science did two things: first, it changed the conversation in the community; second, it identified a path forward for the town council.

There is a significant gap between established guidelines and persuading Wildland Urban Interface residents across diverse communities to implement changes on their parcels.

RMRS scientists recommend approach to adapt to uncertainty in wildland management

Ecosystems are currently changing at unprecedented rates. Wildland management and policy have long held to the idea that ecosystems are fundamentally static. New research from several Rocky Mountain Research Station science programs suggest ways for managers to respond. 

Firenadoes: We're not in Kansas anymore

The 27 minute Podcast explores fire weather and firenadoes with Jason Forthofer. Jason presents information on the history of firnadoes, and fire investigations he has been involved with.

A podcast including an interview with Jason Forthofer

Beginning at time stamp 24 minutes, Podcast hosts speak with Jason Forthefer from the Missoula Fire Lab in Montana about how he got involved in fire research in the Forest Service, fire tornadoes, research at the lab, and other wildland fire topics.

How eDNA is revolutionizing the tracking of elusive species. It may soon be used to fight wildlife trafficking.

The developing field of environmental DNA (or eDNA) is revolutionizing wildlife studies. RMRS research scientist uses eDNA to detect bull trout, an endangered species. By identifying the eDNA collected from a sample of water or soil, it’s possible for scientists to swiftly identify the presence of organisms in an area. 

Changing the Game: Using Potential Wildfire Operational Delineation (PODs) for a Better Future with Fire

It was clear from the get-go that we weren’t the only ones excited for the inaugural Potential Operational Delineations (PODs) Collaborative Fire Planning Workshop, hosted by the Rocky Mountain Research Station’s (RMRS) Wildfire Risk Management Science team (WRMS) held virtually in February 2021. Well over 500 people registered in just 3 weeks after registration went live, which maxed out the Zoom room capacity and forced the planning committee to close registration. This event and topic was something folks were ready to engage on. And there is reason why – the PODs process is an exciting and emerging framework that leverages local expertise with sophisticated modeling tools to identify features on the landscape – the streams, roads, ridges and fire scars – that have a high likelihood of containing a fire (see example below). Since taking off, the PODs framework has been developed and deployed in different contexts across the United States (over 40 national forests and counting). And while PODs were initially envisioned to support incident management, managers and communities have expanded the application of this tool in a number of ways. 

How the Nation’s Forest Census Improves Satellite-Based Mapping

It’s possible to map vegetation type with Landsat, but getting the maps right requires more than satellites alone.

The teams at the USGS Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center behind the LANDFIRE program’s mapping products use an extensive network of ground control points to check their work, thereby bolstering the reliability, accuracy and utility of the data.

The largest single source of “ground truth” for LANDFIRE comes from a USDA Forest Service program called Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA). Karen Schleeweis of the Forest Service, who serves as the FIA’s Techniques Research Lead and its LANDFIRE liaison, recently sat down to talk about the program and the partnership for an episode of the EROS podcast Eyes on Earth.

Beyond the Headlines: Defending the home front

In the second Beyond the Headlines special dedicated to the upcoming fire season, KOIN talks to U.S. Forest Service fire behavior expert Greg Dillon from his office at the Missoula Fire Sciences Laboratory to explain the wildland-urban interface and how new research is changing the way homeowners protect their property.

To tree, or not to tree: Finding balance in the Black Hills National Forest

The question for surrounding communities isn’t, “should commercial timber sales take place in the Black Hills,” the question is, “how many commercial timber sales should take place in the Black Hills.”

That is the conversation currently taking place among: forest officials from the National Forest Service, which regulates and manages the Black Hills National Forest; the Black Hills National Forest Advisory Board, a 32-member committee made up of stakeholders with specific interest in the Black Hills; and the Black Hills Forest Resource Association, which advocates for the forest products industry.

The Black Hills Pioneer explores the economic impact of the forest, the forest products industry, the overall health of the forest, and what makes the Black Hills such a unique and diverse ecosystem.

Forest plan is next front in Black Hills timber fight

The health of the Black Hills National Forest for the next several decades could be determined by the decisions of the next few years.

The U.S. Forest Service says it will spend those few years writing a new forest plan, which will require a difficult balancing act with logging.  

While the Forest Service’s own researchers say current harvest levels are unsustainable, timber officials say big reductions could wipe out their industry.

Indigenous Plant Nurseries Look to Revive Landscapes and Cultures

The nursery at the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR) is not your typical nursery.

Jeremiah Pinto, a research plant physiologist for the US Forest Service’s Rocky Mountain Service Station, estimates that before an organization called the Intertribal Nursery Council was started in 2001, there were around 10 Indigenous plant nurseries in the US.

As state nurseries shut down, forest owners seeking seedlings are left to ask: ’What do we do now’?

Oregon state law requires forest owners to replant their land within two years of a wildfire, but many haven’t been able to: They used to rely heavily on state-run tree nurseries, but Oregon closed its nursery more than a decade ago.

The seedling problem is not unique to Oregon. Eight states have closed their nurseries, most in the past two decades, according to a survey by the National Association of State Foresters. Twenty-nine states still operate nursery programs, though many have closed some of their facilities.

How prescribed burns could help forests withstand disease and heat

The weather is warming, the ground is drying and all across the West two things are becoming evident as summer nears: there is not enough water and fire season could be brutal.

Out of control, high severity fires are becoming increasingly frequent and threaten forests in the West. Nearly 6% of forests in the Sierra Nevada are at risk of conversion — a process where grassland or invasive species take over previously forested land, and somewhere between 1.6%-15.1% are threatened in the Intermountain West according to a paper published in BioScience. Warming temperatures and the advent of “wildfire season” has meant transitioning landscapes and an uncertain future for the West’s forests.

What could this plan mean for the outfitters that depend on salmon/steelhead?

Series of Facebook interviews with Russ Thurow on the salmon fishery in Idaho. The video series answers a wide range of questions from river guiding community about Idaho's recently proposed plan to transition western Idaho away from hydropower in order to both benefit Idaho's long-term economy and save Idaho's salmon from extinction.

How do our day to day actions on the Middle Fork of the salmon directly impact the salmon and steelhead?

Series of Facebook interviews with Russ Thurow on the salmon fishery in Idaho. The video series answers a wide range of questions from river guiding community about Idaho's recently proposed plan to transition western Idaho away from hydropower in order to both benefit Idaho's long-term economy and save Idaho's salmon from extinction.

Does this plan really save our steelhead and salmon?…

Series of Facebook interviews with Russ Thurow on the salmon fishery in Idaho. The video series answers a wide range of questions from river guiding community about Idaho's recently proposed plan to transition western Idaho away from hydropower in order to both benefit Idaho's long-term economy and save Idaho's salmon from extinction.

Timber harvest needs to be reduced to sustain Black Hills National Forest, scientists say

Sustainability of one of the nation's most vibrant forests through proper timber harvesting and management, while balancing the ecological needs of the Black Hills, was the focus of a meeting Wednesday morning with a group of scientists and residents.

The USDA Forest Service Research and Development Rocky Mountain Research Station held a webinar to explain its findings on the health of ponderosa pine trees in the Black Hills National Forest. The meeting follows the March 23 public release of a new report, where scientists recommended a 50% to 60% reduction in timber production over the next several decades.

What is the single biggest threat to salmon/steelhead spawning in the Middle Fork watershed?

Series of Facebook interviews with Russ Thurow on the salmon fishery in Idaho. The video series answers a wide range of questions from river guiding community about Idaho's recently proposed plan to transition western Idaho away from hydropower in order to both benefit Idaho's long-term economy and save Idaho's salmon from extinction.

What makes the Middle Fork watershed such good spawning habitat for salmon and steelhead?

Series of Facebook interviews with Russ Thurow on the salmon fishery in Idaho. The video series answers a wide range of questions from river guiding community about Idaho's recently proposed plan to transition western Idaho away from hydropower in order to both benefit Idaho's long-term economy and save Idaho's salmon from extinction.

How are wild salmon a keystone species?

Series of Facebook interviews with Russ Thurow on the salmon fishery in Idaho. The video series answers a wide range of questions from river guiding community about Idaho's recently proposed plan to transition western Idaho away from hydropower in order to both benefit Idaho's long-term economy and save Idaho's salmon from extinction.

Who would benefit from having a thriving salmon population in the Salmon River?

Series of Facebook interviews with Russ Thurow on the salmon fishery in Idaho. The video series answers a wide range of questions from river guiding community about Idaho's recently proposed plan to transition western Idaho away from hydropower in order to both benefit Idaho's long-term economy and save Idaho's salmon from extinction.

Report Calls for Large Cut in Black Hills Timber Production

Scientists are calling for a 50% to 60% reduction in timber production for the Black Hills National Forest over the next several decades, according to a report released Tuesday.

Voice of the Valley 3/23 US Forest Service with Russ Thurow

Interview on Voice of the Valley with Russ Thurow on Tuesday, March 23rd about salmon and steelhead fisheries research in Idaho's Middle Fork Salmon River. 

Letter to the Editor: Chopping block

Opinion article on PG&E program trimming and cutting down California palm trees.

Forest Service timber harvest report nearly completed

In 2020, a draft General Technical Report was performed by U. S. Forest Service researchers to see if the Black Hills forest could handle a long-term timber harvest program.

The draft said that the current program was unsustainable and called for a sizeable decrease in harvesting.

Kate Stone named biologist of the year

Kate Stone of Stevensville was recently selected to receive the Biologist of the Year Award by the Montana Chapter of the Wildlife Society. Awards are given annually in recognition of Montana wildlife professionals who exemplify remarkable professional contributions to wildlife science and/or conservation.

Tree map: Program catalogs every grove in the U.S. forest

Single out a grove of trees about the size of a couple of basketball courts. Hike up there and count every tree in that space, measure its height, check its health and record all the results.

Repeat 2.8 billion times.

Or call up the Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station and borrow their new Tree Map. In a 21st-century version of seeing the forest for the trees, a team of fire researchers in Missoula have crunched all those pixels of satellite data to inventory the woods covering nearly a third of the Continental United States.

The forests that won’t grow back

When large, high severity fires burn in warmer and drier forests, more trees are killed and the seeds that would spawn new life wiped out. While ponderosa pines are adapted to fire, their seeds are also heavy and don’t travel great distances — maybe a 100 meter radius at most. Those conditions make regeneration improbable when tens of thousands of acres of forest are decimated.

“Even if seed sources are present, the post-fire climate conditions are becoming increasingly dry and warm, and there’s a reduced probability that seeds can turn into seedlings and young trees,” said Sean Parks, a Forest Service ecologist...

Russ Thurow

For Sustainable Idaho's investigation of Salmon in Idaho, co-hosts Rachel McGovern and Scott Greeves speak to Russ Thurow. Russ is a Fisheries Research Scientist for the U.S Forest Service. We discuss the current management techniques and their challenges, contextualize the current Salmon population against historical numbers and look to the future for Salmon in Idaho.