Treesearch

Federally designated wilderness in the US is to be stewarded to provide, among other qualities, outstanding opportunities for unconfined recreation - or recreation generally free from rules and regulations. However, compared to other wilderness character qualities, measurement and monitoring of unconfined recreation is often considered less formally. This research seeks to understand the spatial distribution of unconfined recreation across wilderness areas and other federal and nonfederal protected areas in Colorado, and to answer questions related to comparative levels of confinement...

Trust is essential for successful environmental governance, but more research is needed to understand how trust ecology dynamics interact to influence partnership success. We applied the trust ecology framework to partnerships between federal agencies and non-governmental organizations focused on outdoor recreation management. Data were collected from U.S. agency personnel and nonprofit organizations engaged in partnerships to understand partnership success, overall trust, and the four trust pathways: expected behavior (rational trust), emotional connection/shared values (affinitive...

These standard bridge plans provide guidance to bridge engineers for replacement of timber bridges along historic U.S. highway routes. They utilize treated glued-laminated timber components for two superstructure design types: (1) longitudinal stringer with a panelized transverse deck and (2) longitudinal deck. Superstructure designs are in conformance with the AASHTO LRFD Bridge Design Specifications, 9th edition.

Urban trees are vital components of urban societies and ecosystems, but their management is often contested by diverse and sometimes conflicting goals. As storm frequency and intensity increases, it is important to understand the factors that impact municipal level proactive and reactive storm responses to urban trees including pruning, removal, and emergency procedures. Therefore, we surveyed 920 urban forestry professionals in the Northeastern and Southeastern United States to assess their perceived storm threats, socio-demographic characteristics and whether their affiliated organization...

The 2017 fire season in Montana was especially severe, with more than 2,400 wildfires burning about 1.4 million acres across the state. In the aftermath, the Forest Service’s Northern Region headquarters helped assess and prioritize national forest recovery needs. The work required hundreds of hours compiling data, matching it with GIS layers and fire boundaries, and considering factors such as slope, aspect, and the presence of nearby tree species.

Diseases are threatening forests worldwide. In North America, white pine blister rust (WPBR) is one of the most damaging tree epidemics. To understand patterns in the current and future risk for high-elevation five-needle white pine species (High-5), we compiled data from independent studies across the western U.S. to estimate WPBR risk. Contrary to previous predictions, the future climate is not expected to reduce the prevalence of WPBR risk on High-5 species in the western U.S. The prevalence of WPBR is predicted to increase, with most distributions of the High-5 species projected to...

Outcomes of European colonization encompass surface fire exclusion followed by the forestation of open ecosystems and tree densification within forests, with concomitant replacement of fire-tolerant tree species, specifically oaks, by fire-sensitive tree species. In Kentucky, a 10.5 million ha area of the eastern United States, I compared tree composition between a historical assessment (1907–1909) and modern surveys (2010–2014), utilizing a divergence metric of squared-chord distance, which revealed a similar progression. Following the time since Euro-American settlement and associated...

Suitable climate for tree species currently located in Mexico may shift to the United States and Canada under future warming, resulting in the potential for tree species shifts, with new species gained in the USA and Canada and species losses in Mexico. To isolate dynamics, I modeled distributions of 184 commonly recorded wideranging or transboundary tree species of North America, including presence in Mexico, and 258 tree species primarily abundant in Mexico, including 51 endemic species, under current climate and predicted to three future climates (projected warming of 4.3–8.8 ◦ C during...

The Urban National Landowner Survey (UNLS) is part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Forest Service, Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program and has the mission of providing information about the ownership, objectives, management, and future plans of people who own trees in urban areas. This report summarizes data collected from private, residential landowners in Houston, TX, from 2019 (n = 209). While normally collected over 5 years, implementation was intensified in Houston to complete data collection in 1 year. Private, residential landowners in Houston believe that...

This report provides detailed estimates and highlights key findings from U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) data collected across its Alaska Susitna-Copper FIA unit in 2019 and 2020. The Susitna-Copper FIA unit encompasses much of the Susitna River and upper Copper River watersheds and is one of six FIA inventory units designed to measure the expansive boreal forests of Alaska. Estimates of forest area, volume, aboveground biomass, and ecosystem carbon are provided across land ownerships, forest types, and forest demographics throughout the...