Category: Sustainable Forestry
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Customizing harvest systems and logistics at the landscape scale improved the safety and efficiency of the harvests and expanded options for biomass utilization while also meeting ecological objectives.
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The USDA Forest Service uses many forms of technology to manage 193 million acres that comprise the National Forest System: handheld data-entry devices and satellites; modeling software and LiDAR (light detection and ranging) remote sensing; and desktop computers and servers. Collectively, these technologies power the models that create the maps land managers use to monitor…
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Anecdotal evidence and some previous studies suggest that as development approaches private forest land, there’s a decline in commercial timber management of those forests.
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Timber for housing and shelter. Fruit, berries and bark for sustenance and health. Wood for heating and cooking, shipbuilding, and arts and crafts. Without trees, there would be no society as we know it. And the more society advances technologically, the more apparent its innate connection to the forest, and the more evident the related…
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Interior Alaska’s 115-million-acre boreal forest is larger than California and Texas combined. With few roads, most of the region is accessible only by air and is considered one of the last true wilderness areas in the United States. The first systematic forest inventory of this vast area has been started bythe USDA Forest Service’s Forest…
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Looking into the past can help biologists and managers determine what is possible in the future. New research is helping understand the past and more accurately estimate future salmon recovery potential. Central Idaho’s Middle Fork Salmon River (MFSR) offers a glimpse of historical Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) spawning and rearing habitat. The MFSR flows through…
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In less time than it takes a barista to make a latte, you can locate the confirmed presence of chinook salmon in Western Washington and Oregon, or the distribution of bull trout throughout the Pacific Northwest. In the coming months, you can search for the locations of slimy sculpin in freshwater streams and grizzly bear.…
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Accurate predictions of how weather may affect a wildfire’s behavior areneeded to protect crews on the line and efficiently allocate firefightingresources. Since 1988, fire meteorologists have used a tool called the HainesIndex to predict days when the weather will exacerbate a wildfire. Although the Haines Index is widely believed to have value, it never received…
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Forests are considered a natural solution for mitigating climate changebecause they absorb and store atmospheric carbon. With Alaska boasting 129 million acres of forest, this state can play a crucial role as a carbon sink for the United States. Until recently, the volume of carbon stored in Alaska’s forests was unknown, as was their future…
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In Colorado’s Front Range, restoring fire-dependent ponderosa forests is a management priority often informed by understanding the historical structure and ecological function of these forests. Retention of old ponderosa pine trees within restored stands provides forests with a diversity of age structure, genetics, and resilience to low to moderate severity wildfires. Ponderosa pine trees reveal…
Writings by Andrea Watts 