forestry

“Lumber and economic growth are tightly connected,” says USDA Forest Service scientist Jeffrey Prestemon. “At a certain rate of GDP growth, you get a certain path of lumber consumption.”

Boise, Idaho is famous among college football fans for the blue turf on the Boise State University Broncos’ field. But in wildland fire management circles, the city is just as well-known as home of the National Interagency Fire Center, or NIFC. In fact, NIFC is the nation’s support center for wildland fire management and other types of incidents. Some even refer to it as the Pentagon, or nerve center, for national wildland fire management.

Deadly and destructive wildland fires consuming so much of the West, from California all the way to British Columbia, are not only affecting those who have had to flee but those who are downwind of these massive infernos. At one point, in early July, before the prevailing winds helped de-choke Washington state, Seattle was reported to have the worst air quality in the nation.

Located in northern Wisconsin, the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest has been called home by many species of turtles. The wood turtle, which resides in this forest, is classified as a Species of Concern and is under consideration by the US Fish and Wildlife Service to list under the Endangered Species Act.

More than 80 million acres of national forests are at risk from insect infestations, the impacts of prolonged drought, and the too frequent devastation caused by catastrophic wildfire. And the USDA Forest Service has a responsibility to the American public to move quickly and cost-effectively to restore these damaged wildlands.

I once lived in a home where fighting lawn weeds seemed a never-ending task. This was a new housing development. Pickets tied with bits of pink ribbon still clearly showed where our property began and ended, and they were handy for helping me determine where I could put in my fence and where I could stop mowing and trimming.

A caterpillar that’s been rarely observed in the wild is about to join with another species of inch worms to wreak destruction upon two national forests in New Mexico. The culprit, called Janet’s looper caterpillar, feeds on the needles of high-elevation fir and spruce trees, but this insect has rarely been observed for nearly 50 years.

Journeys can lead us to destinations of breathtaking beauty, test our courage, and challenge the limits of our endurance. It all starts with your first step on a wilderness trail. The USDA Forest Service offers lots of opportunities for this type of adventure.

The problem of illegal marijuana farms on national forests is, pardon the pun, growing. Although marijuana is now legal in California and other parts of the U.S., illegal marijuana growing is still a billion dollar industry with international tentacles.

When most people think of forested lands in our country what comes to mind are public wild lands like the Mount Hood National Forest in Oregon or the Shenandoah National Park in Virginia. But the reality is most forests in America, nearly sixty percent, are owned by private landowners who very much rely on these lands for income that helps to fuel the economic health of rural communities.