forestry

The U. S. Forest Service will waive fees honoring those brave men and women who have protected our country and nation’s lands during the long Veterans Day weekend November 11-13 at some recreation sites.  This is the third time this year that fees have been waived to encourage visitors to come to a national forest.

It is quite a phenomenon to be the first of anything and to be recognized for it.  It is especially noteworthy when you have a passion for the land, and are willing to work and care for it as a volunteer.  That’s what Gloria Owen did as the first official volunteer in the U.S. Forest Service’s history.  Owen was recently honored for providing her time and talent in the Northern Region working as a volunteer camp cook, camp tender and crew member on the “Mary Mary” trail on the Moose Creek Ranger District, Nez Perce National Forest in Idaho.  She was presented with an embroidered Pendleton blanket and certificate recognizing her role and service by Regional Forester Leslie Weldon.

A 12-year study on the U.S. Forest Service’s Harshaw Experimental Forest near Rhinelander, WI is challenging long-held assumptions about how future forests will respond to the rising levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

As a little girl, actress Betty White dreamed of becoming one. Gary Locke, U.S. ambassador to China, also shared this childhood dream.

What makes Jana Desrocher different is that she is living this dream.

Since May, Desrocher of Hemet, Calif. has been doing many of the duties of a forest ranger on the San Bernardino National Forest. In fact, she loves it so much that she does it for free. Desrocher is a volunteer ranger.

The U.S. Forest Service’s HistoriCorps program in Golden, Colo., is one of 23 award winners honored by the National Trust for Historic Preservation during its 2011 National Preservation Conference Oct. 20 in Buffalo, N.Y.

Hiking the backcountry in a national forest is a special experience where you will see wildlife and nature in its basic elements.  But just in case you run into problems, there are wilderness rangers on some trails to lend a hand.

Thousands of young people have successfully passed through the Anaconda Jobs Corps Civilian Conservation Center in a mile-high valley on the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest.

The facility in southwest Montana is on the largest national forest in the state and boasts two wilderness areas and spectacular scenery that goes on for miles.

As far back as 1902, a national U.S. Forest Service library formed with the transfer of 3,000 books from the Department of Agriculture library. It grew steadily over the years providing a range of services to research customers. Gradually interest grew in expanding service to other Forest Service employees outside of the research branch and to consolidate into fewer locations.

However, over the decades, and because of its evolving decentralized organization structure, large parts of the Forest Service and the public ended up without access to library services.

Jumping out of planes via parachutes to put out remote wildland forest fires isn’t your typical American job and it isn’t for the faint of heart. Since 1939, the technique called smoke jumping has attracted physically fit, courageous and adventurous firefighters and has helped keep communities safe.

By the 1940s, the smoke jumping program was a valuable asset to the U.S. Forest Service.  Unfortunately, with the country’s men drafted during World War II, the Forest Service experienced a significant loss in federal personnel which impacted the fire program.

An exciting and interactive exhibit has reached more than 400,000 museum goers across the country and has been given the highest national award for fire prevention activities.