forestry

Depending on who you talk to, there are between 16,000 and 20,000 vacant homes in Baltimore. Once a mid-20^th century boomtown where residents built the liberty ships and liberator bombers that helped win World War II, the middle-class dreams of this city have been in a decades-long decline. Entire blocks stand empty, lifeless veneers of boarded windows and burnt-out roofs.

But the U.S. Forest Service is working to help change that, promoting livable and workable buildings for 21^st-Century occupants, while retaining the vibrant culture and community that once characterized these streets.

Forests are an intricate part of our life, from the air they clean to the water they provide. So, we invite you to love your national forests.

Hollywood’s first 100 percent sustainable studio set was created for 20^th Century Fox’s  comedy series “Raising Hope” thanks to the efforts of the U.S. Forest Service’s Forest Products Laboratory  and NOBLE Environmental Technologies, a long-term collaborator with the laboratory.

NOBLE Environmental Technologies’ patented ECOR® panels, which were developed in partnership with laboratory researchers, were used to create a modern hotel suite for a two-part episode of the show.  ECOR® is a recycled, lightweight panel product that is strong but weighs as little as one-fourth the weight of conventional wood product panels. The product is 100 percent, USDA-certified bio-based and made with 100 percent cellulose fibers including post-consumer paper, wood and agricultural raw material sources. ECOR® contains no toxic additives or adhesives.

More than 100 Franklin County middle and high school students got to explore the life of an 18^th century sailor through a living history program presented by employees of the National Forests in Florida and the U.S. Coast Guard.

Jerri Marr awoke on June 23, 2012, expecting a normal day as forest supervisor tending to issues on the Pike and San Isabel national forests west of Colorado Springs, Colo., and on the Comanche National Grassland, some 250 miles away. Not to mention the Cimarron National Grassland in southwest Kansas. That alone is enough to keep her days full.

Almost three years ago, two biology professors at Delta State University in Mississippi brainstormed how to give science undergraduates research experience in microbiology and entomology.

They hit upon the idea of searching for “science gold” in the bellies of bugs.

Professors Tanya McKinney and Ellen Green received $40,000 through a grant for under-represented colleges from the U.S. Forest Service to help with the project. As part of their research experience, students in the program search the guts of beetle larvae to discover new cellulases, enzymes that break down cellulose, an organic compound that helps make plant cell walls rigid.

The Forest Service is making it easier than ever to report the spread of insects that have invaded America’s national, state, private and urban forests.

Forest Health Protection has released Version 2 of its mapping and reporting portal.  Built on the latest technology, the portal is an interactive and engaging complement to the agency’s Major Forest Insect and Disease Conditions annual reports.

America is home to more than 100 million acres of urban and community forests. These are the forests that line our streets, shade our buildings and burst with color every spring and fall. Trees also clean our air and help prevent pollution and flooding. That's one of the reasons we like to call our urban trees 'the hardest working trees in America.'

Dubbed America’s premier alpine whitewater river, the White Salmon River in south central Washington State was recently named as a top destination by the New York Times.

The White Salmon, used by kayakers and rafters all year round, winds nearly 45 miles from its headwaters on the Gifford Pinchot National Forest through steep, forested canyons into the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area and the Columbia River.

Can you picture yourself running in a 5K race on a crisp winter morning at the top of a 10,678-foot, snow-covered peak in snowshoes? That's what approximately 150 adventurous people did when they competed in the 11th annual Sandia Snowshoe Race on Jan. 19, 2013.

The race is sponsored by the Friends of the Sandia Mountains, with proceeds supporting the preservation and maintenance of the trails and picnic areas on the Cibola National Forest and Grasslands' Sandia Ranger District in Tijeras, N.M.

The Sandia is a compact district of around 100,000 acres that includes the 37,200-acre Sandia Mountain Wilderness just east of Albuquerque. Because of its proximity to a metropolitan area, more than 1 million people visit the district each year. Visitors come for a variety of recreational activities – hiking, mountain biking, picnicking, rock climbing and horseback riding. In the winter, weather permitting, there’s cross-country skiing and snowshoeing.