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Once a prominent phenomenon in southern Indiana, Bedford just experienced the first re-planting of American chestnut trees on the Hoosier National Forest in partnership with Purdue University and the U.S. Forest Service’s Northern Research Station.

What do wild Alaskan salmon and Sitka black-tailed deer have in common? Other than playing starring roles on many Alaskans’ favorite dinner menus, they also both thrive in forests with large open canopies of hardwood and conifers with thick plant undergrowth. Such characteristics exist in mature forests but not in clear-cut areas.

Historically rich in fish and wildlife species, the Starrigavan Creek watershed in Sitka, Alaska, was clear-cut about 40 years ago by the state of Alaska for timber production, impacting fish and wildlife habitat in this popular local recreation area.

A new DVD is helping to deliver conservation messages designed to encourage Hmong Americans to enjoy public lands and be mindful of the responsibilities associated with enjoying the America’s great outdoors.

Conservation professionals have lacked culturally-appropriate tools for reaching the Hmong American community, especially in major Hmong population centers in Minnesota, Wisconsin and California.

This post is part of the Science Tuesday feature series on the USDA blog. Check back each week as we showcase stories and news from the USDA's rich science and research portfolio.

U. S. Forest Service social scientist Lee Cerveny has carved out a special niche in the world of research. While her colleagues go into national forests and other protected areas to study things like trees and wildlife, she enters these natural environments to study humans – how they interact with and use a range of sites and resources.

Mangroves have declined by nearly half in the last 50 years. This is disconcerting to scientists because the hardy brackish tidal tree in an important bulkhead against climate change, according to findings is a recent study published in the journal Nature Geoscience.

Every year across the country, the U.S. Forest Service plants trees on thousands of acres of land. These efforts help to restore valuable ecosystems and helping to combat the effects of climate change.

“Planting trees is a win-win investment,” said Dave Cleaves, Climate Change Advisor for the Forest Service. “Not only do trees store carbon, making them one of our most effective tools for climate change mitigation, they provide many other benefits – from watershed protection, to wildlife habitat, to shading houses and reducing cooling costs.”

Cross posted from the Let’s Move! blog:

More than 1,200 students, teachers and Scouts recently planted 4,500 trees at the Monument Fire Center on the Pike National Forest in Celebration of the International Year of Forests and as part of an ongoing restoration project in the area. The event brought elementary school students from Rockrimmon and Discovery Canyon Campus schools in Colorado Springs, Colo., to learn about forests, the role of fire in the ecosystem and how forests protect water. Another 1,500 trees were planted by Boy and Girl Scouts from the area.

Nan Christianson worked in many jobs during her three decades with the U.S. Forest Service.  She considers them all gifts.

“I think that because I’ve been able to work with communities as well as with natural resources, it is fun to go back and see some of the things I have been a part of over the past 30 years that are making a difference in communities and in the mountains today”, said Christianson, Assistant Director for Communications at the Rocky Mountain Research Station, in Fort Collins, Colo.

Bristlecone pines are a small group of trees that reach an age believed by many scientists to be far greater than that of any other living organism known to man -- up to nearly 5,000 years.

Fourth-grade teacher Theresa Artman sat her students in front of a large monitor in her Austin, Texas, classroom. But they weren’t alone.

The Joslin Elementary School students were just some of the thousands of children across the country who watched the April 13 webcast of PollinatorLIVE from the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. Tamberly Conway, a conservation education coordinator for the U.S. Forest Service hosted the show.