This guidebook describes major biological and physical attributes of the 243-ha(600-ac) North Fork Silver Creek Research Natural Area (RNA), Josephine County, Oregon.

This handbook and financial app is a guide to help communities quickly determine if biomass energy projects might work for them so that this option is not overlooked. Its purpose is as a screening tool designed to save significant time, resources, and investment by weeding out those wood energy projects that may never come to fruition from those that have a chance of success. It establishes technical, financial, and social criteria and indicators to evaluate proposed biomass investment options. Through showcasing of successful projects using text, photos, video interviews, and diagrams, it facilitates virtual project planning and interaction with experts. The interactive wood energy financial app allows estimation of capital investment costs to facilitate project design and screening across a variety of wood energy options. The calculator can be accessed from the eBook or from the Web.

This guidebook describes major biological and physical attributes of the 243-ha (600-ac) Round Top Butte Research Natural Area. The area supports high-quality examples of valley upland grasslands and savanna of the Cascade foothills. Plant communities include Oregon white oak (Quercus garryana) savanna and open woodland with forbs and grasses; ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa)-Oregon white oak woodland; bluebunch wheatgrass-California oatgrass-Lemmon’s needlegrass (Pseudoroegneria spicata-Danthonia californica-Achnatherum lemmonii) grasslands; and tufted hairgrass (Deschampsia cespitosa)-California oatgrass vernally flooded prairie.

We developed a process to address terrestrial wildlife species for which management for ecosystem diversity may be inadequate for providing ecological conditions capable of sustaining viable populations. The process includes (1) identifying species of conservation concern, (2) describing source habitats, and other important ecological factors, (3) organizing species into groups, (4) selecting surrogate species for each group, (5) developing surrogate species assessment models; (6) applying surrogate species assessment models to evaluate current and historical conditions, (7) developing conservation considerations, and (8) designing monitoring and adaptive management. Following the application of our species screening criteria, we identified 209 of 700 species as species of concern on National Forest System lands east of the Cascade Range in Washington state. We aggregated the 209 species of conservation concern into 10 families and 28 groups based primarily on their habitat associations (these are not phylogenetic families). We selected 32 primary surrogate species (78 percent birds, 17 percent mammals, 5 percent amphibians) for application in northeastern Washington, based on risk factors and ecological characteristics. Our assessment documented reductions in habitat capability across the assessment area compared to historical conditions. We combined management considerations for individual species with other surrogate species to address multiple species. This information may be used to inform land management planning efforts currently underway on the Okanogan-Wenatchee and Colville National Forests in northeastern Washington.

On February 4, 2014, a seven-member expert panel provided objective technical information on the potential effectiveness and feasibility of activities to manage raptors (northern harriers and great horned owls) to aid the recovery of western snowy plovers.

We reviewed the literature to synthesize what is known about the use of fire to maintain and restore oak forests, woodlands, and savannas of the upper Midwestern United States, with emphasis on Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan.

This report addresses the need for developing consistent regional guidelines for stand-level management that integrates goals and objectives for dry forest restoration and habitat management for the northern spotted owl.

A conservation and management strategy for yellow-cedar in Alaska is presented in the context of climate change.

Understanding the capacity to reduce wildfire risk and restore dry forests on Western national forests is a key part of prioritizing new accelerated restoration programs initiated by the Forest Service.

If you’re a local businessperson, an entrepreneur, a tribal partner, a community organizer; a decision-maker for a school district, college, or hospital; a government leader; a project developer; an industry leader; or an equipment manufacturer, the Alaska Community Handbook will be helpful to you.

Over the past decade, the use of wood for thermal energy in Alaska has grown significantly. Since 2000, nearly 30 new thermal wood-energy installations in Alaska have been established.

This guidebook describes major biological and physical attributes of the 433-ha (1,070-ac) Grayback Glades Research Natural Area.

Moss accumulates pollutants from the atmosphere and can serve as an inexpensive screening tool for mapping air quality and guiding the placement of monitoring instruments. We measured 22 elements using 346 moss samples collected across Portland, Oregon, in December 2013.

This guidebook describes major biological and physical attributes of the 3531-ha (8,725-ac) Fish Creek Rim Research Natural Area located within the Northern Basin and Range ecoregion and managed by the Bureau of Land Management, Lakeview District (USDI BLM 2003).

This guidebook describes major biological and physical attributes of the 155-ha (384-ac) Lost Lake Research Natural Area (RNA), in Jackson County, Oregon. The RNA has been designated because it contains examples of a landslide-dammed lake; and a low-elevation lake with aquatic beds and fringing marsh, surrounded by mixed-conifer forest (ONHAC 2010).

The Forest Landscape Assessment Tool (FLAT) is a set of procedures and tools used to rapidly determine forest ecological conditions and potential threats.

This book is intended to help people better understand how wood energy is helping to revitalize rural Alaskan communities by reducing energy costs, creating jobs, and helping to educate the next generation.

This assessment evaluates the effects of future climate change on a select set of ecological systems and ecosystem services in Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula and Chugach National Forest regions. The focus of the assessment was established during a multi-agency/organization workshop that established the goal to conduct a rigorous evaluation of a limited range of topics rather than produce a broad overview.

The Community Biomass Handbook Volume 4: Enterprise Development for Integrated Wood Manufacturing is a guide for creating sustainable business enterprises using small diameter logs and biomass. This fourth volume is a companion to three Community Biomass Handbook volumes: Volume 1: Thermal Wood Energy; Volume 2: Alaska, Where Woody Biomass Can Work; and Volume 3: How Wood Energy is Revitalizing Rural Alaska. This volume is designed to help business partnerships, forest managers, and community groups rapidly explore and evaluate integrated manufacturing opportunities.

The 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens produced a massive landslide and consequent pyroclastic currents, deposits of which blocked the outlet to Spirit Lake. Without an outlet, the lake began to rise, threatening a breaching of the blockage and release of a massive volume of water. To mitigate the hazard posed by the rising lake and provide an outlet, in 1984–1985 the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers bored a 2.6-km (8,500-ft) long tunnel through a bedrock ridge on the western edge of the lake.

Southeast Alaska is a remote area, located approximately 700 miles north of Seattle, Washington. Most of the region’s goods are imported by barge, creating logistical and economic challenges not faced by many other parts of the United States. In this context, we used life cycle assessment (LCA) to evaluate the potential environmental impact on global warming potential (GWP) of converting home heating systems from heating oil to wood pellets in southeast Alaska. Once the current level (status quo) was established, we evaluated imported pellet utilization at 20-, 40- and 100-percent penetration into the residential heating oil markets. We also modeled local production of wood pellets in southeast Alaska, assuming a 20-percent penetration. Our research found that reductions in GWP resulting from the conversion to wood pellets ranged from 10 to 51 percent, with the greatest reductions being associated with the highest levels of imported pellets. The scenario of producing wood pellets in southeast Alaska to meet local needs had a reduction in GWP of 14 percent (versus the status quo).

As part of the 10-year socioeconomic monitoring of the Northwest Forest Plan, this report evaluates changes in Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) procurement contracting between 1990 and 2002 by asking, (1) How much and what kind of work did the Forest Service and BLM contract during this period, and (2) who received economic benefits from this procurement contracting? Procurement contracting is a particular focus of the socioeconomic monitoring because one expectation of the Northwest Forest Plan was that the Forest Service and BLM would create high-skill, high-wage private sector jobs in public land restoration through contracting to partially offset job losses in timber production, harvesting, and processing. This report finds that, to the contrary, the Forest Service reduced its contracting of land management activities on national forests in the Northwest Forest Plan area from a high of $103 million in 1991 to a low of $33 million in 2002. By contrast, BLM spending was fairly constant at just under $20 million annually. Both the Forest Service and the BLM changed the type of activities that they contracted, shifting from activities associated with intensive forest management such as tree planting in clearcuts to activities associated with ecosystem management. Contractors located near national forests and BLM lands and rural communities captured a similar proportion of contracts in both the earlier and later parts of the study period. However, the significant decline in Forest Service contract spending resulted in considerable decline in the amount of money flowing to rural communities through contracting. Thus, it is unlikely that federal land management contracting created a net increase in jobs to replace jobs lost in mills and logging operations in public lands communities.

This update reports changes in the Nation's timber resource since the Analysis of the Timber Situation in the United States was completed in 2003. Prospective trends in demands for and supplies of timber, and the factors that affect these trends are examined. These trends include changes in the U.S. economy, increased salvage of British Columbia beetle-killed timber, and a stronger U.S. dollar. Other prospective trends that might alter the future timber situation are discussed including changes in U.S. timberland area, reductions in southern pine plantation establishment, impacts of climate change on forest productivity, increased restoration thinning on Western public lands, and the impact of programs to increase carbon sequestration through afforestation. Various management implications such as the influence of prices on forest management, concerns about changes in forest area, the emerging open space issue, forests as a set of commons, seeking to find greater compatibility in forest management, and the stewardship agenda are discussed.

In July 2006, more than 170 researchers and managers from the United States, Canada, and Mexico convened in Boulder, Colorado, to discuss the state of the science in environmental threat assessment. This two-volume general technical report compiles peer-reviewed papers that were among those presented during the 3-day conference. Papers are organized by four broad topical sections—Land, Air and Water, Fire, and Pests/Biota—and are divided into syntheses and case studies.

This report describes the evidence for invasion of Pacific Northwest streams by Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) that have escaped from marine salmon farms, and assesses the potential impact of farmed salmon invasion on native fishes inhabiting streams on National Forest System lands. The current risk to streams on National Forest lands in the Pacific Northwest from Atlantic salmon invasions appears to be low and is limited to a few areas in northwest Washington and southeast Alaska. However, long-term risks may be substantial if fish continue to escape from marine rearing pens or freshwater hatcheries. The two greatest threats appear to be that (1) Atlantic salmon could transmit a serious disease or parasite to native fishes, and (2) escaped salmon could eventually adapt to local conditions, leading to self-sustaining populations. If Atlantic salmon populations are eventually established, this species' preference for swiftly flowing stream habitats could facilitate competition with currently at-risk species such as steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss). This could result in a pattern of expansion similar to that observed in other nonnative aquatic plants and animals, in which a prolonged early colonization period is followed by a rapid phase of exponential growth as breeding populations adapt to local conditions.

During September 19-20, 2006, a conference was held at the University of Washington Botanic Gardens, Seattle, WA, with the title "Meeting the challenge: invasive plants in Pacific Northwest Ecosystems." The mission of the conference was to create strategies and partnerships to understand and manage invasions of non-native plants in the Pacific Northwest. The audience included over 180 professionals, students, and citizens from public and private organizations responsible for monitoring, studying, or managing non-native invasive plants. This proceedings includes twenty-seven papers based on oral presentations at the conference plus a synthesis paper that summarizes workshop themes, discussions, and related information. Topics include early detection and rapid response; control techniques, biology, and impacts; management approaches; distribution and mapping of invasive plants; and partnerships, education, and outreach.

To increase timber production and manage other forest resource values, some land managers have undertaken logging debris and vegetation control treatments after forest harvest. We explored the roles of clearcutting on plant community composition and structure at three sites where logging debris was dispersed, piled, or removed and vegetation was annually treated or not treated with herbicides for 5 years. Without vegetation control, a competitive relation was identified between exotic and native ruderal (i.e., disturbance-associated) species. When exotic ruderal cover changed by 4 percent, native ruderal cover changed by 10 percent in the opposite direction. This relation was independent of site, but site was important in determining the overall dominance of ruderals. Five annual vegetation control treatments increased Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco) growth, but decreased richness and cover of other species at the rate of one species per 10 percent reduction in cover. Debris treatment effects were small and found on only one site.

The Pacific Northwest Research Station launched a Biodiversity Initiative to assist natural resource professionals in integrating complex biodiversity concepts into natural resource management processes. We canvassed clients from various affiliations to determine the main challenges they face in biodiversity management, to define their information needs, and to understand how best to deliver biodiversity information within a collaborative framework. The biodiversity management challenges that emerged included (1) the lack of well-defined biodiversity management policies, (2) understanding and quantifying the interaction effects between a number of factors (e.g., disturbance types, management practices) and biodiversity, (3) the lack of applied biodiversity monitoring strategies, (4) difficulty in locating and accessing biodiversity information, and (5) balancing conflicting values relating to biodiversity. We also list the biodiversity information product needs of clients, as well as preferred technology transfer methods, and we discuss the future direction of the Biodiversity Initiative.

The first phase of the multi million pound development in Durham city is under way and is expected to take 18 months to complete

Steven Quinn was fined a total of £360 and ordered to pay £62 compensation after walking out without settling-up at Lau's restaurant, in Newcastle City Centre

Tim Simpson designed disguises for the hit ITV show, now he is part of a network of 8,000 people making coronavirus pandemic protective clothing

Home Bargains says it is taking steps to ensure the safety of shoppers and staff just days after an incident at the store in South Shields

International Consolidated Airlines Group owns British Airways, Aer Lingus, Iberia, Vueling and LEVEL

Both B&Q and Home Base have reopened all their DIY superstores in the North East

Here's how families can still make the most of this Friday's 75 year anniversary of Victory in Europe Day

Within three days, 189 North East schoolchldren responded to an invitation to join a virtual singalong and this is the heartwarming result

The Queen will be making a special address this Friday evening to mark Victory in Europe Day

Newcastle United player Jonjo Shelvey's wife Daisy, who used to be in S Club Juniors, is now makeup artist in the city

Gogglebox star Mary Killen has been slammed by some viewers over her impression of the North Korean accent

The design for a towering new tourist attraction known as the Elizabeth Landmark was selected in 2018, and divided public opinion

Jackie Pexton, who is part of the Macmillian Toon Angels, has raised over £52,000 to show her support for the charity that has been a lifeline for her

The notorious North East prison has been dubbed 'Monster Mansion' due to list of violent killers and rapists it houses

The Prime Minister is expected to announce only very modest changes in detailing his "road map" for easing the lockdown on Sunday evening

Langley Castle, near Hexham, Northumberland, has long been said to be haunted by a 'grey lady' - but now the identity of the spirit is in doubt

Premier League clubs will also hold a videoconference on Monday to discuss Project Restart

The former striker is now a fully-fledged member of the back-room team and wants Longstaff "locked down" to a new contract

The co-owner of Sunderland has given advice to the potential new owners of Newcastle following his Black Cats' experience

Sunderland are looking for a new club secretary with Brett Baker moving on this summer

Peter Reid wanted money to spend on players but instead Sunderland decided to increase capacity at the Stadium of Light