Fire behavior modeling and geospatial analyses can provide tremendous insight for land managers as they grapple with the complex problems frequently encountered in wildfire risk assessments and fire and fuels management planning. Fuel management often is a particularly complicated process in which the benefits and potential impacts of fuel treatments need to be demonstrated in the context of land management goals and public expectations. The fuel treatment planning process is complicated by the lack of data assimilation among fire behavior models and weak linkages to geographic information systems (GIS), corporate data, and desktop office software. ArcFuels10 is a streamlined fuel management planning and wildfire risk assessment system that creates a trans-scale (stand to large landscape) interface to apply various forest growth and fire behavior models within an ArcGIS platform to design and test fuel treatment alternatives. The new version of ArcFuels has been implemented on Citrix at the Forest Service Enterprise Production Data Center, eliminating the need for desktop GIS, improving connectivity to the corporate geospatial databases housed at the data centers, and enabling sharing of information among Forest Service employees. This overview introduces ArcFuels10 and the tools available within the system.

The economic linkages between national forests and surrounding communities have become increasingly important in recent years. One way national forests contribute to the economies of surrounding communities is by attracting recreation visitors who, as part of their trip, spend money in communities on the periphery of the national forest. We use survey data collected from visitors to all units in the National Forest System to estimate the average spending per trip of national forest recreation visitors engaged in various types of recreation trips and activities. Average spending of national forest visitors ranges from about $33 per party per trip for local residents on day trips to more than $983 per party per trip for visitors downhill skiing on national forest land and staying overnight in the local national forest area. We report key parameters to complete economic contribution analysis for individual national forests and for the entire National Forest System.

The U.S. Forest Service's Pacific Northwest Research Station today released a new report that outlines a climate adaptation strategy for yellow-cedar in Alaska.

Information can be used to investigate air pollution in the city.

Team is partnering with British Columbia to predict smoke impacts from province’s fires.

On Wednesday, May 16, research ecologist Charlie Crisafulli will be available for field-based media interviews at Mount St. Helens, the volcano that erupted catastrophically 38 years ago this month.

This report investigates the interactions between household location decisions and community characteristics, including green space.

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.

Sustaining the health, diversity, and productivity of national forests and grasslands is the mission of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service.

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.

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.

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.

Forest disturbances are increasing in extent and intensity, annually altering the structure and function of affected systems across millions of acres. Land managers need rapid assessment tools that can be used to characterize disturbance events across space and to meet forest planning needs.

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.

The ecosystem services concept describes the many benefits people receive from nature. It highlights the importance of managing public and private lands sustainably to ensure these benefits continue into the future, and it closely aligns with the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) mission to "sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of the Nation's forests and grasslands to meet the needs of present and future generations.".

The economic linkages between national forests and surrounding areas are one of the important ways public lands contribute to the well-being of private individuals and communities. One way national forests contribute to the economies of surrounding communities is by attracting recreation visitors who, as part of their trip, spend money in communities on the peripheries of national forests. We use survey data collected from visitors to all forest and grasslands in the National Forest System to estimate the average spending per trip of national forest recreation visitors engaged in various types of recreation trips and activities. Average spending of national forest visitors ranges from about $36 per party per trip for local residents on day trips to more than $740 per party per trip for visitors downhill skiing or snowboarding on national forest lands and staying overnight off forest in local areas. We report key parameters to complete economic contribution analysis for individual national forests and for the entire National Forest System.

This research models a wood pellet heating system at the Tlingit-Haida Regional Housing Authority in Juneau, Alaska, used to provide thermal energy to a 929-m2 warehouse, as an alternative to a heating system that burns more costly fossil fuels. Research objectives were to evaluate project economics of the pellet system and to conduct cost:benefit analysis on key variables (initial capital cost, fuel oil cost, and wood pellet cost). Economic results of interest included net present value, payback, internal rate of return, and cost:benefit ratio. Monte Carlo simulations were conducted using RETScreen software with the parameters of heating oil cost, wood pellet cost, fuel price escalation, and heating load. Cost:benefit analysis was conducted for capital cost versus wood fuel cost and also versus alternative fuel cost. This research found that economic performance was favorable over a wide range of normal operating conditions, even when paying a relatively high price for wood fuel. A pellet production facility in southeast Alaska could lead to lower wood fuel costs and even more favorable regional economics.

Forest managers are seeking practical guidance on how to adapt their current practices and, if necessary, their management goals, in response to climate change. Science-management collaboration was initiated on national forests in eastern Washington where resource managers showed a keen interest in science-based options for adapting to climate change at a 2-day workshop. Scientists and managers reviewed current climate change science and identified resources vulnerable to expected climate change. Vulnerabilities related to vegetation and habitat management included potential reductions in forest biodiversity and low forest resilience to changing disturbance regimes. The vulnerabilities related to aquatic and infrastructure resources included changing water quality and quantity, the risk to roads and other facilities from changes to hydrologic regimes, and the potential loss of at-risk aquatic species and habitats. Managers then worked in facilitated groups to identify adaptations that could be implemented through management and planning to reduce the vulnerability of key resources to climate change. The identified adaptations were grouped under two major headings: Increasing Ecological Resiliency to Climate Change, and Increasing Social and Economic Resiliency to Climate Change. The information generated from the science-management collaborative represents an initial and important step in identifying and prioritizing tangible steps to address climate change in forest management. Next would be the development of detailed implementation strategies that address the identified management adaptations..

Here's how to take part in a virtual solo running challenge launched by the organisers of the Great North Run - and an update on the big event itself

What companies such as Ryanair, easyJet, Jet2, TUI, Virgin, British Airways and Emirates are telling their customers during the coronavirus crisis

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

Life Science Centre in Newcastle hosts challenging debate and here's how to join its online audience for free

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

Owner-chef Bob Arora will be launching a takeaway service this May as well as hosting online cookery classes

The firm has responded to a complaint over the barriers at the Chillingham Road store

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

NHS England announced that 207 more people died after testing positive for Covid-19 taking the total death toll in hospitals in England to 22,972

The presenters got a winning bid of £4,500 for Chris Evans' fundraising auction for the charity Scrubs Glorious Scrubs, which is supporting NHS workers by sewing scrubs

Simon Cowell took the while at the Britain's Got Talent auditions by David isn't happy when crashes into another vehicle

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

Former Manchester United defender and Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville has given his opinion on the takeover at Newcastle

Former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher appeared on Sky Sports News to discuss the challenge on Massadio Haidara

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Councillor says the emergency could force the city to re-imagine itself

A total of 30,613 individuals have now been tested for the virus

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