Forest Service Features

Our Pick for the Kentucky Derby: Majestic White Oak

As you celebrate the 150th Kentucky Derby with your mint julep, don’t forget that the bourbon in the iconic cocktail relies on white oak barrels for its taste and aging.

However, the majestic white oak is facing challenges of its own beyond the racetrack, so we’re working with partners like forest managers and Kentucky distillers to keep the iconic southern tree in the race. Read more…

Here Comes the Cicadas

A hotly anticipated cicada double brood is expected to emerge across much of the eastern United States from late April through May this year. It’s been over two centuries since these two broods last emerged in the same year, back in 1803.

These cicadas belong to “periodical” broods, which remain underground as nymphs until they emerge en masse and shed their exoskeletons in a 13- or 17-year cycle. Once aboveground, these noisy 1- to 2-inch flying insects are hard to miss, but they live for just a few weeks to buzz, feed and breed. Read more…

Mighty Mangroves

Mangroves help curb climate change, create wildlife habitat, and protect communities. And Pacific Southwest Research Station ecologist Rich MacKenzie’s mission is to promote mangrove conservation in Hawai’i and across the Pacific.

MacKenzie’s current research focuses on mangroves in Micronesia, which includes Palau, the Marshall Islands, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the Federated States of Micronesia. This region’s area of ocean is equivalent to the size of the continental US, but the land mass could fit within Rhode Island. Read more…

Urban Forestry-From Redlining to Green Lining

Urban areas are known for their blend of cultures, food, entertainment and rich histories, but not necessarily their greenspaces. That’s changing as communities across the country rethink urban planning and what a greener, cooler cityscape might mean for residents.

“Urban forestry matters because that’s where people live. So, if we want to help people, we have to go where they are,” said Francisco Escobedo, a research social scientist with the Forest Service’s Pacific Southwest Research Station. Read more…

One Nation Helping Another Nation

The smell of fire permeates Jon Sutherland’s childhood memories—his uncle and grandfather, both firefighters, often came home smelling of burnt pine.

“I still remember seeing them come home after a hard day’s work and being tired, but seeing how proud they were of the work they had accomplished,” said Sutherland, a firefighter with the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma’s tribal wildland fire module. “Ever since I was itty bitty, it’s been my dream to work in the woods.”

A partnership with the USDA Forest Service and a $1.2 million grant formed the first-ever Forest Service-funded tribal wildland fire module, a 10-person team of firefighters dedicated to prescribed burning and fuel reduction projects. Read more…

Ensuring Safety and Offering Support

Fighting wildland fire, running whitewater rapids, using heavy machinery, interacting with wildlife, and parachuting into rugged terrain. Depending on the career, these are just some of the exciting experiences that USDA Forest Service employees may have on any given day. However, they often take place in remote locations where you quickly realize the last thing you want is an injury and the last thing you need are drugs or alcohol. Read more…

From the Bluegrass to the Mountains

Elk have been a staple at Kentucky’s Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area for nearly three decades. Many of the area’s 1.8 million visitors per year come to see the herd at the Elk and Bison Prairie.

That herd is now a little smaller thanks to an agreement with the State of West Virginia, which received 43 elk from the recreation area to repopulate the species in the Mountain State. Read more…

Women Spark Interest in Fire

For the second year in a row, the Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest in Georgia welcomed women from the Forest Service Job Corps Civilian Conservation Centers as they participated in an all-female fire assignment. The varied skill levels among the crew allowed everyone to learn from one another as the 10-person module conducted a prescribed fire assignment.

“Having all women creates a different culture and environment that is really supportive,” said Rebecca Roller, lead firefighter of the Cabin Lake Wildland Fire Module, with the agency’s Pacific Northwest Region. “Having worked around mostly men, it was a very different experience that I will cherish and will be a very important experience in my career for the rest of my life.” Read more…

Battling Invasive Fungi to Save Native Hawai’ian Trees

Native trees connect us to our forests. This is especially true of the ‘ōhi‘a lehua (Metrosideros polymorpha) — a native tree in Hawai‘i that grows naturally nowhere else on Earth. Unfortunately, invasive fungi are threatening this biocultural tree and all it brings to the islands. Read more…

Rising through the Ranks

A career day at Chaparral High School in Temecula, California. That’s what changed Cole Weissgerber’s life. Before then, he wasn’t really sure what he wanted to do with his life (who really does know what they want to be at age 17?). But the USDA Forest Service’s presence at the school that day drew Weissgerber into the fire service. Read more…

Audio Story: Wandering after Wolves

In this latest episode of our Forest Focus audio podcast, we’re focused on gray wolves, and we’ll hear from USDA Forest Service biologist Tom Rickman and California Department of Fish and Wildlife wolf expert Kent Laudon.
Listen to the audio journey  here. Read more…

See the Solar Eclipse on your National Forests and Grasslands!

Complete darkness, like the middle of the night—except it’s the middle of the day, and just moments before, the sun shone brightly. Total solar eclipses, like the one that will occur on April 8, are the stuff of legend. With such a dramatic display expected, millions of people are likely to be looking for a prime vantage point.

The USDA Forest Service is ready for them. Five national forests and two national grasslands are expected to be firmly in the path of totality, ranging from Texas to Indiana. Individuals at all seven locations have been working overtime to be ready for the expected influx of visitors. Read more…

Confronting the Crisis: Reducing Wildfire Risk in the Klamath River Basin

Check out a new five-part video series on how we’re working with communities and individuals to implement our wildfire crisis strategy in high-priority locations like California’s Klamath National Forest.

While you’re at it, meet Janet Jones, a volunteer firefighter in the town of Horse Creek, CA, who has had to deal with repeated wildfires in the Klamath Basin. Her experiences and how her community is facing the wildfire risk are helping inform how we’re addressing that risk. Read more…

Prescribed Burn Associations Ignite the Future

Prescribed fire, sometimes referred to as controlled burning, is deeply rooted in the South. Historically and culturally, fire has been used to maintain healthy wildlife habitat for hunting, improve grazing land for livestock and maintain healthy oak and pine forests.

“There are a lot of landowners that are interested in using controlled burns as a management tool on their land,” said Jesse Wimberley, founder of the Sandhills Prescribed Burn Association and fourth generation landowner. “But they don’t, because they feel like they lack the experience, equipment and the people to get it done safely.” Read more…

Our Seasonal Workforce: A Career Path into the Agency while Helping Us Achieve the Forest Service Mission

In the heart of the nation’s forests and grasslands, a unique opportunity awaits those eager to make a difference. Whether you’re drawn to the call of nature or seeking to further advance conservation efforts, seasonal employment with the Forest Service can give you peace, a better quality of life and serenity. It’s not just a job; it’s an opportunity to grow in your career and enjoy the perks that come with it.  Read more…

Second Chances and Clean Water

Meet Water and Wastewater Treatment Plant Operator Brian Hickman of the USDA Forest Service’s Timber Lake Civilian Conservation Center and graduate of the Timber Lake Job Corps training program. He used the opportunities afforded by Timber Lake to turn his life around and now works with Job Corps students to help them too.  Read more…

Showing the Value of Trees

How much is a tree worth? How much air pollution and carbon can it process? How much energy can it save through its shade and evapotranspiration? These are key questions that everyone can answer thanks to i-Tree, a free online software from the USDA Forest Service and partners, now being used around the world. Read more…

Women in Fire: Blazing through Barriers

For 29 years, Elizabeth Bunzendahl has blazed a trail for women in fire.

“In the early days of my career, I faced overt gender bias and discrimination,” said Bunzendahl. “At the time, I was surprised to discover there was a portion of the population who truly believed that women couldn’t, and some thought shouldn’t, do the job of a wildland firefighter.” Read more…