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New Tool Tests Management Strategies for Ecosystem Resilience

February 19, 2020 Diane Banegas, Research and Development, Forest Service

The USDA Forest Service has developed a new risk-assessment tool that helps scientists and decision makers manage natural resources and develop strategies that strengthen ecosystems.

Forestry

The Segregationist Past of the 'Green Pastures' Recreation Site

February 06, 2020 Jennifer Queen, Resource Fellow, Recreation and Tourism, USDA Forest Service

p>Imagine that it’s 1936. The Great Depression is in its seventh year, more than 20% of Americans are unemployed, and in five years the country will enter the fray of World War II. Many Americans are left with little more than the comfort of friends, family and the great outdoors. And, if you are...

Forestry

Partnership Efforts to Address Australia Wildfires

February 04, 2020 Imani Lester, Office of Communications, USDA Forest Service

As wildfires, or “bushfires”, burn throughout Australia, the USDA Forest Service and U.S. Department of the Interior continue to deploy wildfire personnel to assist with fire suppression efforts. The two departments have sent more than 200 firefighters since November of 2019.

Forestry

A Uniquely Alaskan Solution to Bring Broadband to an Isolated Gulf Community

January 13, 2020 Alaska Rural Development State Director Jerry Ward

Imagine building a broadband network where there are no roads to move supplies, or electrical grids to power cellular towers. Yakutat is an isolated community of about 650 tucked into a sheltered bay off the Gulf of Alaska, disconnected from the road system, and hundreds of miles from Alaska...

Broadband Rural

Hurricane Recovery for Forest and Conservation Nurseries

January 13, 2020 Diane Haase, Reforestation, Nurseries, and Genetics Resources, U.S. Forest Service

Hurricanes, typhoons and cyclones have caused devastating damage to nearly all of the American-Affiliated islands during the past few years. In 2017, Hurricanes Irma and Maria struck the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. Just a year later, Typhoons Yutu and Mangkhut hit Guam and the Northern...

Forestry

Farming in the 21st Century Requires Being Connected

January 08, 2020 Lynne Hinrichsen, Kansas State Director, USDA Rural Development

As you step onto Bebb Farms in rural Labette County, Kan., you see tractors, combines, sprayers, grain bins, and semis. All necessary equipment on a Kansas farm, but perhaps the most important equipment you don’t see is the Internet.

Broadband Rural

Volunteers Experience the Power of Service and Healing in the Rainforest

January 06, 2020 Tamberly Conway, Recreation and Heritage, USDA Forest Service

In September 2017, Hurricane Maria, a deadly category 5 hurricane devastated Dominica, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. Amidst the devastation was the El Yunque National Forest, the only tropical rainforest among the USDA Forest Service’s 193 million acres. Reliably lush and green, the...

Forestry

How a Tribal Fire Crew Rescued the Real Smokey Bear

December 31, 2019 Sandy Marin, Tribal Relations, USDA Forest Service

This year, we celebrated Smokey Bear’s 75 th birthday as a national fire prevention icon. Many know Smokey’s message: “Only YOU can prevent wildfires,” but fewer people may know that Smokey was a real American black bear rescued, in the spring of 1950, from a raging wildfire in New Mexico.

Forestry

Better Adhesives Mean Stronger, Cheaper Wood Products

December 30, 2019 Diane Banegas, Research and Development, Forest Service

Although engineered wood — such as plywood or particle board — is great for a range of building and manufacturing uses, it has its limitations, especially in outdoor applications. One of the biggest limitations is not the wood, but the adhesive used to glue the wood veneers or particles together...

Forestry

Connecting South Dakota’s Rural Communities to Opportunities in Business, Education, Health Care and Beyond

December 20, 2019 USDA Rural Development South Dakota State Director Julie Gross

In early December, I had the privilege of announcing a USDA Rural Development ReConnect Pilot Program investment of more than $9.5 million to Valley Telecommunications Cooperative Association, Inc. dba Valley FiberCom in Flandreau, South Dakota. This investment will help Valley deploy high-speed...

Broadband Rural