Latest United States Forest Service Stories

As homes and cities expand closer to forests and wildlands across the American West, increasing wildfire threats have created an unlikely new phenomena "“ confidence in government.Recent studies show that people in neighborhoods adjacent to public forest lands can and do trust natural resource managers to a surprising degree, in part because the risks they face are so severe.Thousands of acres burn every year, threatening homes, lives and property, and in many groups and areas, the phrase...

WASHINGTON, June 29, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- The Ad Council, along with the USDA Forest Service and the National Association of State Foresters (NASF), launched a new series of public service advertisements (PSAs) featuring Smokey Bear designed to provide critical information to Americans about wildfire prevention. The PSAs are being distributed prior to the July 4th holiday, a time when many people go camping, have outdoor BBQs and light fireworks. To view the multimedia assets associated...

VISALIA, Calif., June 14, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- EdeniQ, Inc., a California-based clean technology company serving the global biofuels industry, announced today that it has licensed yeast technology from the USDA Forest Products Laboratory (FPL) and the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF) associated with the fermentation of C5 sugars, such as xylose, to ethanol. The license marks the culmination of the 3-year Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) between FPL and...

SAN DIEGO, June 13, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- San Diego-based Noble Environmental Technologies Corporation (NET), a leading sustainable materials developer and manufacturer, announces its submittal for two US and Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) patents jointly with the US Department of Agriculture, Forest Products Laboratory (FPL) in Madison, Wisconsin, detailing new eco-composite panel technology advancements. The company has completed a two-year Cooperative Research and Development Agreement...

WASHINGTON, June 8, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Children in the U.S. spend 50 percent less time outdoors than they did 20 years ago. In an effort to motivate families and their children to get outside more often and re-connect with nature, the USDA Forest Service and the Ad Council today launched new public service advertisements (PSAs) to encourage families to take the time to discover the forest. The Chief of the U.S. Forest Service, Tom Tidwell, will unveil the new PSAs on June 11 at Kingman...

Urbanization expected to reduce forest area in South during next 50 yearsThe USDA Forest Service and the Southern Group of State Foresters released the first phase of the Southern Forest Futures Project report on Tuesday, May 17, which identifies areas forest managers will focus on to maintain southern forests in the coming years.According to the report, urbanization, bioenergy use, weather patterns, land ownership changes and invasive species will significantly alter the South's forests...

Lawmakers, Pew and other conservation groups echo call for clear standards WASHINGTON, May 16, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- More than 400 scientists, lawmakers and the nation's top conservation leaders today asked the Obama administration to set clear standards for water and wildlife protection in sweeping new rules that would apply to 193 million acres of national forest lands. The call comes at the end of a 90-day public review period, along with more than 300,000 comments from people...

U.S. Congressman Jerry Lewis, USDA, and state and local officials reaffirmed their commitment to improving forest health and wildfire safety in Southern California CRESTLINE, Calif., April 20, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), along with the U.S. Forest Service (USFS), California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, and San Bernardino, San Diego and Riverside counties hosted a recognition event today, in Crestline, commemorating...

A team of scientists from the Carnegie Institution for Science's Department of Global Ecology and the USDA Forest Service's Pacific Southwest Research Station (PSW) has developed new, more accurate methods for mapping carbon in Hawaii's forests. Their research appears in an online issue of the journal Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment.The growing market for private and public entities to purchase carbon offsets has led to a need to find better monitoring techniques to accurately...

HARRISBURG, Pa., March 15, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- With the approach of spring and the increased risk of forest and brush fires across the state, the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources today announced federal grants are available to help Pennsylvania's rural communities better guard against the threat of fires in forested, undeveloped and unprotected areas. "Warming temperatures, sunny days and strong winds quickly usher in wildfire dangers that emphasize the need to...