The National Park Service (NPS) recently awarded a construction contract to SKY Engineering and Construction, Inc. of Phoenix, Ariz., for the renovation of the Desert View restroom and the replacement of existing chemical toilets with new concrete vault toilet buildings at four locations along Grand Canyon National Park’s Desert View Drive. Locations include: South Kaibab Trailhead, Grandview Overlook and Trailhead, Buggeln Hill Picnic Area, and Tusayan Museum. https://www.nps.gov/grca/learn/news/desert-view-restroom-renovation-and-east-rim-drive-toilets-project-to-begin-at-grand-canyon-national-park.htm

Grand Canyon National Park Superintendent Steve Martin today announced the issuance of a commercial use authorization (CUA) for bicycle rental operations located at the Grand Canyon Visitor Center on the park’s South Rim.  https://www.nps.gov/grca/learn/news/grand-canyon-nation-park-announces-issuance-of-commercial-use-authorization-for-south-rim-bicycle-rental-operations-beginning-may-1.htm

Construction will begin next week near the Historic Grand Canyon Depot (Depot) to improve the area where Grand Canyon Railway passengers load and unload buses for tours within Grand Canyon National Park. The project was included as part of Grand Canyon’s 2008 South Rim Visitor Transportation Plan which addressed an array of transportation strategies to promote alternative travel modes to the park, reduce congestion, and better integrate connections between parking, transit, wayfinding and trip planning. https://www.nps.gov/grca/learn/news/work-to-begin-on-improvements-to-railway-tour-bus-staging-area-near-the-historic-grand-canyon-depot.htm

https://www.nps.gov/grca/learn/news/14jun10_news.htm

In accordance with Grand Canyon National Park's 2010 Fire Management Plan Environmental Impact Statement, park fire managers will begin to expand the use of non-fire treatments to reduce hazardous fuels in the park's wildland-urban interface. https://www.nps.gov/grca/learn/news/2010-12-09_thinning.htm

National Park Service Begins Process to Revise Backcountry Management Plan for Grand Canyon National Park https://www.nps.gov/grca/learn/news/national-park-service-begins-process-to-revise-backcountry-management-plan-for-grand-canyon-national-park.htm

The staff on the North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park will begin to shut down most visitor services and facilities on Tuesday, October 15; the North Rim will remain open to visitors through December 1 unless snow closes Highway 67 leading into the park prior to December 1. https://www.nps.gov/grca/learn/news/facilities-on-grand-canyons-north-rim-to-begin-seasonal-closures-park-remains-open-for-day-use.htm

The National Park Service will begin burning piles of woody debris over the next few weeks on the South Rim of Grand Canyon National Park depending on weather conditions. https://www.nps.gov/grca/learn/news/pile-burning-to-begin-at-south-rim-of-grand-canyon.htm

The National Park Service (NPS) will again offer free shuttle bus service between Grand Canyon National Park and the neighboring town of Tusayan, Arizona in 2014. The Tusayan Shuttle will be available from Saturday, May 10 through Friday, September 5 and will run at 20-minute intervals between 8:00 a.m. and 9:30 p.m. daily. https://www.nps.gov/grca/learn/news/tusayan-shuttle-at-grand-canyon-national-park-begins-saturday-may-10-2014.htm

National Park Service fire managers on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon are managing the Galahad Fire for both resource and protection objectives. Resource objectives for the fire include returning fire to a fire-adapted ecosystem in order to maintain forest health. Protection objectives for the fire include protection of sensitive cultural resources and wildlife habitat. https://www.nps.gov/grca/learn/news/galahad-fire-continues-to-meet-objectives.htm

The staff on the North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park will begin to shut down most visitor services and facilities on Thursday, October 16; the North Rim will remain open to visitors through December 1 or until snow closes Highway 67 leading into the park. https://www.nps.gov/grca/learn/news/2014-north-rim-seasonal.htm

From May 23 to September 25, 2015, Grand Canyon National Park will offer shuttle bus service between the park and the neighboring town of Tusayan, AZ. https://www.nps.gov/grca/learn/news/tusayan-shuttle-at-grand-canyon-national-park.htm

The National Park Service invites the public to the 22nd annual Native American Heritage Days on the North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park, August 6 and 7, 2015. https://www.nps.gov/grca/learn/news/north-rim-native-american-heritage-days.htm

Water utility staff at Grand Canyon National Park will begin repairs to a break in the Transcanyon Pipeline. https://www.nps.gov/grca/learn/news/september-pipeline-break.htm

North Rim operations will begin seasonal shut-down of most visitor services on Friday, October 16. https://www.nps.gov/grca/learn/news/north-rim-seasonal-closure.htm

The National Park Service will again offer shuttle bus service between Grand Canyon National Park and the neighboring town of Tusayan, Arizona in 2016. https://www.nps.gov/grca/learn/news/tusayan-shuttle-2016.htm

North Rim operations will begin seasonal shut-down of most visitor services on Saturday, October 15. https://www.nps.gov/grca/learn/news/season-close-north-rim.htm

The National Park Service will again offer shuttle bus service between Grand Canyon National Park and the neighboring town of Tusayan, Arizona in 2017. Service will begin March 1 to help ease spring break congestion on the South Rim. https://www.nps.gov/grca/learn/news/tusayan-route-starts-march-1-2017.htm

North Rim operations will begin seasonal shut-down of most visitor services on Sunday, October 15. https://www.nps.gov/grca/learn/news/north-rim-to-close.htm

Construction will begin as early as January 2, 2018 at the Hermit interchange to resurface and improve the Hermit Road and Village Loop intersection. https://www.nps.gov/grca/learn/news/2018-south-rim-roads-improvement.htm

As part of the 2018 Federal Highways Administration’s South Rim Roads Improvement project, additional construction and detours will begin Monday, January 8 at the South Entrance Road and Desert View Drive (Arizona Highway 64 East) intersection. https://www.nps.gov/grca/learn/news/road-construction-south-entrance-road-and-desert-view.htm

The National Park Service will again offer shuttle bus service between Grand Canyon National Park and the neighboring town of Tusayan in 2018, starting March 1. https://www.nps.gov/grca/learn/news/tusayan-route-2018.htm

Another major phase of the South Rim Roads Improvement Project is set to begin Thursday, April 19, when contractors pave Village Loop Drive. https://www.nps.gov/grca/learn/news/south-rim-paving.htm

The National Park Service (NPS) is seeking public comment on a proposal to demolish and rebuild the Maswik South lodging complex (Maswik South), and to construct two new sections of road to improve traffic flow in the vicinity of Maswik South. https://www.nps.gov/grca/learn/news/maswik-south.htm

Wildlife biologists will be putting GPS collars on ten adult elk between late August and October of this year to gather movement data of the elk at Grand Canyon National Park. The GPS collar information will be used to inform the development of a draft elk management plan. https://www.nps.gov/grca/learn/news/wildlife-biologists-to-begin-gathering-gps-data-for-elk-at-grand-canyon-np.htm

North Rim operations will begin seasonal changes on the morning of October 16, 2018. The North Rim transitions to reduced services with the Visitor Center, gift shop, campground and entrance station remaining open for visitor use. The Grand Canyon Lodge, food services, Canyon Trail Rides and park ranger programming will no longer be available. These operations will resume on May 15, 2019. https://www.nps.gov/grca/learn/news/grand-canyon-north-rim-operations-begin-seasonal-changes-oct-16-2018.htm

The National Park Service (NPS) will again offer shuttle bus service between Grand Canyon National Park and the neighboring town of Tusayan in 2019. https://www.nps.gov/grca/learn/news/tusayan-shuttle-starts-march-1.htm

Beginning Tuesday, June 4, the National Park Service road crew will begin a three-week pavement preservation project to seal cracks in the older asphalt surfaces around the park. https://www.nps.gov/grca/learn/news/road-preservation.htm

The National Park Foundation, National Park Service, and the Department of Energy partnered with BMW of North America to donate 100 EV charging stations for locations in and near national parks. https://www.nps.gov/grca/learn/news/electric-vehicle-charging-stations.htm

Grand Canyon National Park's North Rim will begin day use operations on Nov. 1, 2019. Visitors exploring the North Rim after Oct. 31 should plan to be self-sufficient, bringing enough food and water for their stay, as services will not be available. https://www.nps.gov/grca/learn/news/grand-canyon-n-r-to-begin-seasonal-day-use-operations.htm

Shuttle bus service between Grand Canyon National Park Visitor Center and the neighboring town of Tusayan, will resume on March 1, 2020. Buses will run daily at 20-minute intervals between 8 a.m. and 9:30 p.m. https://www.nps.gov/grca/learn/news/grca-tusayan-shuttle-begins-march-1-2020.htm

The researchers from Queen Mary University of London say the discovery could lead to ground-breaking treatments with “a reduced chance of side effects.”

The post Antibodies Could Be ‘Radically Life-Changing’ New Treatment for OCD and Other Mental Disorders appeared first on Good News Network.

Swarup Bhunia and engineers at the University of Florida, Gainesville are envisioning mobile vehicle-to-vehicle charging for EVs.

The post Not Science Fiction: Can We Charge EVs With Car-to-Car Mobile Recharging? appeared first on Good News Network.

Aldi grocery CEO Giles Huxley informed his suppliers that all products must come in 100% reusable, recyclable, or compostable packaing.

The post Aldi Heaps Pressure On Supplier Packaging Being 100% Recyclable or Compostable Within Five Years appeared first on Good News Network.

Since 1960, the Forest Service has been guided by the multiple-use concept, which recognizes five major uses for public lands-timber, water, range, recreation, and fish and wildlife habitat-and mandates that all five should be equally considered in management plans.

Land use and climate change are two key factors with the potential to affect stream conditions and fish habitat. Since the 1950s, Washington and Oregon have required forest practices designed to mitigate the effects of timber harvest on streams and fish.

Using a new technique to enlarge a section of an image.

A jQuery plugin gallery with many user parameters and customization v1.0.0

A jQuery plugin slideshow with many user parameters and customization v1.0.0

A study of commercial timber harvesting activities in Oregon and Washington was conducted from 2011 through 2015 to characterize current tree utilization, logging operations, and assist with estimating the amount of woody biomass left onsite after harvesting.

At the end of October, 2019, my photo library contained approximately 60,000 images, mostly taken over the past 20 years. (Of those, nearly 40% are from the past five years.) Comparing the size of my library with those of friends of mine, I’m about average, but still, 60,000 is a big number, and managing that […]

The post Managing your photo library: pruning old growth appeared first on Complete Digital Photography.

Millions of miles of highway crisscross the United States. Highways fragment the landscape, affecting the distribution of animal populations and limiting the ability of individuals to disperse between those populations. Moreover, animal-vehicle collisions are a serious hazard to wildlife, not to mention people.

Current efforts to improve the scientific basis for fire management on public lands will benefit from more efficient transfer of technical information and tools that support planning, implementation, and effectiveness of vegetation and hazardous fuel treatments. The technical scope, complexity, and relevant spatial scale of analytical and decision-support tools differ considerably, which provides a challenge to resource managers and other users who want to select tools appropriate for a particular application. This publication provides a state-of-science summary of tools currently available for management of vegetation and fuels. Detailed summaries include a description of each tool, location where it can be obtained, relevant spatial scale, level of user knowledge required, data requirements, model outputs, application in fuel treatments, linkage to other tools, and availability of training and support. Streamlined summaries in tabular format allow users to rapidly identify those tools that could potentially be applied to a specific management need. In addition, an interdisciplinary team process is described that facilitates application of tools and decisionmaking at different spatial scales.

On October 18, 2006, a workshop was held in Vancouver, WA, with the title "Managing for wildlife habitat in Westside production forests." The purpose of the workshop was to provide prescriptions and guidelines for people who manage Westside forests (those west of the Cascade Mountains' crest) primarily for wood production, but because of mandate or personal preference, want to integrate wildlife values. The audience included over 150 professionals from forest industry, consulting firms, and public and tribal forest and wildlife management agencies. This proceedings includes ten papers based on oral presentations at the workshop plus a synthesis paper summarizing workshop themes, discussions, and related information. Topics include a history of wildlife management research in the Pacific Northwest, elements of habitat and how to manage for them, the challenges of appropriately implementing ecosystem management, and economic implications to private forestland owners.

In recent years, interest has increased in restoring Oregon white oak (Quercus garryana Dougl. ex Hook.) and prairie landscapes in the Pacific Northwest, especially where elements of historical plant communities are intact. We evaluated the effect of alternative management scenarios on the extent and condition of Oregon white oak, the extent of prairie, and the harvest and standing volumes of Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco) within a 2934-ha portion of Fort Lewis, Washington (named the Tenalquot Planning Area for the purpose of the project). A landscape-level analysis of the scenarios was completed using a geographic information system, a forest growth model (ORGANON), and landscape visualization software (EnVision). The scenarios ranged from no active management to restoration of the historical extent of oak and prairies within the planning area. The results indicate that the window of opportunity for restoring oak and prairie landscapes in the Puget Sound lowlands and other regions is small, and aggressive management is needed to maintain or enhance these landscapes. The project demonstrates the value of landscape level analyses and the use of new technologies for conveying the results of alternative management scenarios.

Based on an in-grade testing program, the Ketchikan Wood Technology Center has registered three proprietary grademarks for Alaska species of hemlock (Tsuga heteraphylla (Raf.) Sarg.), yellow-cedar (Chamaecyparis nootkatensis (D. Don) Spach), and spruce (combined Sitka spruce [Picea sitchensis (Bong.) Carr.] and white spruce [Picea glauca (Moench) Voss]). The Ketchikan Wood Technology Center conducted tests to establish glulam beam manufacturing specifications. In conjunction with this program, there is a need to measure the market for glulam beams in Alaska. The purpose of this research was to compare Alaska residential builder adoption rates of glulam beams and other engineered wood products to those of the continental United States. The results showed that a higher percentage of Alaska builders use glulam beams compared with builders in the rest of the United States.

Rehabilitation and timber-salvage activities after wildfire require rapid planning and rational decisions. Identifying areas with high risk for erosion and soil productivity losses is important. Moreover, allocation of corrective and mitigative efforts must be rational and prioritized. Our logic-based analysis of forested soil polygons on the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest was designed and implemented with the Ecosystem Management Decision Support (EMDS) system to evaluate risks to soil properties and productivity associated with moderate to severe wildfire and unmitigated use of ground-based logging equipment. Soil and related data are from standard National Cooperative Soil Surveys. We present results from one national forest management unit, encompassing 6,889 soil polygons and 69 438 ha. In the example area, 36.1 percent and 46.0 percent of the area were classified as sensitive to impacts from severe wildfire and unmitigated use of logging equipment, respectively, and there was a high degree of correspondence between the map of units sensitive to wildfire and the map of units sensitive to heavy equipment. We discuss options for extending the current model and considerations for validating key model components.

Scientists have had little information about how prescribed fire and cattle grazing—common practices in many Western ponderosa pine forests—affect plant abundance and reproduction in the forest understory. Pacific Northwest Research Station scientists began to explore how these practices affect vegetation in a five-year study of postfire vegetation in eastern Oregon ponderosa pine forests where cattle have been routinely pastured from late June or early July through early to mid August. For this area of eastern Oregon, they found that excluding cattle grazing during peak growing season increased native plant cover and grass flowering capability in ungrazed areas compared to grazed areas. Because vegetation was measured prior to releasing cattle on the land, the study's results tend to reflect lasting grazing impacts rather than simple consumption.

These are the proceedings of the 2005 workshop titled implications of bringing climate into natural resource management in the Western United States. This workshop was an attempt to further the dialogue among scientists, land managers, landowners, interested stakeholders and the public about how individuals are addressing climate change in natural resource management.