On Tuesday, June 13 at approximately 7:45 pm, the Grand Canyon Regional Communications Center received a call reporting an overdue hiker. https://www.nps.gov/grca/learn/news/missing-hiker-grand-canyon.htm

Search efforts continue in Grand Canyon National Park for missing hiker, 72 year-old Raafat “Ralph” Nasser-Eddin of Los Angeles, CA and Lebanon. https://www.nps.gov/grca/learn/news/missing-hiker-search-continues.htm

After three days of extensive searching, the National Park Service (NPS) will reduce the scale of the search for missing hiker, 72 year old Raffat "Ralph" Nasser-Eddin of Los Angeles, CA and Lebanon. https://www.nps.gov/grca/learn/news/missing-hiker-update.htm

The National Park Service is conducting a missing person's search within Grand Canyon National Park. https://www.nps.gov/grca/learn/news/missing-person-at-grand-canyon.htm

The National Park Service is conducting a search for a missing person within Grand Canyon National Park. https://www.nps.gov/grca/learn/news/legus-missing-person.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

On Friday, March 16, 2018 Grand Canyon National Park will begin phasing to Level 3 water restrictions and conservation measures due to a series of breaks in the Transcanyon Waterline. https://www.nps.gov/grca/learn/news/level-3-water-restrictions-to-be-implemented-at-the-south-rim-of-grand-canyon-national-park-on-friday-march-16.htm

On March 29, 2018, the National Park Service (NPS) will begin installing one test well and two monitoring wells next to Bright Angel Creek near Phantom Ranch. https://www.nps.gov/grca/learn/news/test-wells.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

The National Park Service is conducting a missing person search within Grand Canyon National Park.  https://www.nps.gov/grca/learn/news/missing-person.htm

The National Park Service (NPS) is conducting a missing person search at Grand Canyon National Park for Martin Edward O'Connor, 58, of La Porte, Texas, last seen on Dec. 22, 2019, at Yavapai Lodge on the South Rim of Grand Canyon. https://www.nps.gov/grca/learn/news/missing-person-search-initiated-at-grand-canyon-2019-12-30.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

Grand Canyon National Park is initiating water conservation measures for the South Rim and inner canyon from March 7-22, 2020. A leak was detected along the transcanyon pipeline near Phanton Ranch, and park staff are working to repair the break. https://www.nps.gov/grca/learn/news/water-conservation-measures-03-17-2020.htm

North Carolina researchers are now trying to spread the word about their tried-and-true decontamination method for surgical masks.

The post Researchers Have Found a Way to Sterilize and Reuse Face Masks During Pandemic appeared first on Good News Network.

Western Australia will establish a multi-million-dollar fund to boost research into the coronavirus and to ramp up the state's testing regime.

A resident who died in Sydney's Newmarch House had recovered from coronavirus and died of an unrelated illness, NSW Health says.

Sustainable working landscapes are critical to the conservation of biodiversity in the American West and its cultures of rural ranching and forestry.

Alaska’s Arctic tundra is one of the most rapidly warming regions in the world. For years, scientists have been working to interpret the effects of its changing climate and determine what these changes may mean for the rest of the planet. Coarse-scale satellite imagery of much of this region shows the tundra is becoming greener. This has been widely attributed to shrub expansion.

This guidebook describes The Island Research Natural Area, an 84-ha (208-ac) tract established to represent examples of the western juniper/big sagebrush/bluebunch wheatgrass (Juniperus occidentalis/Artemisia tridentata/Pseudoroegneria spicata), and the western juniper/big sagebrush-antelope bitterbrush/bluebunch wheatgrass (Juniperus occidentalis/Artemisia tridentata-Purshia tridentata/Pseudoroegneria spicata) plant associations.

This guidebook describes Horse Ridge Research Natural Area, a 243-ha (600-ac) tract established to represent an example of the western juniper/big sagebrush/ threadleaf sedge (Juniperus occidentalis/Artemisia tridentata/Carex filifolia) plant association.

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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..

The Pacific Northwest Research Station launched a Biodiversity Initiative to assist natural resource professionals in integrating complex biodiversity concepts into natural resource management processes. We canvassed clients from various affiliations to determine the main challenges they face in biodiversity management, to define their information needs, and to understand how best to deliver biodiversity information within a collaborative framework. The biodiversity management challenges that emerged included (1) the lack of well-defined biodiversity management policies, (2) understanding and quantifying the interaction effects between a number of factors (e.g., disturbance types, management practices) and biodiversity, (3) the lack of applied biodiversity monitoring strategies, (4) difficulty in locating and accessing biodiversity information, and (5) balancing conflicting values relating to biodiversity. We also list the biodiversity information product needs of clients, as well as preferred technology transfer methods, and we discuss the future direction of the Biodiversity Initiative.

This problem analysis describes a variety of human-resource interaction issues and identifies related social science research and development needs that serve as the foundation for the Alaska Communities and Forest Environments Team within the Pacific Northwest Research Station. The document lays out a research agenda that focuses on understanding relations between human communities and natural resources.

Integrated research is about achieving holistic understanding of complex biophysical and social issues and problems. It is driven by the need to improve understanding about such systems and to improve resource management by using the results of integrated research processes. Traditional research tends to fragment complex problems, focusing more on the pieces of problems rather than the whole that comprises multiple interrelationships and interactions. The outcome is that a lot is known about the parts (e.g., recreation, fish, and wildlife) but relatively little about how they are interrelated. There seems to be general agreement that integrated questions must drive the search for integrated understanding, but tradition, inertia, institutional culture,budgets, training, and lack of effective leadership foster reductionism (at worst) or minimal degrees of integration (at best) rather than any substantial, sustainable effort toward integrated research. In this paper, a phased approach to framing integrated research questions and addressing the substantial barriers that impede integrated efforts are discussed. A key conclusion is that to make any significant progress toward comprehensive integrated research will require more than rhetoric. Progress must begin with more effective leadership throughout various levels of research organizations.

This guidebook describes the High Peak/Moon Creek Research Natural Area, a 617.5-ha (1,526-ac) tract of coniferous forest containing stands dominated by 100- to 150-year-old Douglas-fir, a small old-growth (500+ years) Douglas-fir stand, and riparian vegetation within the western hemlock zone of the Coast Range in western Oregon.

Roger Lake Research Natural Area (RNA), a 174.7-ha reserve in north-central Washington, contains a rich diversity of landforms, plant communities, and wildlife habitats. Spreading outward from the lake itself, sedge and sphagnum fens give way to upland coniferous forest, granitic cliffs, and a relictual, high-altitude big sagebrush-whitebark pine (Artemisia tridentata-Pinus albicaulis) meadow. Five sensitive plant species and several vertebrate species that are rare in the region occur in the RNA. Dynamic ecological processes in action in the RNA are revealed in the paludification of the forest edge; aging, broken beaver dams; and widespread bark beetle-induced conifer mortality.

The kitchen cabinet industry has shown significant growth recently, with expanding residential markets, new cabinet styles, and larger kitchens. This industry represents an opportunity for small Alaska wood producers to create high-value secondary products. In response to recent trends in kitchen cabinet manufacturing and the need to identify opportunities for underutilized species, the Alaska Wood Utilization Research and Development Center has conducted numerous studies evaluating consumer preferences for Alaska's primary hardwoods-Alaska birch (Betula papyrifera var. humilis )Reg.) Fern & Raup) and red alder (Alnus rubra Bong.). These studies explored consumer preferences under a range of marketing parameters, cabinet appearances, and regional market locations. This paper summarizes these studies and offers insights into the potential market for Alaska's hardwoods as secondary wood products such as kitchen cabinets.

The work described in this report was initiated during the Interior Columbia Basin Ecosystem Management Project (ICBEMP). The ICBEMP produced a broad-scale scientific assessment of ecological, biophysical, social, and economic conditions for the interior Columbia River basin and portions of the Klamath and Great Basins. The broad-scale assessment made extensive use of potential vegetation (PV) information. This report (1) discusses certain concepts and terms as related to PV, (2) describes how a PV framework developed for the broad-scale ICBEMP assessment area was stepped down to the level of a single section in the national hierarchy of terrestrial ecological units, (3) describes how fine-scale potential vegetation types (PVTs) identified for the Blue Mountains section were aggregated into the midscale portion of the PV hierarchy, and (4) describes the PVT composition for each of the midscale hierarchical units (physiognomic class, potential vegetation group, plant association group).

Silvicultural practices in the Douglas-fir region evolved through a combination of formal research, observation, and practical experience of forest managers and silviculturists, and changing economic and social factors. This process began more than a century ago and still continues. It has had a great influence on the economic well-being of the region and on the present characteristics of the region's forests. This long history is unknown to most of the public, and much of it is unfamiliar to many natural resource specialists outside (and even within) the field of silviculture. We trace the history of how we got where we are today and the contribution of silvicultural research to the evolution of forest practices. We give special attention to the large body of information developed in the first half of the past century that is becoming increasingly unfamiliar to both operational foresters and--perhaps more importantly--to those engaged in forestry research. We also discuss some current trends in silviculture and silviculture-related research.

Given increasing need and decreasing capacity, the Forest Service outdoor recreation research program must strategize how best to address current and future priorities. The papers compiled here were presented at the National Workshop on Recreation Research and Management held in Portland, Oregon, February 8-10, 2005. Papers are organized around four themes: Understanding Forest Recreation Visitors, Recreation Planning & Monitoring, Recreation Management, and Special Issues in Recreation.

This guidebook describes the Forest Peak Research Natural Area (RNA), a 62.8-ha (153.3-ac) tract containing a mature Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) forest and a grass bald within the Willamette Valley Foothill Ecoregion. Forest Peak RNA also contains an undisturbed third-order stream reach.

This guidebook describes the Saddle Bag Mountain Research Natural Area, a 121-ha (300-ac) tract established to represent an old-growth remnant of Pacific silver fir (Abies amabilis) and western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla) forest in the Oregon Coast Range. Pacific silver fir and noble fir (Abies procera) occur as isolated remnants, and both species are approaching the southern limits of their natural range in the Oregon Coast Range.

This guidebook describes the Grass Mountain Research Natural Area, a 377-ha (931-ac) tract in the Oregon Coast Range. The area supports a grass bald complex surrounded by stands dominated by noble fir (Abies procera) and/or Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) in the overstory, and western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla) in the understory. The area also contains a small rock garden plant community along high-elevation ridges, and young Douglas-fir forest that originated from a wildfire. Headwaters of high-elevation, Oregon Coast Range streams are surrounded by noble fir forest and add to the site diversity.

This guidebook describes the Little Sink Research Natural Area, a 32.38-ha (80-ac) tract occupying an area of geologically unstable marine siltstone exhibiting natural geomorphic disturbances including landslides, slump benches, scarps, basins and ponds. The area supports forested stands dominated by Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) as well as stands codominated by Douglas-fir and bigleaf maple (Acer macrophyllum) representative of coniferous forest along the foothills of the Willamette Valley.

Over a 3-day weekend in the spring of 2004 a group of scientists interested in extending understanding of place as applied in recreation research and management convened a working session in Portland, Oregon. The purpose of the gathering was to clarify their understanding of place-related concepts, approaches to the study of people-place relations, and the application of that understanding in recreation management for the purpose of integrating perspectives from different disciplines, discussing approaches to understanding and measuring sense of place, and other questions around the study and application of place-related concepts. Topics that generated the most discussion included how social processes influence place meanings, how place meanings are shared and negoitated within social groups, and when and how place meanings and attachments focus, reduce, or avert conflict in natural resource planning and management. This collection of papers is a result of that meeting.

Soils are fundamental to a healthy and functioning ecosystem. Therefore, forest land managers can greatly benefit from a more thorough understanding of the ecological impacts of fire and fuel management activities on the vital services soils provide. We present a summary of new research on fire effects and soils made possible through the Joint Fire Science Program and highlight management implications where applicable. Some responses were consistent across sites, whereas others were unique and may not easily be extrapolated to other sites. Selected findings include (1) postfire soil water repellency is most likely to occur in areas of high burn severity and is closely related to surface vegetation; (2) although wildfire has the potential to decrease the amount of carbon stored in soils, major changes in land use, such as conversion from forest to grasslands, present a much greater threat to carbon storage; (3) prescribed fires, which tend to burn less severely than wildfires and oftentimes have minor effects on soils, may nonetheless decrease species richness of certain types of fungi; and (4) early season prescribed burns tend to have less impact than late season burns on soil organisms, soil carbon, and other soil properties.

The compilation of papers in this proceedings is based on a symposium sponsored by the Insect and Diseases Working Group (D5) at the 2007 Society of American Foresters (SAF) convention in Portland, Oregon. The selection of topics parallels the research priorities of the Western Bark Beetle Research Group (WBBRG) (USDA Forest Service, Research and Development), which had been recently formed at the time of the symposium. Reflecting a unique partnership within the Forest Service, each paper was jointly prepared by a research scientist with the WBBRG and one or more entomologists with Forest Health Protection (USDA Forest Service, State and Private Forestry). Among these papers is a description of the currently elevated impacts of bark beetles in the Western United States; descriptions of the current state of knowledge of bark beetle response to vegetation management and also to climate change; discussions of the complex interactions of bark beetles and fire and of the complex ecological and socioeconomic impacts of infestations; an overview of the use of semiochemical (behavioral chemicals)-based technology for conifer protection; and a case study exemplifying efforts to assess risks posed by nonnative invasive bark beetles.

This guidebook describes Benjamin Research Natural Area, a 258-ha (637-ac) tract originally established to represent an example of the western juniper/Idaho fescue (Juniperus occidentalis/Festuca idahoensis) plant association. Subsequent field surveys indicate the predominant vegetation is best characterized as the western juniper/low sagebrush/Idaho fescue plant association. Current vegetation is dominated by western juniper woodland with an understory vegetation mosaic that varies with soil depth. Low sagebrush (Artemisia arbuscula Nutt.) occurs as the major shrub in shallow or rocky soils, and Wyoming big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata Nutt. ssp. wyomingensis Beetle and Young) predominates in areas with deeper or more finely textured soil.

This guidebook describes Woodcock Bog Research Natural Area (RNA), a 114-ha (281-ac) area located within the Klamath-Siskiyou ecoregion in southwestern Oregon. The RNA includes a hanging fen and stream segment on ultramafic rock and derived soils. Numerous plant species occur within the fens that are endemic to the Klamath-Siskiyou Mountains of southwestern Oregon and northwestern California. Cobra lily (Darlingtonia californica), and sedges (Carex spp.) characterize the area. The site also supports very dry, open serpentine forest stands of Jeffrey pine (Pinus jeffreyi), along with denser stands of Port-Orfordcedar (Chamaecyparis lawsoniana), Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii), and other conifers typical of the region.

The Forest Service system of experimental forests and ranges (EFRs) and other sites of long-term silvicultural, watershed, and ecological research have contributed to science and natural resource management for more than a century. An important aspect of the success of EFR programs is strong collaboration between the research and land manager communities. This guide offers suggestions for effective research management partnerships based at EFRs and other long-term research sites. Keys to success include mutual understanding and respect, shared commitment to learning, and joint projects and communications programs.

This guidebook describes Cherry Creek Research Natural Area, a 239-ha (590-ac) area that supports old-growth Douglas-fir-western hemlock (Pseudotsuga menziesii- Tsuga heterophylla) forest occurring on sedimentary materials in the southern Oregon Coast Range.

This guidebook describes Camas Swale Research Natural Area, a 127-ha (314-ac) area that supports dry site, old-growth Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) forest. Major plant associations present within the area include the Douglas-fir/salal/western swordfern (Pseudotsuga menziesii/Gaultheria shallon/Polystichummunitum) plant association, Douglas-fir/Oregongrape (Pseudotsuga menziesii/Berberis nervosa) plant association, Douglas-fir/poison oak (Pseudotsuga menziesii/Toxicodendron diversilobum) plant association, and Douglas-fir/hazelnut-trailing snowberry/western swordfern (Pseudotsuga menziesii/Corylus cornutavar. californica-Symphoricarpos mollis/Polystichum munitum) plant association.

This document introduces a computer software named SNAP for ArcGIS®, which has been developed to streamline scheduling and transportation planning for timber harvest areas. Using modern optimization techniques, it can be used to spatially schedule timber harvest with consideration of harvesting costs, multiple products, alternative destinations, and transportation systems. SNAP for ArcGIS attempts either to maximize a net present value or minimize discounted costs of harvesting and transportation over the planning horizon while meeting given harvest volume and acreage constraints. SNAP for ArcGIS works in the ArcGIS environment and provides an easy-to-use analytical tool for sophisticated spatial planning of timber harvest.

This guidebook describes Fox Hollow Research Natural Area (RNA), a 66-ha (163-ac) area that supports dry-site Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii)–ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) forest within the Oregon Coast Range ecoregion. Major forest plant associations represented at Fox Hollow RNA include Douglas-fir/salal/western swordfern (Pseudotsuga menziesii/Gaultheria shallon/Polystichum munitum) forest and Douglas-fir/Oregongrape (Pseudotsuga menziesii/Berberis nervosa) forest. Other forested communities are represented within the RNA in minor amounts including: Douglas-fir/poison oak (Pseudotsuga menziesii/ Toxicodendron diversilobum) forest, ponderosa pine-Douglas-fir/California fescue (Pinus ponderosa-Pseudotsuga menziesii/Festuca californica) woodland, and ponderosa pine-Douglas-fir-California black oak (Pinus ponderosa-Pseudotsuga menziesii-Quercus kelloggii) woodland.

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.