Following a series of breaks in the Transcanyon Waterline earlier this month, Grand Canyon National Park now has enough water in storage to scale back to Level 1 basic water conservation measures. https://www.nps.gov/grca/learn/news/level-1-water-conservation-seasonal-trail-water.htm

Grand Canyon National Park and Grand Canyon Conservancy invite the public and park partners to join National Park Service staff in celebrating the 100th anniversary of Grand Canyon’s designation as a national park. To celebrate this significant milestone, Grand Canyon National Park will waive entrance fees for visitors coming to the park on February 26. https://www.nps.gov/grca/learn/news/grand-canyon-national-park-100th-anniversary-commemoration.htm

From Tuesday, May 16 to Wednesday, May 17 the Grand Canyon National Park Division of Science and Resource Management (SRM) will apply minor spot spray treatments of herbicide around the Grand Canyon Lodge and campground in the North Rim Developed Area to aid in the control of an especially invasive grass species for which mechanical removal is ineffective. https://www.nps.gov/grca/learn/news/grca-apply-herbicide-on-nr-2019.htm

Due to water turbidity and maintenance issues, some of the water filling stations and flush toilets normally available along the North Kaibab and Bright Angel Trails at this time of the year will not be open until water conditions change and/or water line repairs are made. https://www.nps.gov/grca/learn/news/backcountry-users-advised-of-changes-to-water-availability-on-north-kaibab-and-bright-angel-trails.htm

Effective immediately, the National Park Service (NPS) is initiating water conservation measures on the North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park to ensure that the area's facilities can remain open until the repairs are made to the damaged water pipeline. https://www.nps.gov/grca/learn/news/nps-level-2-water-conservation.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

On Tuesday, June 4 and Wednesday, June 5 staff from the Division of Science and Resource Management (SRM) will be applying herbicide to the traffic islands on South Entrance and Yavapai Roads to remove grasses that attract elk in these congested areas of the Grand Canyon Village. The intent of the removal is to minimize conflicts between wildlife (elk) and both visitors and residents along the road corridors. https://www.nps.gov/grca/learn/news/south-entrance-and-yavapai-herbicide-use.htm

Grand Canyon National Park is initiating water conservation measures on the North and South Rims on Aug. 30, 2019, due to a water pipeline break that occurred on Aug. 29 on a section of the pipeline north of Phantom Ranch, along the North Kaibab trail. Until park staff repairs the break, the park will remain in conservation mode. https://www.nps.gov/grca/learn/news/grand-canyon-national-park-initiates-water-conservation-measures-2019-08-29.htm

Grand Canyon National Park is initiating water conservation measures for the South Rim on Oct. 10, 2019, due to a loss of water connectivity. https://www.nps.gov/grca/learn/news/water-conservation-measures-initiated-at-grand-canyon-2019-10-10.htm

Grand Canyon National Park backcountry users can seek out shade and an opportunity to rest from the elements at the new Tipoff Shelter along the South Kaibab Trail. https://www.nps.gov/grca/learn/news/south-kaibab-trail-shelter-now-available-2019-11-04.htm

Grand Canyon National Park is initiating water conservation measures for the South Rim, including Desert View, from Nov. 11-18, 2019, for scheduled construction at the Indian Garden South pump house. https://www.nps.gov/grca/learn/news/scheduled-construction-at-grand-canyon-initiates-water-conservation-measures-20191107.htm

Grand Canyon National Park is initiating water conservation measures for the South Rim, including Desert View, from Dec. 9-19, 2019, for scheduled maintenance at the Indian Garden North pump house. https://www.nps.gov/grca/learn/news/grand-canyon-initiates-water-conservation-measures-for-maintenance-20191206.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

Record low temperatures were set at several locations around the Pittsburgh metro area on May 9 as snow fell in Pennsylvania and other northeastern states, according to the National Weather Service. Most of the cold temperatures can be attributed to a polar vortex moving through the region, including parts of New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Delaware. The National Weather Service’s Mount Holly office recorded temperatures in the low 30s, some going below freezing into the mid-to-high 20s, across the northeast. The polar vortex also brought cold and snow squalls to parts of Canada, according to reports. Local resident Robert Fink captured this video of snow falling in Greensburg, Pennsylvania. “Are we absolutely sure it is May,” wrote Fink on Twitter. Credit: Robert Fink via Storyful

In addition to the shoes being released in a soothing range of colors, they have also done away with shoelaces and complex attachments.

The post Now Children With Autism or Sensory Issues Can Buy Vans Shoes Designed Exclusively For Them appeared first on Good News Network.

The Silvies Valley Ranch is an example of using local innovation to combat the global problem of incised streams on rangelands. Incised channels reduce the flow between water in the channel and water in the surrounding soils, which reduces the vegetation available for wildlife habitat and cattle forage. One of the ranch owners, Scott Campbell, a doctor of veterinary medicine, believes that stream incision is related to the decline of beaver populations; thus, the ranch’s approach to restoration includes efforts to mimic beavers’ influence on the system. He is using an extensive network of low-rise dams made from locally available materials (dirt, gravel, rock, and logs), commonly referred to as “artificial beaver dams” (ABDs). Campbell said that the ABDs on the ranch successfully increased stream connectivity to their floodplains and increased the quantity and forage quality of wet meadows on the property, with no changes in where cattle were grazing. The experiences of this landowner exemplify a unique approach that provides a model for others facing similar challenges to doing restoration on private land. The transformation taking place on the Silvies Valley Ranch has garnered the attention of neighboring ranch owners, some of whom are beginning to experiment with similar restoration technologies. Campbell would like to continue installing structures, but has encountered numerous roadblocks in the permitting process. He has since taken an active role in building legislative support for the ABD technology being used on the ranch, and in facilitating its adoption in other places. This case study—based on interviews with stakeholders involved in the Silvies Valley Ranch project—highlights the social benefits and challenges experienced by one rancher using ABDs as a restoration tool, and provides insights for improving their use in the future. It is part of a larger interdisciplinary study that explores the potential of different beaver-related restoration approaches for achieving watershed restoration and livestock production goals on rangelands in the Western United States.

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

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.

In recent decades, dam removal has emerged as a viable national and international strategy for river restoration.

Millions of people head to federal lands every year for recreation—891 million visits in 2016 alone. These visits have significant economic implications, not only for restaurants, resorts, outfitters, and other businesses near recreation sites, but also for the people actually participating in outdoor recreation.

The Malheur model for fire-caused delayed mortality is presented as an easily interpreted graph (mortality-probability calculator) as part of a one-page field guide that allows the user to determine postfire probability of mortality for ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa Dougl. ex Laws.).

We describe a food-based system for quantitatively evaluating habitat quality for deer called the Forage Resource Evaluation System for Habitat and provide its rationale and suggestions for use. The system was developed as a tool for wildlife biologists and other natural resource managers and planners interested in evaluating habitat quality and, especially, comparing two or more patches of habitat or the same patch at different seasons or under different conditions. It is based on the quantity (of biomass) and quality (digestible energy and digestible protein) of the habitat's food resources in relation to user-specified metabolic requirements of deer (which differ with species, age, sex, season, and reproductive status). It uses a linear programming algorithm to determine the suitable forage that can sustain deer at the specified requirements.

At last a stable cross browser method of centering a variable width float left dropdown menu.

A set of 7 variations on the 3 column equal height theme. All full width with header and footer, a mixture of fixed and percentage column widths and no images.

A CSS3 animated space invader using two divs and linear-gradients, no images.

A javascript (no jQuery) responsive swipe action panel changer for mouse and touch screens. Works in all the latest browsers and operating systems.

The original Forests on the Edge report (FOTE 1) indicated that 44.2 million acres of private forest land was projected to experience substantial increases in residential development in the coming decades.

In recent years, the Forest Service and the public have placed increasing priority on making sure that management of public lands takes into account the needs of nearby communities, regional residents, national residents, and even members of the public who may not currently visit public lands.

This report chronicles a large-scale effort to map place values across the Pacific Northwest Region (Washington and Oregon) of the U.S. Forest Service.

Cost of private timber management practices in the United States are identified, and their relationship to timber production in general is highlighted. Costs across timber-producing regions and forest types are identified by forest type and timber management practices historically applied in each region. This includes cost estimates for activities such as forest establishment practices such as reforestation and afforestation on crop and pastureland. Establishment costs for reforestation in the Southern United States are less than in other regions, although regional differences in establishment costs are less evident in hardwood than in softwood stands. Also, included in the list of timber management costs ate the intermediate management treatments of precommercial thinning, herbicide, and fertilizer application. Intermediate management treatments are less costly in the southern United States than in other regions. Trends in timber management costs reported as part of the management costs reporting.

Changes in forest management have detrimentally affected the economic health of small communities in the Blue Mountain region of Oregon over the past few decades. A build-up of small trees threatens the ecological health of these forests and increases wildland fire hazard. Hoping to boost their economies and also restore these forests, local leaders are interested in the economic value of timber that might be available from thinning treatments on these lands.

Biomass resources in Alaska are extensive and diverse, comprising millions of acres of standing small-diameter trees, diseased or dead trees, and trees having lowgrade timber.

The Community Socioeconomic Information System (CSIS) is a tool that allows users to retrieve 1990 and 2000 U.S. census data to examine conditions and trends for communities in western Washington, western Oregon, and northern California. The tool includes socioeconomic data for 1,314 communities in the entire region, including incorporated and unincorporated places. The tool delivers socioeconomic data using mapping and database features. In addition to providing data for one community, the tool produces community-level data at a variety of scales, including communities in areas surrounding Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management lands, all communities in the Northwest Forest Plan (NWFP) region, and communities within planning provinces within the NWFP region. One feature allows users to customize community data by creating boundaries and socioeconomic data for group of selected communities. The CSIS tool was designated to increase the usefulness of socioeconomic information at the small scale. Typically community socioeconomic assessments use U.S. census designations called census places. However, census places only represent a portion of the rural population. The CSIS uses a smaller unit of analysis (block groups) that we have aggregated to represent contiguous communities across the landscape, thereby representing the entire population. Community data can be printed as reports with graphs and tables, queried within an Access database, mapped and queried as geographic information system (GIS) data within ArcExplorer (a free GIS software included), exported as a table for use in Excel, or exported as GIS data for use in ArcGIS. The tool has features that allow users to locate communities by county or state and become familiar with local geography. The CSIS includes GIS data, such as major land ownerships, political boundaries, and physical landscape features. Applications produce maps that can be printed for specific communities showing community boundaries, water features, roads, metropolitan areas, community population centers, public land ownership, census places, planning provinces, counties, and state boundaries. Or, using the spatial data provided on the CD and ArcExplorer, users can produce custom maps.

Currently, all treated lumber used in Alaska is imported from the 48 contiguous states and Canada because there are no wood-treating facilities in Alaska. This report explores conventional and alternative wood-treating methods and reviews previous studies and laboratory tests on treated wood. In investigating wood treatment as a possible processing option for Alaska forest products manufacturers, the double-diffusion method of using sodium fluoride followed by a copper sulfate appeared to be the most advantageous approach. This method of treating wood was identified because it can be used to treat freshly cut or green wood. This was an important factor to consider, owing to the limited drying capacity in Alaska. Little information was available as to the chemical retention after treating and its resistance to leaching.

We evaluated the effects of vegetation control and organic matter (OM) removal on soil water content (SWC) in a Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco) plantation from age 3 through age 5. Treatments were presence versus absence of vegetation control through year 5 and bole-only harvest of the previous stand versus total-tree harvest of the previous stand including removal of all coarse woody residues.

Cost of private timber management practices in the United States are identified, and their relationship to timber production in general is highlighted. Costs across timber-producing regions and forest types are identified by forest type and timber management practices historically applied in each region. This includes cost estimates for activities such as forest establishment practices such as reforestation and afforestation on crop and pastureland. Establishment costs for reforestation in the Southern United States are less than in other regions, although regional differences in establishment costs are less evident in hardwood than in softwood stands. Also, included in the list of timber management costs ate the intermediate management treatments of precommercial thinning, herbicide, and fertilizer application. Intermediate management treatments are less costly in the southern United States than in other regions. Trends in timber management costs reported as part of the management costs reporting.

Changing patterns of land use are at the heart of many environmental concerns regarding U.S. forest lands. Of all the human impacts to forests, development is one of the most significant because of the severity and permanency of the change.

The importance to society of environmental services, provided by forest ecosystems, has significantly increased during the last few decades. A growing global concern with the deterioration of forests, beginning perhaps most noticeably in the 1980s, has led to an increasing public awareness of the environmental, cultural, economic, and social values that forests provide. Around the world, ideas of sustainable, close-to-nature, and multi-functional forestry have progressively replaced the older perception of forests as only a source for timber. The international impetus to protect and sustainably manage forests has come from global initiatives at management, conservation, and sustainable development related to all types of forests and forestry. A few of the more notable initiatives include: the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, UNCED); regional follow-ups to the Earth Summit such as the Montreal Process and Helsinki Accords; the forest elements of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD); and the Framework Convention on Climate Change (FCCC).

Research suggests that forest land development can reduce the productivity of remaining forest land because private forest owners reduce their investments in forest management. We developed empirical models describing forest stocking, thinning, harvest, and postharvest tree planting in eastern Oregon, as functions of stand and site characteristics, ownership, and building densities. The models are based on USDA Forest Service Forest Inventory and Analysis data gathered in eastern Oregon in 1987 and 1998, and data describing building densities gathered by the Oregon Department of Forestry from aerial photographs taken over the same period. We used the models to examine the potential effects of population growth and development, as described by increasing building densities, on the likelihood that private forest owners maintain forest stocking, precommercially thin, harvest, and plant trees following harvest. Empirical results suggest that population growth and development have had no measurable effect on these activities in eastern Oregon during the period examined. Any development effects on private forest management and investment so far are likely to be fairly localized.

Operational-scale experiments that evaluate the consequences of fire and mechanical "surrogates" for natural disturbance events are essential to better understand strategies for reducing the incidence and severity of wildfire. The national Fire and Fire Surrogate (FFS) study was initiated in 1999 to establish an integrated network of long-term studies designed to evaluate the consequences of using fire and fire surrogate treatments for fuel reduction and forest restoration. Beginning in September2005, four regional workshops were conducted with selected clients to identify effective and efficient means of communicating FFS study findings to users. We used participatory evaluation to design the workshops, collect responses to focused questions and impressions, and summarize the results. We asked four overarching questions: (1) Who needs fuel reduction information? (2) What information do they need? (3) Why do they need it? (4) How can it best be delivered to them? Participants identified key users of FFS science and technology, specific pieces of information that users most desired, and how this information might be applied to resolve fuel reduction and restoration issues. They offered recommendations for improving overall science delivery and specific ideas for improving delivery of FFS study results and information. User groups identified by workshop participants and recommendations for science delivery are then combined in a matrix to form the foundation of a strategic plan for conducting science delivery of FFS study results and information. These potential users, their information needs, and preferred science delivery processes likely have wide applicability to other fire science research.

The demand for water is rapidly increasing, but the uses to which that water is put and the values society places on water are changing dramatically. Water is the source of life, the sustenance for living, the resource needed for manufacturing, mining, agriculture; the element required to grow our lawns, to water our landscaping, to shower us with refreshment; it is the place where we play; it provides the snow for our winter recreation, and it provides the habitat for much of our wildlife. Water in contemporary American society is more than a simple physical entity, its symbolic values, and noninstrumental uses are growing in significance. As with many Native American cultures, water is as much a symbol as it is something to extract and use in the production of commercial products. This book is about the issues associated with these symbolic values and uses of water: the challenges they present--in our language, in our allocation mechanisms, in our communication--the conflicts raised; and the potential for resolving the difficult, contentious and complex issues concerning the use of water for various purposes. It is as much about framing the questions about symbolic values of water as it is anything else.

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.

Privately owned forests provide many public benefits, including clean water and air, wildlife habitat, and recreational opportunities. By 2030, 44.2 million acres of rural private forest land across the conterminous United States are projected to experience substantial increases in residential development. As housing density increases, the public benefits provided by private forests can be permanently altered. We examine factors behind projected patterns of residential development and conversion of private forest land by 2030 in northwestern Washington, southern Maine, and northwestern Georgia. Some key factors affecting the extent of future residential housing include (1) population growth from migration into an area; (2) historical settlement patterns, topography, and land ownership; and (3) land use planning and zoning.

Many stands in southeast Alaska harvested since 1950, especially where there has been a high degree of disturbance of mineral soil, have regenerated to red alder (Alnus rubra Bong.) and are now approaching maturity. The availability of red alder raises questions addressed in this study about the recovery of lumber from this resource. Information in this study was obtained from trees estimated to be 46 years old on a site outside of Ketchikan. Rates of recovery using a thin-kerf portable band mill were higher than those reported by larger production mills in Washington and Oregon. Grade yields of the Alaska material are comparable to those attained in other regions. This study determined that there were no significant differences in material characteristics that would set this Alaska log resource apart from red alder in the other regions of North America. The potential value of the products is sufficient to allow production in Alaska for use in the manufacturing of value-added products within the state or shipment of finished lumber to domestic or export markets.

Can management of 40- to 80-year-old forests on the Olympic Peninsula accelerate the development of stand structures and plant and animal communities associated with much older forests?

Forests of the Pacific Northwest have been an epicenter for the evolution of truffle fungi with over 350 truffle species and 55 genera currently identified. Truffle fungi develop their reproductive fruit-bodies typically belowground, so they are harder to find and study than mushrooms that fruit aboveground. Nevertheless, over the last five decades, the Corvallis Forest Mycology program of the Pacific Northwest Research Station has amassed unprecedented knowledge on the diversity and ecology of truffles in the region. Truffle fungi form mycorrhizal symbioses that benefit the growth and survival of many tree and understory plants. Truffle fruit-bodies serve as a major food souce for many forest-dwelling mammals. A few truffle species are commercially harvested for gourmet consumption in regional restaurants. This publication explores the biology and ecology of truffle fungi in the Pacific Northwest, their importance in forest ecosystems, and effects of various silvicultural practices on sustaining truffle populations. General management principles and considerations to sustain this valuable fungal resource are provided.