Have you had any that are worse?

Trees bursting forth with new leaves signal the arrival of spring. Budburst for most temperate tree species occurs after a tree has been exposed to a sufficient number of chilling and forcing hours over the winter.

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.).

A centered dropline, dropdown, flyout menu, using the latest centering technique, with current selection option

A dropline menu which uses sliding doors tabs for the top level and a horizontal scrolling dropline which has images and caption.

A dropline anywidth menu with droplines that are centered beneath the top level links which are also centered.

A version 2 of the dropline, dropdown and flyout hybrid menu.

A dropline with dropdown menu which has widths automatiaclly set to suit content, the top level centered and all sub levels centered beneath the parent item.

Fixing a problem when having vertical divide lines between horizontal link and using rollover images.

A simple multi-level flyout menu with fixed widths and multi-line text.

A dropdown version of the previous multi-line flyout menu

A dropline menu using a totally NEW method that requires NO hacks and works in all browsers. Also allows tabbing.

Using the same NEW method as the previous menu to have the sub line appear above the top level links.

Using the same NEW method as the previous menu to have the sub line appear above the top level links. This one has simpler styling.

A CSS only dropline menu with current page selection and override when hovering other tabs.

A totally new method of producing a dropdown menu with variable width and NO hacks of any kind, just html and css.

A follow on from the dropdown menu this one is a dropline with variable width and NO hacks of any kind, just html and css.

To complete the set of inline menus this is the flyout version with variable width and NO hacks of any kind, just html and css.

A flyline / dropdown menu with CSS3 enhancements for browsers that support animation.

A slide out menu with CSS3 enhancements for browsers that support animation.

A dropline menu with an overrun area and CSS3 enhancements.

Continuing with the 'click' series to demonstrate a dropline menu with a click action instead of the normal hover.

Using CSS3 to produce a click action dropline menu with multiple levels.

Using CSS3 keyframes to animate a headline changer. Degrades well in browsers that do not support keyframes

Using :target to produce a click open/close dropline menu.

Using css3 transitons to animate a dropline/dropdown menu with 'current' page options.

A click action dropline menu with persist and accessibility.

A dropline menu that works on touch screen devices including Android OS and has animation.

A responsive swipe action inline gallery with swipe action for all modern browsers and OS.

An update to the Swipe Me Inline slideshow to add extra fuctions and simplify usage.

You can now purchase the electronic edition of Complete Digital Photography in PDF, ePub (Apple, some e-readers), Kindle azw3, and Mobipocket versions. When you buy the ebook in our store — currently on sale for $25 — we include download links for all four book formats. Choose the version that applies to your desired device, and […]

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Prior to the existence of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), Forest Service district rangers had considerable latitude to make resource management decisions and execute management plans with relatively little encumbrance by documentation and process requirements.

Hey Divi Nation! Thanks for joining us for the next installment of our weekly Divi Design Initiative where each week, we give away brand new freebies. This Monday, we shared a brand new Winery Layout Pack. To help you get your website up and running as soon as possible, we’re sharing a brand new blog […]

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In the mid-1990s, forest managers on the Malheur National Forest were concerned about their prescribed fire program. Although they have only a few weeks of acceptable conditions available in the spring and fall, they were worried that spring-season prescribed burning might be exacerbating black stain root disease and having negative effects on understory plants.

New equipment, technology, and marketing efforts have allowed Alaska's wood products producers to consider opportunities previously unavailable to them. Until recently, the primary product produced by Alaska firms was rough, unseasoned lumber sold primarily within local markets. Given the purchase and installation of new drying and planing equipment, Alaska producers can now enter domestic and export markets for a variety of secondary wood products. Previously underutilized species, such as red alder (Alnus rubra Bong.), paper birch (Betula papyrifera Marsh.), and Alaska yellow-cedar (Chamaecyparis nootkatensis (D. Don) Spach) are also gaining in popularity and market potential. A detailed knowledge of species preferences for Alaska lumber, across business types and geographic regions, will be essential if Alaska producers are to be competitive.

The distribution of a forest decline of yellow-cedar (Callitropsis nootkatensis (D. Don) Orsted) has been documented in southeast Alaska, but its occurrence in British Columbia was previously unknown. We conducted an aerial survey in the Prince Rupert area in September 2004 to determine if yellow-cedar forests in the North Coast Forest District of British Columbia were experiencing a similar fate as in nearby Alaska. Numerous large areas of concentrated yellow-cedar mortality were found, extending the known distribution of the decline problem 150 km south of the Alaska-British Columbia border. The forests with the most concentrated tree death occurred at 300 to 400 m elevation, frequently on south aspects. The appearance of these forests including proximity to bogs; mixtures of dying, recently killed, and long-dead trees; and crown and bole symptoms of dying trees were all consistent with the phenomenon in southeast Alaska.

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.

Two series of single and stereo photographs display a range of natural conditions and fuel loadings in sagebrush with grass and ponderosa pinejuniper types in central Montana. Each group of photos includes inventory information summarizing vegetation composition, structure, and loading; woody material loading and density by size class; forest floor depth and loading; and various site characteristics. The natural fuels photo series is designed to help land managers appraise fuel and vegetation conditions in natural settings.

Lichens are highly valued ecological indicators known for their sensitivity to a wide variety of environmental stressors like air quality and climate change. This report summarizes baseline results from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) Lichen Community Indicator covering the first full cycle of data collection (1998-2001, 2003) for Washington, Oregon, and California. During this period, FIA conducted 972 surveys of epiphytic macrolichen communities for monitoring both spatial and long-term temporal trends in forest health. Major research findings are presented with emphasis on lichen biodiversity as well as bioindication of air quality and climate. Considerable effort is devoted to mapping geographic patterns and defining lichen indicator species suitable for estimating air quality and climate.

Whitebark pine is a critical component of subalpine ecosystems in western North America, where it contributes to biodiversity and ecosystem function and in some communities is considered a keystone species. Whitebark pine is undergoing rangewide population declines attributed to the combined effects of mountain pine beetle, white pine blister rust, and fire suppression. The restoration and maintenance of whitebark pine populations require an understanding of all aspects of seed fate. In this paper, we review the literature on seed dispersal in whitebark pine. Clark's nutcracker, pine squirrels, and scatter-hoarding rodents are all known to influence whitebark pine seed fate and ultimately affect the ability of whitebark pine populations to regenerate. We also provide a general overview of the natural histories of the most influential species involved with whitebark pine seed fate: Clark's nutcracker and the pine squirrel.

We describe a protocol to monitor the effectiveness of the Tongass Land Management Plan (TLMP) management standards for maintaining fish habitat. The protocol uses juvenile coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) in small tributary streams in forested watersheds. We used a 3-year pilot study to develop detailed methods to estimate juvenile salmonid populations, measure habitat, and quantitatively determine trends in juvenile coho salmon abundance over 10 years. Coho salmon have been shown to be sensitive to habitat alterations, and we use coho salmon parr as the primary indicator in the protocol. A priori criteria for type I and type II error rates, effect size, and sample sizes for the protocol were derived with estimates of variance computed from the 3-year pilot study. The protocol is designed to detect trends in abundance of coho salmon parr, as well as coho salmon fry and Dolly Varden (Salvelinus malma), in small streams managed according to TLMP standards and guidelines and to compare these to trends in unmanaged (old-growth) watersheds. Trends are adjusted to account for statistically significant habitat covariates. This information provides an important element in monitoring land management practices in the Tongass National Forest. The methods we describe may have application to monitoring protocols elsewhere for fish populations and land management practices.

The HCR (Harvest Cost-Revenue) Estimator is engineering and financial analysis software used to evaluate stand-level financial thresholds for harvesting smalldiameter ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa Dougl. ex Laws.) in the Southwest United States. The Windows-based program helps contractors and planners to identify costs associated with tree selection, residual handling, transportation of raw materials, and equipment used. Costs are compared against total financial return for regionally based market opportunities to arrive at potential net profit. Information is used to identify per-acre cost thresholds, for contract appraisal, and for prioritizing project planning for wildfire fuel reduction treatments and forest restoration efforts.

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.

None of several types of chemotherapeutants applied before inoculation (antibiotics, metallic salts, systemic fungicides) prevented infection of sugar pine seedlings by white pine blister rust. DMSO (dimethyl sulfoxide) did not enhance the action of any material with which it was applied.

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.

This report addresses the need for developing consistent regional guidelines for stand-level management that integrates goals and objectives for dry forest restoration and habitat management for the northern spotted owl.

This guide presents a classification of the deep canyon and subalpine riparian and wetland vegetation types of the Malheur, Umatilla, and Wallowa-Whitman National Forests. A primary goal of the deep canyon and subalpine riparian and wetland classification was a seamless linkage with the midmontane northeastern Oregon riparian and wetland classification provided by Crowe and Clausnitzer in 1997. The classification is based on potential natural vegetation and follows directly from the plant association concept for riparian zones. The 95 vegetation types classified across the three national forests were organized into 16 vegetation series, and included some 45 vegetation types not previously classified for northeastern Oregon subalpine and deep canyon riparian and wetland environments. The riparian and wetland vegetation types developed for this guide were compared floristically and environmentally to riparian and wetland classifications in neighboring geographic regions. For each vegetation type, a section was included describing the occurrence#40;s#41; of the same or floristically similar vegetation types found in riparian and wetland classifications developed for neighboring geographic regions. Lastly, this guide was designed to be used in conjunction with the midmontane guide to provide a comprehensive look at the riparian and wetland vegetation of northeastern Oregon.

Study objectives were to evaluate yearly fluctuations in herbage canopy cover and production to aid in defining characteristics of range condition guides. Sites are located in the forested Blue Mountains of central Oregon. They were selected from those used to develop range condition guides where soil, topographic, and vegetation parameters were measured as a characterization of best range condition. Plant community dominants were ponderosa pine/pinegrass, ponderosa pine/bitterbrush/Idaho fescue savanna, low sagebrush/bluebunch wheatgrass, and rigid sagebrush scabland. None of the sites were grazed during the previous 30 years or during the 27-year study. Each location was permanently marked by fence posts, and a meter board was placed 10 m down an established transect line. Photographs (color slides) were taken down the transect with closeups left and right of the meter board. Sampling was limited to August 1-4 each year when canopy cover and herbage production were determined. Both total canopy cover and herbage production varied by about a 2.4-fold difference on each site over the 27 years. Apparently "good range condition" may be something of a "running target" and lacks a well-defined set of parameters. Canopy cover is a poor parameter for characterizing range condition. Three of the four plant communities were dominated by bunchgrasses. Abundance of seedheads is commonly used to indicate good range health. But on these sites, seedheads were not produced about half the time. Because these sites were in "good range condition," lack of seedhead production may indicate maximum competition in the community. Maximum competition and maximum vigor do not seem to be synonymous. These bunchgrass communities varied in their greenness on the first of August each year from cured brown to rather vibrant green suggesting important annual differences in phenology. The pinegrass community, being dominated by rhizomatous species, showed surprising variance in seedhead production. Pinegrass did not flower, but Wheeler's bluegrass, lupine, and Scouler's woolyweed were quite variable, averaging inflorescences only 75 percent of the time.

In dry, open coniferous forests of the montane West, stand-replacing wildfires and land use activities alter the composition and abundance of native grasses and forbs by degrading the habitat and accelerating the invasion of exotic annuals. On these lands, native forbs and grasses delayed or prevented from recovery by natural processes may require intervention through supplementary seeding. However, effective seeding of native plants requires that their seed traits and the potential outcome of the seeding be better understood.

Reports suggest that Cheryl is pushing for Girls Aloud to get back together after The Greatest Dancer was axed by the BBC