The discovery of a maroon Vauxhall Astra and a body by the A3 has become a Surrey urban legend

Creative Commons, Royalty-free, and General Public License (GPL) are types of licensing for images, graphics, and video. Designers, photographers, software developers, and content creators regularly access and use licensed media for a variety of projects. The question is, which license is best? Licensing gives users the ability to legally use a piece of media in […]

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Split Screen layouts are a great way to add design to your Divi website that is beautifully balanced and unconventional. With Divi’s new position options, we can create a split-screen layout design using two adjacent Divi sections. This opens the door for building even more unique split-screen layouts using the Divi Builder. In this tutorial, […]

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Knowing how to fan out images with Divi’s scroll effects can be a subtle and impressive design element to help promote an image gallery on a landing page. The idea is to engage users as they scroll down the page by fanning out images like a hand of playing cards. In this tutorial, we are […]

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October 2012—When you hear the word “ecosystem,” what comes to mind? A forest? A river, maybe? Well, how about a city? It turns out, the green spaces in our urban areas can offer a range of ecosystem services, just like forests and rivers. Station scientists are working to better understand cities as ecosystems and demonstrate how nearby nature provides important benefits and services. (4:19)

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.

A century of fire suppression has resulted in dense fuel loads within the dry pine forests of eastern Oregon . To alleviate the risk of stand-replacing wildfire, forest managers are using prescribed fire and thinning treatments. Until recently, the impact of these fuel treatments on soil productivity has been largely unknown. Such information is essential for making sound management decisions about the successful reintroduction of fire to the ecosystem to retain biodiversity of soil fungi and achieve the desired future condition of large ponderosa pines with low fuel loads. In a recent pair of studies, led by researchers at the PNW Forestry Sciences Laboratory in Corvallis, Oregon, novel molecular techniques were utilized to investigate the response of soil ecosystems to prescribed burning and thinning. The research compared impacts of the season of burn and various combinations of fuel-reducing treatments. Results suggest that overly severe fires can damage soil productivity and that less intense fires can be used to gradually reduce accumulations of fuel. The findings are currently being implemented in decisions about forest management and contribute important new information to the science.

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.

Public land managers are confronted with an ever-growing and diversifying set of demands for providing recreation opportunities. Coupled with a variety of trends (devolution of governance and decisionmaking, population growth, technological innovation, shifts in public values, economic restructuring) and reduced organizational capacity, these demands represent a significant and complex challenge to public land management. One way of dealing with this situation is to use a framework to assist in working through this complexity. A framework, for the purpose of this report, is a process using a set of steps, based on sound science, that assists managers in framing a particular problem, working through it, and arriving at a set of defendable decisions. Several such frameworks exist for providing recreation opportunities on public lands. These include the Recreation Opportunity Spectrum, Limits of Acceptable Change, Visitor Experience and Resource Protection, Visitor Impact Management, and Benefits-Based Management. The report traces the development of each of these frameworks, describes the fundamental premises and concepts used within them, and provides an assessment of the experience with their use. Each of the frameworks has been used with varying success, depending on the organization's will, its technical capacity, the extent to which the process is inclusive of varying value systems, how open and deliberative the process is, the extent to which the organization is concerned with effectiveness, and the extent to which issues are confronted at the systems level.

Estimates of national forest recreation use are available at the national, regional, and forest levels via the USDA Forest Service National Visitor Use Monitoring (NVUM) program. In some resource planning and management applications, analysts desire recreation use estimates for subforest areas within an individual national forest or for subforest areas that combine portions of several national forests. In this research note we have detailed two approaches whereby the NVUM sampling data may be used to estimate recreation use for a subforest area within a single national forest or for a subforest area combining portions of more than one national forest. The approaches differ in their data requirements, complexity, and assumptions. In the "new forest" approach, recreation use is estimated by using NVUM data obtained only from NVUM interview sites within the area of interest. In the "all-forest information" approach, recreation use is estimated by using sample data gathered on all portions of the national forest(s) that contain the area of interest.

This publication provides information about prescribed fire effects on habitats and populations of birds of the interior West and a synthesis of existing information on bird responses to fire across North America. Our literature synthesis indicated that aerial, ground, and bark insectivores favored recently burned habitats, whereas foliage gleaners preferred unburned habitats.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Four types of tree shelters were evaluated in southwestern Washington for their effects on seedling microenvironment and performance of two tree species. Shelter types were fine-mesh fabric shelters, solid-walled white shelters with and without vent holes, and solid-walled blue unvented shelters. Summer mean and daily maximum air temperatures were increased by 0.8 degrees C and 3.6 degrees C, respectively, in solid-walled tree shelters. Shelter color and shelter venting did not influence air temperatures. Tree shelters only affected vapor pressure deficit late in the growing season. Midday photosynthetically active radiation within shelters ranged from 54 percent of full sun in fine-mesh fabric shelters to 15 percent of full sun in blue solid-walled shelters. In the first year after planting, height and diameter growth of western redcedar (Thuja plicata Donn ex D. Don) were significantly increased by all shelter types, with blue solid-walled shelters resulting in the greatest height growth. However, in blue solid-walled shelters, photosynthesis and stem diameter growth of Oregon white oak (Quercus garryana Dougl. ex Hook.) seedlings were significantly less than for unsheltered seedlings.

The Fire and Fire Surrogate (FFS) project is a large long-term metastudy established to assess the effectiveness and ecological impacts of burning and fire "surrogates" such as cuttings and mechanical fuel treatments that are used instead of fire, or in combination with fire, to restore dry forests. One of the 13 national FFS sites is the Northeastern Cascades site at Mission Creek on the Okanogan- Wenatchee National Forest. The study area includes 12 forested stands that encompass a representative range of dry forest conditions in the northeastern Cascade Range. We describe site histories and environmental settings, experimental design, field methods, and quantify the pretreatment composition and structure of vegetation, fuels, soils and soil biota, entomology and pathology, birds, and small mammals that occurred during the 2000 and 2001 field seasons. We also describe the implementation of thinning treatments completed during 2003 and spring burning treatments done during 2004 and 2006.

Population growth in Oregon, Washington, and Alaska is expected to increase demand for outdoor recreation on public land. This trend will be tempered by changes in the sociodemographic composition of the population. Among sociodemographic characteristics, different ages and incomes correspond to different participation rates. Although older Americans are participating more, participation is still lower among this group for active pursuits. Hence, as the population ages, demand for passive activities may increase. Low-income people participate at a much lower rate than higher income people in outdoor recreation, and the growing disparity between the wealthy and poor may create inequities in opportunities for participation. State recreation planning documents for Oregon, Washington, and Alaska have identified this issue as a significant concern for recreation providers. Another important factor in recreation trends in the region is ethnicity: different ethnic groups participate in outdoor recreation at different rates, exhibit some different preferences for specific activities, and use recreation sites in different ways. In Alaska, the number of Asian/Pacific Islanders is expected to quadruple by 2025; in Oregon, the Hispanic population may triple by 2025; and in Washington, both these segments of the population may double.

Over half (56 percent) of America's forests are privately owned and managed and provide a vast array of public goods and services, such as clean water, timber, wildlife habitat, and recreational opportunities. These important public benefits are being affected by increased housing density in urban as well as rural areas across the country.

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.

Conservation of biodiversity serves a number of human needs, including maintenance of ecosystem services that are critical to the sustainability of all life. Effective biodiversity conservation will require better landowner incentives for restoration and protection of ecosystems. Many services produced from healthy, functioning landscapes are not well recognized in current conservation incentive structures, including sequestering or storing carbon in trees and soil, providing fish and wildlife habitat, filtering water, and reducing damages from natural disasters. Most existing incentive programs pay landowners to protect and restore a specific service rather than the suite of services produced from well-functioning ecosystems.

The Forest Inventory and Analysis program collected, analyzed, and summarized field data on 73 forested field plots on the islands of Kosrae, Chuuk, Pohnpei, and Yap in the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM).

Mule deer populations in central Oregon are in decline, largely because of habitat loss. Several factors are likely contributors. Encroaching juniper and invasive cheatgrass are replacing deer forage with high nutritional value, such as bitterbrush and sagebrush. Fire suppression and reduced timber harvests mean fewer acres of early successional forest, which also offer forage opportunities. Human development, including homes and roads, is another factor. It is this one that scientists with the Pacific Northwest Research Station and their collaborators investigated in a recent study.

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 guidebook describes major biological and physical attributes of the 243-ha(600-ac) North Fork Silver Creek Research Natural Area (RNA), Josephine County, Oregon.

The Integrated Landscape Assessment Project (ILAP) was a multiyear effort to produce information, maps, and models to help land managers, policymakers, and others conduct mid- to broad-scale (e.g., watersheds to states and larger areas) prioritization of land management actions, perform landscape assessments, and estimate cumulative effects of management actions for planning and other purposes.

This guidebook describes major biological and physical attributes of the 3531-ha (8,725-ac) Fish Creek Rim Research Natural Area located within the Northern Basin and Range ecoregion and managed by the Bureau of Land Management, Lakeview District (USDI BLM 2003).

Outdoor recreation is a central way that people interact with the natural environment. Federal land agencies are key providers of settings, facilities, and landscapes for recreation.

Natural resource professionals are often tasked with weighing the benefits and costs of changes in ecosystem services associated with land management alternatives and decisions. In many cases, federal regulations even require land managers and planners to account for these values explicitly. Outdoor recreation is a key ecosystem service provided by national forests and grasslands, and one of significant interest to the public. This report presents the most recent update of the Recreation Use Values Database, based on an exhaustive review of economic studies spanning 1958 to 2015 conducted in the United States and Canada, and provides the most up-to-date recreation economic values available. When combined with data pertaining to recreation activities and the quantity of recreation use, the recreation economic values can be used for estimating the economic benefits of outdoor recreation. The recreation economic value estimates provided in this report, whether from past research literature or from values constructed using our meta-analysis benefit function, are average consumer surplus per person per activity day.

The economic linkages between national forests and surrounding areas are one of the important ways public lands contribute to the well-being of private individuals and communities. One way national forests contribute to the economies of surrounding communities is by attracting recreation visitors who, as part of their trip, spend money in communities on the peripheries of national forests. We use survey data collected from visitors to all forest and grasslands in the National Forest System to estimate the average spending per trip of national forest recreation visitors engaged in various types of recreation trips and activities. Average spending of national forest visitors ranges from about $36 per party per trip for local residents on day trips to more than $740 per party per trip for visitors downhill skiing or snowboarding on national forest lands and staying overnight off forest in local areas. We report key parameters to complete economic contribution analysis for individual national forests and for the entire National Forest System.

Lidl was given permission at Wednesday's meeting of the planning committee to open a new supermarket in the Co-op Store on Parsons Drive in Ryton

Life Science Centre in Newcastle hosts challenging debate and here's how to join its online audience for free

The firm has responded to a complaint over the barriers at the Chillingham Road store

Being brought up in Newcastle holds many different memories for all of us and being a Geordie is something to be proud of.

Simon Cowell took the while at the Britain's Got Talent auditions by David isn't happy when crashes into another vehicle

Sunderland are looking for a new club secretary with Brett Baker moving on this summer

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