#USDA Forest Service

[sitting-on-me-bum]

The Appalachian grizzled skipper sounds tough because it is. This rare butterfly species occurs in south-facing shale barrens and ridges, which can be some of the hottest and driest habitats in the Northeast.

Photo by USDA Forest Service

[intlforestday]

PROVISIONAL PROGRAMME - Celebration of the International Day of Forests 2024.

On March 21st, from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm, at the United Nations Trusteeship Council chamber, New York;

- OPENING SESSION - Opening remarks: Ms. Juliette Biao, Director, UN Forum on Forests Secretariat  H.E. Ambassador Paula Narváez, President of the UN Economic and Social Council  H.E. Ambassador Zéphyrin Maniratanga, Chair of the UNFF19 Bureau  Mr. Li Junhua, Under-Secretary-General, DESA - PANEL SESSION - Chair: Ms. Leticia Zamora Zumbado, Vice-Chair of the UNFF19 Bureau  Mr. QU Guangzhou, Director, FAO Liaison Office, New York  Speaker tba, USDA Forest Service  Ms. Anna Rathmann, Executive Director, Jane Goodall Institute  Speaker tba, International Forestry Students’ Association  Mr. Derek Nighbor, President and CEO of the Forest Products Association of Canada  Mr. José Carlos da Fonseca, Executive Director, The Brazilian Tree Industry (Ibá)  Mr. Kai Lintunen, Head of International Communication, Finnish Forest Association - GENERAL DISCUSSION- Chair: Mr. Javad Momeni, Vice-Chair of the UNFF19 Bureau Statements by Member States, UN entities and other accredited IGOs and Major Groups FOREST VIDEO SHOWCASE Short films from FAO and the 2024 World Wildlife Day Film Showcase (CITES and Jackson Wild)  Forests and innovation – new solutions for a better world  How Old Cell Phones Are Protecting the Rainforest  This New AI Forensic Tool is Fighting Illegal Logging  NASA Joins Jane Goodall to Conserve Chimp Habitats

United Nations Forum on Forests, UNDESA on the International Day of Forests 2024.

[stone-cold-groove]

Remember - only you can prevent forest fires!

[vintagecamping]

USDA Forest Rangers stop for lunch.

Oregon

1969

[plethoraworldatlas]

The Bureau of Land Management recently announced that it will no longer allow the use of “cyanide bombs” on its lands. The M-44 devices are often used to protect livestock from animals like foxes or coyotes.

Several environmental groups lauded the decision, saying it makes public spaces safer for people and animals.

“Cyanide bombs” are baited, spring-loaded traps that release deadly poison into the air when triggered. Wildlife agents – often from the U.S. Department of Agriculture – usually set them to control predators, especially in remote areas.

M-44s killed more than 5,000 animals last year, according to the USDA, and were deployed in 10 states, including Wyoming, New Mexico, Colorado and Nevada.

Colette Adkins, Carnivore Conservation program director at the Center for Biological Diversity, said the devices are dangerous because of their indiscriminate nature.

“Anything that tugs on the spring-loaded device will be sprayed with this deadly poison, whether it's a kid, an endangered species or a target animal like a coyote. They really are just too dangerous to be used in public places,” she said.

This issue made national headlines in 2017 when a “cyanide bomb” killed a family pet and injured a boy in Idaho. Since then, several groups have been petitioning to end the use of M-44s on public lands.

With the BLM’s move, the devices are now banned from all lands administered by the U.S. Interior Department. Still, M-44s are allowed on U.S. Forest Service lands and in some states.

[aigle-suisse]

Salt River Dance par Jeff Goldberg

[epoxyconfetti]

Been loving the urban forestry webinars at the USDA website. Wednesday, 1/10/2024, 1 – 2:15pm EST

[archivedotorgfan]

images of hands working by the usda forest service & forest health protection, 1970s.

[herpsandbirds]

Active Periodical Cicada Broods of the United States

Andrew M. Liebhold, Michael J. Bohne, and Rebecca L. Lilja

USDA Forest Service Northern Research Station and Northeastern Area State & Private Forestry (May 2013)

via: Wayback Machine (archive.org)

[rebeccathenaturalist]

Good. These things are horrifying for a whole host of reasons. First, it's mind-boggling that the USDA kills as much native wildlife as they do; last year's report showed that they killed over 56,000 (no that's not a typo) coyotes intentionally, over 5,000 of which died via cyanide M-44s. The report lists hundreds of other species, many native, intentionally killed by the USDA, plus a number that were unintentionally killed as well, for a total of 383,731 native wild animals killed by the USDA in 2022.

But M-44s also don't discriminate. Any animal that disturbs one--a pet, livestock, an endangered animal, or a human being--can get a deadly dose of cyanide. They're baited so that animals manipulate them with their mouths, meaning they literally get a mouthful of cyanide.

While the US Forest Service still uses M-44s, they will no longer be used on any Department of the Interior land. Here's hoping the Forest Service will follow suit.

[bearpoll2023]

[botanyshitposts]

just wanted to say that some months ago i went on a bit of a "mental illness tangent" and wrote down every single native species to my county, including its light and water needs. may or may not have been spurred on by some topic you mentioned...

one side effect i learned with that is that apparently i live in like. the ONE area of the us that doesn't really use fire much as a part of it's ecosystem, once you're inland beyond the pine barrens on the coast, obvs. kinda funny idk. like you have a whole continent that has large fire use in varying ways, and then in little old new england in the old mountains where apparently fire has not been present in 8000 years from research from sediments.

hi! just want you to know that this is both academic and political direct action in my mind and i think every community should have at least one person who knows what local Guys are supposed to be there and what they need.

next step would be to go see which ones you can actually find in remnant forests and stuff. if any dudes are missing it's an active cause for concern and you can start the process of finding Whoever In Local Government Is In Charge Of That, and you would be surprised to know that usually there is at least one person who's like, kind of supposed to be in charge of it but nobody pays attention to plants so it slipped under the radar, etc. or if you want to do more research first or want to know where to look you can go try to see when it was last actually spotted, because from my experience a lot of old sources from like, 1802 just get grandfathered in to modern records and you realize nobody's actually checked to see if these things are still there lately.

to check your own work against, plants.usda.gov has an online database that in theory is an up-to-date record of all plants in every state in the country-- notice that i say every state, because not all states specify sightings or populations by county, which is unhelpful for actually going out and seeing them near you. on a state-by-state basis, some states have their own databases which narrow it down to county, and then from there you can see which sources they cite and check to see how old they are. note that the usda cites the flora of north america as their primary source for the species ive personally come across, which is good because the flora of north america is crowd-funded, organized, written, and published by actual academics in the botanical community who go searching for these things and they have names and email addresses you can use to contact them, plus the completed families are free to access online on their website. because of the amount of people retiring with no replacement, however, it's still good to follow up.

im...nebulous on my understanding of who is supposed to be checking up on these guys in the government. either the USDA or the fish and wildlife service is the arm that's supposed to be regulating plants listed as endangered in your area, or at least enforcing poaching laws, and if it's something high profile they probably do, but then you look at the endangered species list in your state and see a guy you know hasn't been seen in quite some time and you have to wonder where they're getting their data, if they're doing their own internal surveys, if you can even access that kind of information because of the need to be careful around disclosing the locations of endangered plants, if this local Guy has actually genuinely slipped through the cracks of bureaucracy and has lost whatever fractionally small area of land it used to have in your county/surrounding county/state, if anybody is even paying attention, etc. it seems like your best bet comes down to contacting the one other person whos super into them

and then you go on inaturalist to see if anyone else has seen it and nobody has and anyway thats how you go insane

[grubloved]

the public comment period for the deregulation of the darling 58 chestnut tree has been extended until january 26th, 2023. american chestnut trees were at one point essential and common to forested ecosystems across the eastern american seaboard but were wiped out by fungal infections brought from the old world. the darling 58 chestnut tree is a genetically modified version of the american chestnut, with one gene inserted from wheat that gives the tree the ability to create an enzyme that breaks down the toxin secreted by this fungus, allowing the tree to survive. this is the first instance of genetic modification being used for ecological restoration instead of agriculture! it needs to be approved by the FDA to be allowed into distribution.

[rjzimmerman]

Excerpt from this press release from the Department of the Interior:

Today, the Departments of the Interior, Agriculture, and Commerce released a report outlining recommendations to enhance community-led economic development by creating jobs in the sustainable forest product sector and outdoor recreation while supporting healthy, resilient forests. This report was developed in response to climate change impacts, workforce and housing shortages, and barriers to intergovernmental coordination in rural forest-dependent communities and builds on President Biden’s Executive Order on Strengthening the Nation’s Forests, Communities, and Local Economies (E.O. 14072), which he signed on Earth Day 2022.  

The report’s release comes during Climate Week, as the Biden-Harris administration continues demonstrating its commitment to addressing the climate crisis. 

America’s forests provide millions of jobs and underpin local economies, particularly in rural communities. The Biden-Harris administration is mobilizing historic resources to help these forests and communities thrive. Through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, Inflation Reduction Act, and Great American Outdoors Act—in addition to annual appropriations—the Administration is providing historic funding for wildfire risk reduction, innovative forest products that create jobs, restoration and forest management to help our forests better withstand extreme weather events, outdoor recreation investments such as campgrounds, and research and development programs. The Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Land Management’s 21st Century Blueprint for Outdoor Recreation, USDA Forest Service’s Reimagine Recreation initiative and Department of Commerce’s U.S. Economic Development Administration’s Travel, Tourism and Outdoor Recreation program are also advancing public lands management and the outdoor recreation and tourism industries, for the benefit of current and future rural communities.  

Today’s report provides recommendations to further these efforts by encouraging greater collaboration among federal agencies to deliver the resources and services that rural, forest-dependent communities need and to foster economic resilience.

The report proposes fostering community resilience by better connecting communities with the many existing tools to navigate climate-based risks in a way that also builds sustainable economic development and healthy forest practices. In addition, coordination across the federal government and with partners can help communities tap into existing resources to pursue their economic development plans and address bottlenecks or barriers to delivering support.  

The report also emphasizes how forests benefit underserved communities, including Tribes, which are disproportionately affected by climate impacts. For example, the Interior Department and Forest Service's Equity Action Plans seeks to enhance Tribal co-stewardship and promote equitable access to cultural and recreational opportunities for all communities. 

[burnsoregonphotoblog]

1965. Spray helicopters. Burns Douglas-fir tussock moth control project. Oregon.

Credit: USDA Forest Service, Region 6, State and Private Forestry, Forest Health Protection. Collection: Region 6, Forest Health Protection historical files located at the Mt. Hood National Forest in Sandy, Oregon.

Image provided by USDA Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Region, State and Private Forestry, Forest Health Protection: www.fs.usda.gov/main/r6/forest-grasslandhealth

Note: "During the period of June 10 to July 1 , 1965, a total of 65,945 acres were sprayed with DDT for control of early-instar larvae (Perkins and Dolph 1967). Application was by helicopter and at the rate of 0. 75 pound DDT in 1 gallon of fuel oil formulation per acre. Because of public concern at this time about side effects of DDT in the environment, impact of the spray on other resources, including fish, water, soil, forage, and cattle, was evaluated by scientists working independently of the project (Crouch and Perkins 1968, Tarrant et al. 1972). In addition, a small test was made of two other candidate insecticides, Dursban, an organic phosphate, and Zectran, a carbamate." From: Wickman, B.E.; R.R. Mason; and C.G. Thompson. 1973. Major Outbreaks of the Douglas-fir Tussock Moth in Oregon and California. GTR-PNW-5. USDA Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Forest and Range Experiment Station. 18 p. www.fs.fed.us/pnw/pubs/pnw_gtr005.pdf

[sunflower-spirit]

September 1938, Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest - US Forest Service. Nymphs and dryads dance before the feast table. Still from motion picture “4,000 GIFTS FROM THE FOREST” (USDA Forest Service photo by Asahel Curtis)