Category: Environment and People

The importance of Indigenous gathering practices

by Mei Geller, Science Communication Intern  • 
To the untrained eye, an old field may be unremarkable. At best it can be a place to spot wildlife, but few would consider it to have any importance to daily life. However, for the Mi’kmaq and Wolastoqiyik communities in Maine and New Brunswick, old fields are one of numerous habitats where plants are gathered…  More 

Diversity among foresters

by Sam Lambert, SRS Forest Inventory and Analysis  • 
Currently, the USDA Forest Service operates 24 Job Corps Civilian Conservation Centers all over the country—with 11 in the South—to provide training and education for young people. The Job Corps mission is to help young people ages 16 through 24 improve their lives through vocational and academic training aimed at gainful employment and career pathways.…  More 

Wilderness areas: Uses, benefits, and stewardship

by Laurel Haavik, technical writer-editor  • 
  In honor of the 50th anniversary of the Wilderness Act, Forest Service scientists, managers, and partners have published a new report that describes the benefits wilderness areas provide and proposes stewardship strategies for them. Wilderness areas are protected at a higher level than all other federally managed lands. They have expanded greatly since their…  More 

The journey of a special spruce: From the mountains to the U.S. Capitol

by Preston Durham, SRS forester  • 
Is that a Carolina Northern Flying Squirrel? No, It’s just a USDA Forest Service tree climber at the top of 70-foot-tall red spruce. In July, I climbed candidate Capitol Christmas trees in the National Forests in North Carolina with my colleagues Andy Whittier and Paul Valento of Superior National Forest. Every year a national forest…  More 

Get Black Outside Events Connect People of Color with the Outdoors

by Rebecca Robbins, Southern Region Public Affairs Specialist  • 
In 2019, data collected from National Park Service, USDA Forest Service, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service surveys found that 88 to 95 percent of all visitors to public lands are white. The national non-profit collaborative Get Black Outside is partnering with the Forest Service to change that statistic. Four Forest Service units recently joined…  More 

Wildfire Recovery Hot Moments

by Kim Crider, SRS Science Communications  • 
Disasters can be catalysts for change. As wildfires become more common, an emerging objective is to make communities fire-adapted, where ecological benefits of fire can be realized while minimizing threats to life and property. Yet questions remain as to when and how such community change takes place. Recent research by Ronald Schumann of University of…  More 

Research Partnerships with Native American Communities

by Sarah Farmer, SRS Science Communications  • 
“The Southern Research Station is working with a number of Native American tribes to promote forest ecosystem restoration and sustainability,” says Monica Schwalbach, USDA Forest Service assistant director. The projects focus on sustainability of botanical species that are important to indigenous communities. SRS researcher Michelle Baumflek is the science lead for many of these projects,…  More 

Significant Trees of the Eastern Cherokee

by John Schelhas, Research Forester, Southern Research Station  • 
A partnership between the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI) and the USDA Forest Service Southern Research Station has led to the development of a new educational module for Cherokee youth. The module is centered on seven significant trees of the Eastern Cherokee and connects these trees to Cherokee culture and forest management. The tree…  More 

Climate Change, Streamflow, and Social Vulnerability: Locating Increased Risks

by Jennifer Moore Myers, SRS Science Communications  • 
What happens when climate change or urbanization increases the frequency or severity of floods? How well can different downstream communities prepare for and respond to those catastrophic events? USDA Forest Service scientists and approached these questions in a new way. They developed a risk matrix that pairs the likelihood of high streamflow events – which…  More 

Highlighting Heirs’ Property Ownership and Land Loss

by Teresa Jackson, SRS Public Affairs  • 
A USDA Forest Service publication on heirs’ property ownership across the southern U.S. highlights a kind of land ownership prevalent among lower wealth, African Americans in the Black Belt South, central Appalachian whites, and Hispanic Americans in U.S. southwest colonia communities. A meeting co-hosted by the Southern Research Station and the Federal Reserve Bank of…  More