Forest Management

The U.S. Forest Service has historically faced demands that exceed its budget and workforce capacity. And now, looming congressional budget cuts are only putting a finer point on this. That likely means looking for creative solutions for maintaining these public lands, which is nothing new for the third largest forest in the lower 48 – the Bridger-Teton. They’ve worked closely with a nonprofit to fill in some critical gaps. It’s a relatively novel concept in the forest world.

The Forest Service has put out a draft environmental impact statement on its proposed national old growth forest plan amendment, starting a 90-day public comment period.

The federal government recently proposed changes to the way it manages forestlands – a plan that would elevate conservation of old and mature forests facing increasing threats.

The Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program is a bipartisan, 2009 policy that has funded restoration projects across the country, including a number in our region. A new report finds that the vast majority have included efforts to preserve mature and old growth forests. Some environmental groups say it could serve as inspiration for a 2022 Biden administration executive order to mitigate threats to such forests, which support critical ecological processes.

A new report says forests managed by tribal communities are extremely underfunded. And that’s affecting lands that tribes in the Mountain West and beyond rely on for economic, social and cultural resources.

Gov. Mark Gordon named Kelly Norris the new Wyoming State Forester last month, taking over from Bill Crapser. In addition to being the first female state forester, she’s planning for the future of the state’s forests amid changes in the environment and strengthening partnership with the federal and local governments.

Last month, a new Wyoming State Forester was selected by Governor Mark Gordon to fill the vacancy left by longtime state forester Bill Crapser. Wyoming Public Radio’s Hugh Cook spoke with Kelly Norris about the state of Wyoming’s forests, her plans for the agency to focus on, and being the first woman to fill the position.

The federal government is allocating almost a billion dollars to 10 Western states to help with wildfire mitigation, and notably, Wyoming is left out. Some state lawmakers and officials say Wyoming should have been included.

Jed Meunier, a research scientist with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, is presenting the lecture “Fire, Climate Change & Forest Resilience in Sub-boreal Forests," which examines fire ecology in northern sub-boreal forests and makes comparisons to the West, boreal, and other forests regarding global climate change regulation and forest management. It's part of the college's 2022 Museum of Discovery Science Lecture series.

University of Arizona researchers forced a drought on a controlled rainforest environment to measure the scented gasses released by stressed plants. Their results could help scientists "sniff out" when forests are in distress.