Powering Through
Roseburg, Ore – Phil Bigler, the chief operating officer at Douglas Electric Cooperative, embodies the multifaceted role required to keep the lights on in rural America. From strategic planning and managing cybersecurity to hands-on tasks like unloading freight trucks and delivering pizza to linemen during outages, his commitment runs deep. Raised on tales of courageous linemen battling storms to…
protection, community wildfire defense grants, Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, infrastructure
Producing opportunity
A sawmill — filled with rotating disks of jagged, cutting knives — may seem at odds with forest health. But those familiar with land management will tell you it’s part of the solution. A newly opened sawmill in Carson City, Nevada, will soon provide the means to support healthy forests, post-fire recovery efforts, and the local economy. “The truth is, the forest, it needs our help,” said…
trees, sawmills, Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, infrastructure
Sprucing up high-elevation forests
This landscape shows some of the extent of the damage to the Black Hollow site. Restoration crews are working to transplant seedlings to suitable areas within the fire scar to reduce nutrient runoff to the watershed below. (USDA Forest Service photo by Erika Reiter)
After the intense…
Bipartisan Infrastructure Law
Planting seeds of prevention
A custom seed mix created to reseed a fuel break on the Pine Valley Ranger District of the Dixie National Forest. (USDA Forest Service photo by Lindsey Winkel)
In a large climate-controlled warehouse in central Utah, hundreds of thousands of pounds of seed in white feed bags are stacked to…
Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, watershed, utah, seeds
Affording the fight
Cade Grismer, Eldorado Hot Shot, conducts mop up duties during the Caldor Fire on the Eldorado National Forest, California. (USDA Forest Service photo by Cecilio Ricardo)
Over the past few months, we have highlighted wildland firefighters who support the Forest Service mission to protect our…
firefighters, wildland firefighting, Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, firefighter pay
Affording the fight
“Although I know I will never be a rich man doing this job, I show up to work every day because I truly love what I do.” (USDA photo byFrank Monterrosa.)
This is the eleventh story in a series called Affording the Fight.Wildland firefighter Nicholas Brasher’s reasons for getting up every day…