The Future of Recreation on Public Lands: A Horizon Scan

Change is inevitable, but how can we prepare for dramatic, and potentially surprising, changes to come? Strategic foresight methods can help. A recent study of hundreds of signals of change related to recreation on public lands pointed to some changes managers see now, like declining snowfall and therefore winter sports. Others are surprising, like the speed at which passenger drones are being developed, leading to questions about infrastructure and noise management on public lands.

Text Mining Approach Used to Study How Changing Forests Affect Carbon Pools

Forest communities change over time and so does the amount of carbon being sequestered and stored in those forests. Linking forest communities to carbon cycling can improve knowledge about the feedbacks between forest dynamics and climate change.

Modeling Sheds Light on the Next 50 Years of Forest Management in the Eastern Region of the United States

The landscape level information habitat models deliver is only part of the bigger picture needed by land managers. A team of Northern Research Station scientists used text-mining to develop landscape level forest type classifications that better represent the habitat models. The scientists demonstrated the utility of the text-mining approach by mapping forest types of the eastern United States to evaluate potential changes in vegetation under future climate scenarios.

Optimizing Watercraft Inspections to Prevent Spread of Aquatic Invasive Species

Almost nothing symbolizes the Upper Midwest more than acres of pristine lakes and recreational pursuits they support. But burgeoning populations of aquatic invasive species (AIS), including zebra mussel and Eurasian watermilfoil, are putting this iconic landscape—and its associated ecosystems and economies—at risk. A new web-based program is helping to reduce the chance of infestation.

Exploring Social and Health Vulnerability around Prescribed Burns in National Forests

Few assessments of the health impacts of prescribed burning, and potential vulnerabilities among populations exposed to smoke from prescribed fires, have been conducted. Recently, three Northern Research Station scientists, with partners, completed a study of social and health vulnerability surrounding prescribed burns that occurred in the USDA Forest Service, National Forest System between 2010 and 2019.

New Tool Offers Early-warning System for Beleaguered Beech and Other Trees Threatened by Invasive Diseases

Non-native, invasive tree pathogens and insect pests continue to threaten forest sustainability across the world. A recent example is beech leaf disease, which severely affects American beech and is spreading rapidly across the eastern United States. In a study led by The Ohio State University, scientists at the Northern Research Station helped develop a tool to detect beech leaf disease even before symptoms appear.

Wildlife Adaptation Menu Supports Managers with Specific Strategies, Approaches for Real-world Application

A persistent obstacle to implementing climate adaptation has been that guidance for wildlife management and conservation tends to be generic or mismatched to the actual decision space and authority of most wildlife managers. The Wildlife Adaptation Menu addresses a longstanding need by delivering a comprehensive and structured catalog of adaptation actions for managing wildlife populations as well as wildlife habitat. The Wildlife Adaptation Menu has already been used on four national forests in the Eastern Region and by managers to launch dozens of real-world climate adaptation projects.

Study of Mercury and Sulfur Pollution in the Upper Great Lakes Region Informing Management and Policy

Human-derived mercury and sulfur in the Upper Great Lakes Region are important topics of discussion and research, particularly regarding the influence that elevated levels of these elements have on watershed pollution, public health, the mining industry, and wild rice production. The USDA Northern Research Station has been directed by the U.S. Congress to investigate the latest science, possible solutions and remediation technologies, and potential consequences that elevated levels of mercury and sulfur pose to communities – especially those that are at greatest risk, including Indigenous Peoples of the Upper Great Lakes Region. In 2021, the research team developed a science synthesis that includes a series of recommendations for research investments to answer questions for land managers and policymakers.

Heat Treatment Kills Most, but Not All, Wood Borers in Wood Packaging Material

Wood packaging material is a known vector of wood borer introductions into new regions. Scientists conducted studies to determine the effectiveness of current international heat treatment standards for killing wood boring insects. Study results demonstrated that most, but not all, borers were killed using current standards but may still pose some risk of harboring invasive wood borers.

Are U.S. Forests Becoming Increasingly Crowded?

Using a long-established theory of ecology called metabolic scaling, a Northern Research Station scientist and his partners examined the status and recent changes in tree density across all U.S. forests. They found that U.S. forests are becoming increasingly crowded, a fact that has implications for future tree mortality and forest resiliency in the face of global change.

Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea: Deer Browsing may Constrain Climate-smart Reforestation

A research team finds deer browsing may thwart the success of adaptive forestry practices designed to mitigate the growing threat to forests from climate change.

Risk Map for Goldspotted Oak Borer: A Productive Partnership Yields Practical Tool

Invasion by the goldspotted oak borer killed thousands of valuable oaks in southern California since the late 1990s. A Northern Research Station scientist and his partners developed a risk map to highlight where this insect might spread next. The risk map has become the backbone of survey and management efforts for the insect by the Cleveland, San Bernardino, and Los Padres National Forests to protect remaining oak trees.

How Much Carbon is in Tree Biomass?

Forest managers, scientists, and policy makers have long relied on the assumption that 50 percent of wood biomass in trees is carbon. In the United States, where there are an estimated 1.4 trillion trees, even small deviations in wood carbon fractions can have big implications on estimates of forest carbon stocks and stock changes.

Stewardship Mapping with National Forests to Support Equitable, Inclusive Partnerships

Across the country, National Forest managers are making strides in engaging new and strengthening existing partnerships. Northern Research Station scientists are working with National Forest staff in multiple states to apply the Stewardship Mapping and Assessment Project (STEW-MAP) approach on and around National Forest landscapes to understand the stewardship territories, social networks, and organization capacities of current and potential partners.

New Carbon Lookup Tables Inform Reforestation Efforts for 13 Forest Types and 8 Geographic Regions

Generalized regional estimates of forest carbon stocks are a useful tool when site-specific data are not available. Existing forest carbon lookup tables are based on naturally regenerated forests and may not be appropriate for use in planted stands. A Northern Research Station scientist was part of a team that developed general estimates of expected carbon storage for common reforestation scenarios, a tool that will be useful to a variety of land managers implementing nature-based solutions to climate change.

Redesigned Alien Forest Pest Explorer Delivers Fast Answers on Range of Invasive Insects and Host Species in U.S. Forests

Scientists with the Northern Research Station partnered with Purdue University to update the Forest Service’s Alien Forest Pest Explorer, creating a user-friendly dashboard that combines information from multiple sources to show the impact of different forest insects and diseases, and the potential for further damage. The Alien Forest Pest Explorer delivers science-based interactive data visualization tools that allow users to track the ranges of invasive forest pests, quantify trends in host tree species abundance, and compute increases in mortality caused by insect and disease invasions across the United States.

Housing Markets and Wood Products Beyond the Pandemic

As wood products companies move past the pandemic, new challenges await. Supply chain disruptions and improved demand have caused woodworking manufacturers to seek out new investments in production and procurement capabilities. How is the industry faring in this unique business environment?

Combining Habitat Attributes and FIA Data Yields the “Hole” Story on Wood Duck Nesting Sites

Informing wildlife habitat conservation just became a little easier, thanks to new methods for combining local research with the Forest Service Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) Program’s vast database of forest metrics. A Northern Research Station scientist and his partners developed a novel approach to helping the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources better understand potential wood duck habitat in Northern Minnesota.

Long-term Study Shows Silviculture Pays More than Exploitive Harvesting

Harvesting only the most valuable trees from a forest stand might seem financially attractive due to the potential to generate large financial returns in the short term, but research at the Penobscot Experimental Forest shows that this approach costs landowners money in the long run.