U.S. Forest Service Research and Development celebrates a century of existence this year and while we don’t all get the opportunity to work directly with our researchers and scientists, we all benefit from their contributions.
We are extremely fortunate as an agency to have our own Research & Development branch. It has allowed us to not only develop the science that we need to do our jobs but also to apply it to our present and future initiatives. We are a science-based organization and many of the solutions to the challenges we face derive from the team’s work.
This is especially true with climate change. We are seeing the results of 20, maybe even 30, years of prior research by our scientists. Because of their efforts we are now well-positioned to understand what needs to be done in regards to managing our ecosystems to assure the successful adaptation of our nation’s forests, vegetation and grasslands.
Breakthroughs exist almost every day in the work they do, especially with the latest announcement that we may be close to providing a solution to address the white nose syndrome plaguing our bat populations.
The solutions our researchers discover not only apply when managing resources, but can also assist us in understanding the economics and, perhaps more importantly, the social side of our efforts. We have a tendency to think about research and development primarily as it relates to the biological and physical side of science but the economics and social science must not be overlooked.
I want to take this opportunity to thank all of our employees who contribute to the amazing research and innovations being done across the enterprise. It is through your contributions that we are able to move forward in fostering the mission of our agency. The work you do reaches us all. It shouldn’t be just one month of the year that that we focus on the great work being done, it should be every day.
Thank you for all that you do.
Tom Tidwell,
Chief, U.S. Forest Service