forestry

Perched at the edge of the Great Basin, the city of Susanville, California, has experienced high winds, heavy snowfalls, and wildfires that disrupt power supplied on the regular grid. Fortunately, the city’s 20,000 residents, as well as those in surrounding rural communities, aren’t left in the dark for long.

When we think of a renewable resource, the first thing that usually pops in our head are the solar panels on our neighbor’s roof or perhaps the water that flows from the mountains. Rarely does a stand of trees root in our idea of a renewable resource.

Nestled in a small cutout of the Green Mountain National Forest in Vermont is a town named Lincoln. The very epitome of a small town, Lincoln, is home to around 1,200 people, depending on the season. It’s far enough off the highway that during the winter months, there’s limited traffic coming into town.

There are so many beautiful songs and poems written about autumn. And images! Amazing Fall Colors Flickr pictures and Forest Service YouTube videos of trees and flowers aglow with brilliant reds, yellows and oranges among the many iridescent shades of the color spectrum—see what I mean! Fall just brings out the poets in us.

José (Tato) Roig’s farm has been producing coffee since 1978 and has become one of the most successful farms in Puerto Rico’s Coffee Zone. However, Hurricane Maria inflicted severe damage on his crops, as well as those of many other coffee growers.

Having learned about recent fires in the Amazon rainforest at school, my first grader came home with a head full of ideas on how to protect what many call the lungs of the Earth—and all the animals that live there: a bake sale.

When it comes to ridding the earth of pollution leaking from dumps, closed landfills, and other waste sites, specific types of trees are quietly and efficiently absorbing the toxins.

Wildfires can negatively impact communities, as the past few years illustrate. However, many communities are surrounded by ecosystems where fire has always been a natural part of the landscape. These negative impacts can be reduced by returning fire to its natural role on the landscape, and the Forest Service uses prescribed fire to protect communities and improve landscape resilience.

If birthday parties were rated, the events surrounding Smokey Bear’s big day would easily earn five stars or diamonds since it is his 75^th. From California to Maine, states held celebrations in recognition of the USDA Forest Service’s fire prevention message “bearer” and his famous line, “Only You Can Prevent Wildfires.”

Extreme climate events can be devastating. However, some of their effects can be transformed into opportunities.