forestry

Despite frigid temperatures and snow-packed and icy roads, nearly 200 Nebraskans brought their ideas and solutions to the Nebraska Forum on Rural Jobs and Small Business Credit on Friday, January 8.

The Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest new Supervisor's Office in Rhinelander, Wisc., was re-engineered with "green" features. The use of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding helped complete its restoration.  Here students from the USDA Forest Service’s Blackwell Job Corps Center help with the restoration on this 3 year project.

As we approach the end of the year, millions of Americans are counting their blessings and many are bringing Christmas trees into their homes to celebrate the season.  At USDA, the Forest Service helps with the nation’s holiday traditions by providing a tree to be displayed as the Capitol Christmas Tree.  This year’s tree, a 65-feet tall Blue spruce, will be will be officially lit today at 5:00 PM EST by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Kaitlyn Ferenick, a 7th grade student from Arizona.

Earlier this year, the President launched the SAVE Award - a program that offers every federal employee to chance to submit their ideas for how government can save money and perform better.  In just a few weeks, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) received over 38,000 submissions, many of which will be implemented in the coming months.  Now for a twist, the “final four” SAVE Award ideas were selected as finalists and will be voted on beginning today.  Voting is open to federal employees as well as the general public. Watch President Obama's open call for votes here.

All too often Americans hear about wildland fires ravaging various corners of the country. Each and every day there are brave men and women working to suppress and prevent wildland fires on a nearly 700 million acres of federal public land – that’s approximately one-fifth of the total land area in the U.S.

This week, the U.S. Forest Service celebrates the 65th birthday of one of its most prolific workers -- Smokey Bear. This afternoon in the Whitten Federal Building, area children and the public joined the agency for Smokey's official birthday celebration, where Forest Service officials had nothing but praise for his work.

Welcome to the United States Department of Agriculture’s new blog, a place where visitors can get the latest news on the work we are doing. Whether we are providing nutrition assistance, maintaining an appropriate safety net for America’s farmers and ranchers, mitigating effects of climate change, conserving our land, managing our forests, or assisting in the creation of renewable energy sources, USDA is an Every Day, Every Way department that touches the lives of every American, every day. So, we have a lot to report.