Forestry

In April 1986, the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine exploded and heavily contaminated nearly 40,000 square miles with radioisotopes. The contaminated area became known as the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone in Ukraine and the Polesie Radioecological Reserve in Belarus. Today, the site remains...

Mount St. Helens, in Washington State, erupted 40 years ago today. The largest landslide in recorded history filled valleys below with debris, and ash fell from the sky for weeks, blanketing the nearby area and affecting regions as far away as the Rocky Mountains. Within just two weeks, ash from the...

The idiom ‘be careful what you wish for’ is likely coming to roost for those of us who love to show off 193 million acres of national forests and grasslands.

The United Nations General Assembly proclaimed March 21 as the International Day of Forest in 2012. Since then, the USDA Forest Service and its partners worldwide commemorate the day by showcasing the vast wildlife supported by forests from around the world. The theme for 2020 is ‘Forest and...

Humans adores trees. But humans also migrate and trade, habits that led to the accidental introduction of insects and diseases that harm trees and alter the landscape. Examples are easy to find and may be outside your front door: American elms that once dotted streets across America succumbed to...

The USDA Forest Service has developed a new risk-assessment tool that helps scientists and decision makers manage natural resources and develop strategies that strengthen ecosystems.

p>Imagine that it’s 1936. The Great Depression is in its seventh year, more than 20% of Americans are unemployed, and in five years the country will enter the fray of World War II. Many Americans are left with little more than the comfort of friends, family and the great outdoors. And, if you are...

As wildfires, or “bushfires”, burn throughout Australia, the USDA Forest Service and U.S. Department of the Interior continue to deploy wildfire personnel to assist with fire suppression efforts. The two departments have sent more than 200 firefighters since November of 2019.

Hurricanes, typhoons and cyclones have caused devastating damage to nearly all of the American-Affiliated islands during the past few years. In 2017, Hurricanes Irma and Maria struck the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. Just a year later, Typhoons Yutu and Mangkhut hit Guam and the Northern...

In September 2017, Hurricane Maria, a deadly category 5 hurricane devastated Dominica, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. Amidst the devastation was the El Yunque National Forest, the only tropical rainforest among the USDA Forest Service’s 193 million acres. Reliably lush and green, the...