Two Bald Eagles

From the U.S. Department of the Interior:

Here's a cool pic of two Bald Eagles staring each other down at Upper Mississippi Wildlife & Fish Refuge. Located in four states along the Mississippi River -- Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa and Illinois -- the refuge encompasses one of the largest blocks of floodplain habitat in the lower 48 states. Bordered by steep wooded bluffs that rise 100 to 600 feet above the river valley, the Mississippi River corridor and refuge offer scenic beauty and productive fish and wildlife habitat unmatched in the heart of America. Photo of a mature and juvenile Bald Eagle by Stan Bousson, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. — at Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife & Fish Refuge.

Forest Service Exceeds Ecological Restoration Goals

From USDA:

Posted by U.S. Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell, on December 19, 2014 at 1:00 PM

The Paisley Ranger District of the Fremont-Winema National Forest in Oregon worked with numerous partners to complete a large-scale multi-year restoration project that covered 15 miles of the Chewaucan River. The project included adding vegetation to eroding stream banks. (U.S. Forest Service)

I am proud to announce that we exceeded our ecological restoration goals for Fiscal Year 2014. This was no small feat.

A lot of great people across the U.S. Forest Service worked hard to make it a reality. We did substantial homework and planning, and then based on that we made strategic investments across all agency programs to help us create resilient forests, grasslands and watersheds while sustaining communities. This work reduced the wildland fire threats to communities and firefighters and minimized the risk of forest pests and climate change, while supporting American jobs and rural economies. That is a fantastic combination.

The results of this hard work are nothing short of amazing.  The projects we carried out lessened the threats to communities by reducing hazardous fuels on 1.7 million acres in the wildland urban interface, sustained or restored watershed conditions on 2.9 million acres and resulted in 2.8 billion board feet of timber volume sold. Impressively, we did all this despite simultaneously facing a government shutdown, as well as rising costs of fire-fighting that drain resources from our work across all program areas.

On a personal level, these accomplishments reflect how much members of our Forest Service community are committed to improving the forests and grasslands that have been entrusted to us by the American people. For these reasons, I could not be more proud of everyone who has come together to make restoration such a success in the past year.

The Paisley Ranger District of the Fremont-Winema National Forest in Oregon worked with numerous partners to complete a large-scale multi-year restoration project that covered 15 miles of the Chewaucan River. The project included adding vegetation to eroding stream banks. (U.S. Forest Service)

The Forest Service did not do all of the heavy lifting alone. We also leveraged our partnerships to help meet our ecological restoration goals. Conservation groups, the forest industry, local communities, sportsmen and others assisted with monitoring of resource conditions and project implementation as part of our “adaptive management” concept. Some of the diverse programs, tools and activities used in this endeavor include the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program, Stewardship Contracting Authority, Integrated Resource Restoration tools, and 2014 Farm Bill provisions.

Although our budgets are flat to declining, our employees are embracing landscape scale analysis and adding capacity through partnerships, volunteers and collaboration. This is not about “doing more with less,” it is about building capacity by increasing social advocacy for our mission.

Green Mountain and Finger Lakes national forests employees look over harvested trees as part of the agency’s Integrated Resource Project. The project process uses a team of interdisciplinary specialists who conduct analysis and set priorities at the landscape scale to identify a full suite of activities to help improve the watershed. (U.S. Forest Service)

We are positioned to accelerate efforts to restore the health of forests, grasslands and watersheds, while reducing wildland fire threats to communities in the coming year – and we’ll have some assistance in doing it. Bi-partisan legislation supports our call for a change in how wildfire suppression is funded. This would free up more funding to improve the resiliency of forests and rangelands across all landscapes.

America’s natural resources are integral to the social, ecological and economic well-being of the nation, and each of our employees play a vital role in the care of natural resources for current and future generations.

U.S. Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell

Our Forests and Climate Change

USDA Blog Post:

Posted by Robert Bonnie, Under Secretary of Agriculture for Natural Resources and the Environment and Anne Castle, Assistant Secretary for Water & Science at the Department of the Interior, on September 12, 2013 at 10:45 AM

Cross posted from the White House Council on Environmental Quality blog:

Americans know the importance of forests to our communities and our economy.  They provide jobs and recreational opportunities, filter our air and water, and make up essential habitat for wildlife and natural resources.  But increasingly, we’re also recognizing that forests play an important role in mitigating climate change.

Recently, President Obama announced a Climate Action Plan to reduce carbon pollution, prepare for the impacts of climate change on our communities and economy, and lead international efforts to combat global climate change. This plan recognizes that America’s forests play a critical role in addressing carbon pollution, absorbing as much as 14 percent of our country’s greenhouse gas emissions each year.  Over the last several decades, forest regrowth on former farm lands, reforestation, and maturing forests have kept our forest growth rates high, helping us absorb even more carbon.

At the same time, development of forest lands is reducing the amount of carbon we can absorb now and in the future.  Carbon pollution is also taking a toll on our forests – heat waves, wildfires, pests and drought are all worsened by climate change, reducing our forests’ ability to sequester carbon.

It is difficult to predict precisely how much these impacts will reduce the potential of our forests to combat climate change – but we do know that we must start now to find new ways to enhance forests’ ability to absorb carbon and become more resilient. As part of the President’s Climate Action Plan, the Administration is bringing Federal agencies together to tackle this challenge.  An interagency Task Force is working to provide more accurate and consistent annual updates of carbon fluxes from forests and other lands.  This will help us ensure that we have up-to-date information on how major disturbances like wildfires, as well as land development trends, impact the capacity of the nation’s forests to absorb carbon. It will also provide the tools we need to make more effective policy decisions, ensuring land managers are able to take into account the carbon sequestration value of our forests.   The Task Force is also developing new approaches to retain and restore our forests and other important landscapes like grasslands and wetlands.

This initiative will build on the significant work the Administration already has underway to ensure healthy, thriving forests. For example, the Department of Agriculture announced this year the creation of seven new regional hubs to provide research and timely information to farmers and forest landowners as we work together to combat climate change. This work will complement research by DOI Climate Science Centers, in areas such as evaluating management options, projecting forest conditions and carbon storage under climate change, evaluating the effects of changing rainfall and snow conditions, and studying the effects of changing forests on particular species and ecosystem services. This information is helping to inform restoration efforts undertaken by the Forest Service and its partners to make our forests more resilient. And DOI and USDA are working together with other Federal agencies, states, tribes, and private landowners to engage in historic, landscape scale conservation projects that will put critical ecosystems on a stronger footing for the future.

Climate change poses a tough new challenge for the forest ecosystems that provide so much for all Americans. Following President Obama’s lead, we’re getting ahead of the game – focusing on new partnerships, strengthening interagency collaboration, and ensuring that the best science is available as we take on climate change in the years to come.

Robert Bonnie is Under Secretary of Agriculture for Natural Resources and the Environment

Anne Castle is Assistant Secretary for Water & Science at the Department of the Interior

USDA Researchers Working Together to Conserve Our Nation's Resources

USDA Blog Post:

Posted by Tara T. Weaver-Missick, Chief, Information Products and Services Branch, USDA Agricultural Research Service, Information Staff, on September 11, 2013 at 1:30 PM

USDA researchers are working together to protect and conserve our beautiful nation and all of its majestic natural resources for generations to come.  As part of USDA’s Conservation Effects Assessment Project (CEAP), more than 60 USDA-Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists are working together to gain a better understanding of the role that agricultural conservation programs and practices play in achieving our nation’s environmental objectives of clean air and water, healthy soils and flourishing natural habitats.

USDA began the CEAP program in 2003 to study the environmental benefits of conservation practices implemented through 2002 Farm Bill programs.  As part of CEAP, ARS scientists are evaluating 14 watersheds across 12 ARS locations to provide the additional scientific basis for the CEAP National Assessment being led by USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service.  Those watersheds were selected in part to address specific concerns, like manure management on animal feeding operations, water use on irrigated cropland, drainage water management, wildlife habitat and riparian restoration. These watershed studies also should help develop performance measures for estimating soil, water and air quality, and perhaps other potential benefits for specific conservation practices.

ARS scientists have developed Web-based tools, databases and models to help farmers, ranchers, land managers, policy makers, other Federal agencies and experts more easily manage and evaluate information that can help them make more informed environmentally- and economically-based decisions that support our nation’s conservation efforts.

As a further extension of ARS’ conservation research efforts, in September 2012, ARS established the Long-Term Agro-ecosystem Research (LTAR) network, which includes 10 ARS sites and builds on existing ARS experimental watersheds—including  several that also contribute to the CEAP watersheds and rangelands efforts nationwide. The LTAR network addresses large-scale, multi-year research, environmental management and technology transfer related to the nation’s agricultural ecosystems in an assortment of different environments, at regional-to-continental scales.

What we do and how we do it has a lasting impact on our wildlife and their habitats, our water, land, air, and ultimately our planet’s health as a whole.  Information gleaned from programs like CEAP and LTAR will provide a stronger knowledge base on the true effects that agricultural, environmental and other practices have on our nation’s natural resources—helping us all to be better stewards and protectors of our world.

For a list and description of the watersheds in this study visit: http://www.ars.usda.gov/Research/docs.htm?docid=18645

For more information about USDA’s CEAP program visit: http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/main/national/technical/nra/ceap/

For more information about the LTAR network visit: http://www.ars.usda.gov/research/programs/programs.htm?np_code=211&docid=22480