Welcome to Natural Resources

An important part of the Forest Service mission is "protecting and managing the national forests and grasslands so they best demonstrate the sustainable multiple-use management concept." In other words, the Forest Service is charged with managing natural resources in a way that best serves the multiple needs of a growing nation. The agency was established to ensure a renewable supply of timber and a steady source of clean water and minerals.

The Pacific Northwest Region of the US Forest Service provides timber for people, forage for cattle and wildlife, habitat for fish, plants, and animals, and some of the finest recreation lands in the country. The Forest Service does not "own" the natural resources. Instead, the agency serves as caretaker for the real owners, ... the people of the United States.

Pacific Northwest Natural Resources Links

• Botany - Information about Botany Programs in the Forests of Oregon and Washington. The basis for most programs is the Threatened Endangered and Sensitive Plant Program.
• Columbia River Basin (CRB) Anadromous and Resident Fish - In 1994, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service (FS) and the U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management (BLM) developed an ecosystem-based, aquatic habitat and riparian-area management strategy (commonly referred to as PACFISH) for Pacific salmon, steelhead, and sea-run cutthroat trout habitat on lands they administer.
• Forest Health Protection - Information about managing Forest insects & diseases and protecting the health of Forest ecosystems in the Pacific Northwest.
• Forest Products - Information, programs and forms used in implementing forest health maintenance, restoration, and improvement projects on the Nnational Forests in Oregon and Washington.
• Genetics - Seven geneticists and over 30 support personnel provide leadership, training, and expertise to incorporate sound genetic principles into the conservation and restoration of forest resources.
• Non-Native Invasive Plants - From rare plant bogs of the Olympic peninsula to the rugged forested rangelands of Hells Canyon, the "biological wildfire" of non-native invasive plants impacts ecosystems in every National Forest in the Pacific Northwest. A diverse group of Forest Service weed warriors—range specialists, botanists, hydrologists, biologists, and resource managers—are committed to preventing and controlling weed infestations, and recovering ecosystems. This website will take you to the key documents that describe, guide and implement our programs; nationally, regionally and locally.
• Pacific Northwest Fisheries Program - Information about Fish Resources, Environmental Education, Habitat Management and other areas.
• Vegetation Survey - Public access to the data, software and documentation associated with the USDA Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Region's Current Vegetation Survey (CVS) projects.  The CVS plot design will no longer be used after 2007.
• Water Resources/Water Management - Forest Service water program in the Pacific Northwest Region.
• Wildlife - Information about wildlife and the Wildlife Program in the Forests of Oregon and Washington. The Wildlife Program collaborates with internal and external partners to restore and sustain wildlife and their habitats for the public we serve. This site provides information on wildlife education, viewing and hunting through links to internal and external information.

Interagency Natural Resources

• Interagency Special Status / Sensitive Species Program (ISSSSP) - The Pacific Northwest Regional Office of the U.S. Forest Service and Oregon/Washington State Office of the Bureau of Land Management established an interagency program for the conservation and management of rare species. This new interagency collaboration will focus on regional-level approaches for species that meet agency criteria for inclusion on sensitive and special status lists. This includes those species that are not federally listed as Threatened or Endangered, or Proposed for federal listing.