Dr. Terrie Benavidez Jain in wildland firefighting gear doing field work on the Boise Basin Experimental Forest in Idaho

With wildfires that raged out of control this fire season, a year of “devastating conflagrations” seems to be the only way to describe such massive destruction on the nation’s forested lands. And scientists who know something about limiting the power of these forest infernos are needed more than ever.

Lucky for us, Terrie Benavidez Jain, a U.S. Forest Service scientist, has answers to help reduce the impacts of fire on forested lands. In fact, researching and studying the science of forest fires is something Jain has come to know quite well throughout her impressive career. Read more »

Blackbrush, a species in the Mojave and Great Basin deserts, has adjusted well to climate change, according to genetics research by Forest Service scientists.

Climate change’s threat to forests – specifically to trees – has garnered much attention among people concerned with protecting our environment.  Yet, a lack of research on the effects of climate change on grasslands and shrublands is leaving land managers with little information to make decisions on sustaining these vital landscapes so important for recreation, tribal life, crop and livestock production, and native plant and wildlife conservation.

Forest Service researchers point to recent climatic studies in predicting that by the end of the century, 55 percent of future landscapes in the West will likely have climates that are in­compatible with the vegetation types that now occur on those landscapes. Read more »

Photo of Mars courtesy NASA

Accurately measuring atmospheric gas swirls as they interact with the atmosphere and the ground is a complicated process on this planet — let alone Mars. But this is exactly what U.S. Forest Service scientist Bill Massman will be doing for NASA’s Mars Exploration Program. Read more »

According to the World Wildlife Fund, the American Pika (Ochotona princeps) could be the first mammal victim of climate change (US Forest Service Photo).

In Scanning the Conservation Horizon, a report published by the National Wildlife Federation, with support from the U.S. Forest Service and other partners, scientists describe climate change as an increasing threat to species and ecosystems. Read more »