Welcome to the Rocky Mountain Research Station

Of Interest

The Human Factors & Risk Management Research & Development Program has launched a new website. The program works to advance the theory and practice of risk management to improve individual and organizational health, safety and performance. It helps Forest Service employees, especially fire managers, to be among the world's leading practitioners of complex risk management, decision-making, and sense-making; and links scientists from varied disciplines with practitioners and fire managers to understand and promote the practice of leading edge risk management and high performance. More »

Recent Postings

Moving Forward: Responding to and Mitigating Effects of the Mountain Pine Beetle Outbreak: The grand finale of the Future Forest Webinar series discussed methods for responding to and mitigating effects of the mountain pine beetle outbreak. We covered management approaches and learned about the rapid assessment and response of the Beaverhead Deerlodge National Forest to the Mountain Pine Beetle outbreak. More »
News release: Software for Fighting Wildfires Wins Award: The development and application of the Wildland Fire Decision and Support System, has been selected for the 2013 Award for Excellence in Technology Transfer by the Federal Laboratory Consortium. This annual award recognizes federal laboratory employees who have accomplished outstanding work in the process of transferring technology. More »
News release: Free master class offered for FireWorks educational trunk: The USDA Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station’s Fire Sciences Laboratory in Missoula, Mont. is offering its annual free “master class” on teaching with the FireWorks educational trunk on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 22-23, at the Northern Rockies Training Center in Missoula. The class consists of two days of intense, entertaining, hands-on activities teaching about wildland fire behavior, ecology, and management. The curriculum has activities for every age group. More »

What's New

2012 – 2013 Research Accomplishments

This 2012-2013 research summary features photos and text of some of our most recent and ongoing studies, along with links to more detailed information.

The USDA FS Research & Development 2011 Highlights provides the annual overview for all Forest Service Research & Development.

GSDUpdate: Year in Review: Spotlight on 2012 Research

In GSDUpdate: Year in Review: Spotlight on 2012 Research we look back at selected studies of the Grassland, Shrubland and Desert Ecosystem Science Program (GSD) that depict its strengths and focus areas. Significant results of recent research and science applications by GSD scientists are highlighted. We identify where program research lines up with the strategic priorities of the USDA Forest Service and the Rocky Mountain Research Station. In particular, we spotlight accomplishments in understanding and controlling invasive plant species; assessing changes in ecosystems and landscapes caused by disturbances and stressors such as fire, climate change and their interactions; evaluating methods to monitor and support rare native species and biodiversity; and developing approaches for restoring ecosystems and landscapes to improve their resiliency. More »

Strategic Plan for the Reforestation, Nurseries, and Genetic Resources

The Strategic Plan for the Reforestation, Nurseries, and Genetic Resources (RNGR) (October 2012) is now available. RNGR (“ringer”) serves as a center of reforestation, nursery, and tree improvement expertise within the Forest Service. RNGR's primary goal is to provide current, relevant technical assistance and technology transfer to the growers and users of native plants for conservation, reforestation, and restoration purposes. Although originally focused on commercial tree species, the RNGR Team has facilitated partnerships and leveraged funding to become a leader in native plant propagation and establishment technology transfer. Research Plant Physiologists Kas Dumroese and Jeremy Pinto, of the Moscow Forestry Sciences Lab, are members of the RNGR team and assisted in preparing the updated strategic plan.

Forest Service Plant Materials Policy: A Strategic Framework

The Forest Service Plant Materials Policy: A Strategic Framework (September 2012) provides a strategy for addressing the Plant Materials Policy of the Forest Service. Recognizing the need to maintain native plant communities as part of fully functioning ecosystems, Forest Service Chief Bosworth directed natural resource professionals from the National Forest System, State and Private Forestry, and Research and Development deputy areas to develop Forest Service policy for promoting the use of native plants in revegetation projects on National Forest System lands. This policy is designed to help combat invasive species, mitigate impacts of climate change, and maintain healthy forests.

Science You Can Use Bulletin: Upwardly Mobile in the Western U.S. Desert: Blackbrush Shrublands Respond to a Changing Climate

The January/February 2013 edition of the Science You Can Use Bulletin, Upwardly Mobile in the Western U.S. Desert: Blackbrush Shrublands Respond to a Changing Climate discusses the ecology of a desert shrubland dominated by blackbrush (Coleogyne ramosissima), a species which has been the subject of decades of work. Researchers at the Rocky Mountain Research Station have been studying the response of this species to assess whether it can move upward in elevation and latitude as the climate warms.

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