Science & Technology

Recent Science Stories

Ecologists Look to Traditional Knowledge to Bolster Sustainability Science

Diane Banegas, September 19, 2016 at 10:30am

People all around the world manipulate ecosystems for their own purposes. It’s what you leave behind when you’re finished working or living in the area that determines whether the ecosystem survives or is irreparably harmed for future generations. For scientists like John Parrotta, national program leader for international science issues with the U.S. Forest Service, knowing what to leave behind is not always found in a college textbook or scientific journal.

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The therapeutic uses of many forest plant species, such as those pictured above in a local market in central India, are based on generations of experiences by traditional medical practitioners, and represent an important component of traditional forest knowledge (photo by John Parrotta)

Forest Service Databases Reimagined as Interactive Web-based Maps and More

Diane Banegas, September 19, 2016 at 10:15am

Forestry data is now available to resource professionals and the public in an engaging portfolio of web-based tools and applications.

The U.S. Forest Service’s Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) Program is in the information gathering business. The program invests $75 million a year to collect data across three themes: field inventories of forest land, a census of the forest products industry, and surveys of forest land owners.

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Engagement Porfolio homepage

Forest Service Research Improves Road Management and Influences National Policy

Cody Sullivan, August 11, 2016 at 11:15am

Forest Service researchers collaborated with partners to develop analytic tools that identify specific areas where water drains off forest roads and carries unwanted sediment into waterways. These tools, GRAIP (Geomorphic Road Analysis and Inventory Package) and GRAIP-Lite, informed new Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) policy decisions.