Forest Sciences Commons^™

Policy Tools For Smart Growth In New England, New England Environmental Finance Center

Smart Growth

Across New England communities have been experiencing a rapid outward surge of development away from our community and downtown centers. Effects of sprawl include a loss of wildlife habitat, farm and timber lands; increased costs of community services and higher taxes; auto-dependency, longer commutes, and increased congestion; increases in air and water pollution; a sedentary lifestyle and increased obesity; and losses to one’s sense of place and social ties.

State-level responses to sprawl have surfaced throughout New England in recent years. This report describes 11 examples of these responses, representing all six New England states and a diversity of recent …

Research On Synthetic Rope And Its Future In Timber Harvesting, Joel N. Hartter, Jared Leonard, John Garland, Steve Pilkerton

Geography

Steel wire rope is used for many logging applications. It has served the industry well in terms of strength, durability, and longevity. However, steel wire rope is difficult to use because it is stiff, heavy, and unyielding. These characteristics can lead to fatigue and exhaustion, and may contribute to worker injuries. Ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene synthetic rope has the potential to replace steel wire rope for selected logging applications. Research shows ergonomic gains and other operational effectiveness with its use. This paper presents research results, potentials, and issues in improving economic and ergonomic performance of ground-based and cable logging. Potential …

Blanding’S Turtle (Emydoidea Blandingii): A Technical Conservation Assessment, Justin D. Congdon, Douglas A. Keinath

United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

Blanding’s turtles (Emydoidea blandingii) are secure in Nebraska, and they range from being vulnerable to threatened, or endangered throughout most of the rest of their distribution. In Region 2, they have not been reported from Kansas, they are extremely rare in South Dakota, and they occupy wetlands in the northern half of Nebraska. The largest population known within the range of Blanding’s turtles is at Valentine National Wildlife Refuge, Nebraska.

The core habitat of Blanding’s turtles has an aquatic component that consists of a permanent wetland and a suite of other, usually smaller and more temporary, wetlands such …

Fire Management Guidelines For Southern Shrubland And Pilbara Pastoral Rangelands : Best Management Practice Guidelines, Department Of Agriculture And Food, Western Australia

Land resources best practice series

Fire is integral to many ecosystems in Western Australian rangelands. Controlled fire can reduce the risk of wild fire, benefit pasture productivity and contribute positively to biodiversity values. Uncontrolled fire is a threat to safety and the business viability of pastoral enterprises and threatens rangeland biodiversity and productivity.This document deals with property-scale management of pastoral leases. Many fire regime issues are more regional in character. These include community safety and health, the impact on regional economies, the societal and cultural values of landscape and the effects on tourism. Ecologically the high productivity, diversity and palatability of recently burnt vegetation is …

Fire Management Guidelines For Kimberley Pastoral Rangelands : Best Management Practice Guidelines, Department Of Agriculture And Food, Western Australia

Land resources best practice series

Kimberley pastoralists operate in a highly fire-prone environment. Uncontrolled fires pose significant economic, safety, and environmental risks to pastoral enterprises. In contrast, the controlled use of fire can benefit land management, animal production and biodiversity conservation. For any given country type, the interactions of fire, grazing and weather have complex effects on both land condition and animal production. Although general guidelines on the use of fire are valuable, based as they are on a combination of experience and available research findings, they should best be regarded as providing a starting point. At the property level, an adaptive approach that incorporates …

A Comparison Of Presettlement Vegetation And Fire Regimes With Current Patterns In Oak Woodlands And Shrublands Of Sw Oregon, Patricia S. Muir Dr., Paul Hosten Dr.

JFSP Research Project Reports

Fuel reduction efforts on BLM lands in southwestern Oregon are motivated by the need to reduce fire hazard and restore and rehabilitate ecosystems. Successful ecosystem restoration depends, in part, on understanding the target: what ecosystem model is considered natural and healthy for a given area? Oak (Quercus garryana) woodlands and shrublands are two of the most characteristic ecosystems in interior valleys of southwest Oregon, and extensive acreages within these systems are treated annually for fuel reduction. However, these are also two of the least understood ecosystems in the region. We know little about their presettlement attributes, responses to disturbance, or …

An Internet Based Portal For Fire Science And Management In The Southern Region

JFSP Research Project Reports

Task 1 – Organize a technical advisory team and host an initial workshop to explore methods for integrating FRAMES, TTRS, and ESFS websites.

Task 2 – Identify and acquire data, tools, and publications from funded JFSP and NFP projects working with the JFSP and NFP project databases and principal investigators. Also, when possible identify and acquire data and tools used and created by others in the wildland fire community including state agencies, educational institutions, and non-governmental organizations.

Task 3 – Develop and post online FGDC metadata records for all datasets from funded JFSP and NFP projects as well as key …