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Restoration and Job Creation
Planning Rule
Faces of the Forest: Neal "Mike" Ward
At 83, Neal “Mike” Ward shows few signs of slowing down. As a full-time employee of the U.S. Forest Service’s Southern Research Station, Ward is part of the team that keeps the building and equipment running. A life-long learner, Ward also enjoys discussing the latest research with scientists.
Recent Forest Service Blogs
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Protecting working forests
The Forest Legacy Program uses a nationally competitive process to strategically select ecologically and socially important projects facing the greatest threat of conversion to other land uses.
Forests in Arizona train veterans
Civilian life is unlike that of military life in the service. Two forests, the Apache-Sitgreaves and the Prescott National Forest have recently developed programs to help veterans in their transition to civilian life.
More Forest Service News
The Ski Area Recreational Opportunity Enhancement Act of 2011, signed late this year by President Barack Obama, permits year-round recreation opportunities on U.S. Forest Service ski areas. The change is estimated to sustain up to 600 extra jobs and bring in a total of an additional $40 million to local communities in direct spending. Potential permitted activities may include zip lines, mountain bike terrain parks and trails, Frisbee golf courses, and ropes courses.
Because of forest activities, thousands of jobs are supported in hundreds of rural communities. A recent survey shows visitors spend $13 billion directly in those communities within 50 miles of the national forests and grasslands.
Smokey, Woodsy and Friends
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Jobs: Temporary positions with the Forest Service for skilled and professional applicants can be found online. The Forest Service has also funded 705 Recovery Act projects on federal as well as state, private, and tribal owed lands across the nation. Private sector jobs created by these projects are supporting small and minority-owned businesses and helping revitalize rural economies.
Climate Change: The National Roadmap for Responding to Climate Change is the Forest Service's blueprint for responding to a changing climate and is part of the overall and ongoing effort by the Agency to restore forest and grassland landscapes. One of the measurement criteria of the Forest Service’s roadmap is a scorecard rating system to be used by all national forests and grasslands to gage the success of efforts to mitigate and adapt to a changing climate.
Bark Beetle: Across six states of the interior west, over 17.5 million acres of forested lands are infested by bark beetles which pose a serious health and safety threat to forest visitors, residents and employees. The Forest Service is taking a strategic and science-based response to this infestation to ensure the forests of the interior west provide healthy watersheds, stimulate local economies, are resilient to a changing climate and are restored ecologically over time.
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