http://www.fs.fed.us/psw/news/ News releases from the Pacific Southwest Research Station, U.S. Forest Service en-us http://www.fs.fed.us/psw/news/2013/20130520_ipif.shtml http://www.fs.fed.us/psw/news/2013/20130520_ipif.shtml The U.S. Forest Service Pacific Southwest Research Station's Institute of Pacific Islands Forestry (IPIF) will receive a 2013 Site of the Year Award from Kupu, a Honolulu, Hawaiʻi-based nonprofit community organization, for its conservation education work with Hawaiian youth. IPIF has hosted members from Kupu's Hawaiʻi Youth Conservation Corps (HYCC) and AmeriCorps programs for the past three years. Sherri Eng 2013-05-20T08:30:00-09:00 http://www.fs.fed.us/psw/news/2013/20130510_RichmondEdibleForest.shtml http://www.fs.fed.us/psw/news/2013/20130510_RichmondEdibleForest.shtml Urban youth in Richmond, Calif. will get more opportunities to spend time outdoors and learn about plants and trees, thanks to a $30,000 Forest Service grant and a $93,000 matching partner contribution, which will fund the Richmond Edible Forest project. Sherri Eng 2013-05-10T09:30:00-08:00 http://www.fs.fed.us/psw/news/2013/20130220_scisynthesis.shtml http://www.fs.fed.us/psw/news/2013/20130423_AirPollution.shtml Air pollution from wildland fires and urban and agricultural areas in California is diminishing air quality at Devils Postpile National Monument, according to a recent study published in the journal Atmospheric Environment. Sherri Eng 2013-04-23T09:14:00-08:00 http://www.fs.fed.us/psw/news/2013/20130220_scisynthesis.shtml http://www.fs.fed.us/psw/news/2013/220130220_scisynthesis.shtml A team of more than a dozen scientists from the U.S. Forest Service's Pacific Southwest and Pacific Northwest research stations, universities and Region 5 Ecology Program recently released a synthesis of relevant science that will help inform forest managers as they revise plans for the national forests in the Sierra Nevada and southern Cascades of California. The three most southern national forests in the Sierra Nevada-Inyo, Sequoia and Sierra-will be among the first of the 155 national forests to update their management plans. The new planning rule requires the forests to consider the best available science and encourages a more active role for research in plan development. Sherri Eng 2013-02-20T10:46:00-08:00 http://www.fs.fed.us/psw/news/2013/20130128_Fishers.shtml http://www.fs.fed.us/psw/news/2013/20130128_Fishers.shtml After experiencing years of population decline on the West Coast, a recent study examining fisher populations found that - at least in the southern Sierra Nevada - the animal's numbers appear to be stable. Sherri Eng 2013-01-28T09:16:00-08:00 http://www.fs.fed.us/psw/news/2012/20121217_TreeCarbonCalculator.shtml http://www.fs.fed.us/psw/news/2012/20121217_TreeCarbonCalculator.shtml A tree is more than just a landscape design feature. Planting trees on your property can lower energy costs and increase carbon storage, reducing your carbon footprint. A new online tool developed by the U.S. Forest Service's Pacific Southwest Research Station, California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE)'s Urban and Community Forestry Program, and EcoLayers can help residential property owners estimate these tangible benefits. Sherri Eng 2012-12-17T09:16:00-08:00 http://www.fs.fed.us/psw/news/2012/20121121_CasparCreek50thAnniversary.shtml http://www.fs.fed.us/psw/news/2012/20121121_CasparCreek50thAnniversary.shtml FORT BRAGG, Calif.- While international attention focused on the dismantling of nuclear weapons in Cuba and the formation of British rock sensation, the Rolling Stones, a major scientific endeavor was underway among the redwoods on the Jackson Demonstration State Forest, just south of Fort Bragg, Calif. In November 1962, stream water began to flow over two gaging weirs constructed on the North and South Forks of Caspar Creek. Sherri Eng 2012-11-21T12:57:00-07:00 http://www.fs.fed.us/psw/news/2012/20121109_BarkBeetlesClimateChange.shtml http://www.fs.fed.us/psw/news/2012/20121109_BarkBeetlesClimateChange.shtml ALBANY, Calif. - A recent study by a team of scientists from the U.S. Forest Service's Pacific Southwest and Pacific Northwest research stations, and the University of Idaho confirms the important role climate plays on bark beetle outbreaks. Based on three decades of bark beetle outbreaks in Oregon and Washington, the researchers developed a statistical probability model to quantify the contribution of various climate conditions, such as temperature and precipitation, on outbreak levels and to estimate expected amounts of damage to lodgepole pine forests (e.g. total area with beetle outbreaks). Sherri Eng 2012-11-09T14:30:00-07:00 http://www.fs.fed.us/psw/news/2012/20120914_AlexFriend.shtml http://www.fs.fed.us/psw/news/2012/20120914_AlexFriend.shtml ALBANY, Calif. - U.S. Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell recently announced that Dr. Alexander Friend has accepted the position as Director of the Pacific Southwest Research Station (PSW) in Albany, Calif., effective Sept. 24. Dr. Friend is currently the National Program Leader for Climate Change Research on the Forest Management Science Staff in the Forest Service's Washington Office. Prior to his current assignment, he served as the National Budget Coordinator for Forest Service Research and Development. Michael Sullivan 2012-09-14T15:32:00-07:00 http://www.fs.fed.us/psw/news/2012/20120709_ForestFuelsReduction.shtml http://www.fs.fed.us/psw/news/2012/20120709_ForestFuelsReduction.shtml ALBANY, Calif. - A recent paper in Bioscience co-authored by USDA Forest Service Pacific Southwest Research Station researcher Dr. Chris Fettig and scientists from six universities in the U.S. and Australia have shown that forest fuels treatments such as prescribed fire and mechanical thinning which are now commonly used to treat stands in order to increase their resiliency to wildfires, can, indeed, be implemented with few unintended consequences. The scientists analyzed a broad spectrum of ecological markers, detailing the effects of fuel-reduction treatments on vegetation, soils, wildlife, bark beetles and carbon sequestration, while relying heavily on data from the U.S. Fire and Fire Surrogates Study, in addition to other research. Michael Sullivan 2012-07-09T11:25:00-07:00 http://www.fs.fed.us/psw/news/2012/20120629_ReinvasionHawaiianDryForest.shtml http://www.fs.fed.us/psw/news/2012/20120629_ReinvasionHawaiianDryForest.shtml Hilo, Hawaii. - Protecting Hawaiian dry forests from invasive species and the risk of wildfire is an on-going challenge for land managers and scientists conducting research on the Island of Hawaii. It is commonly thought that removing the invasive species and planting native species will restore the land to its original state. However, in a recent paper published in Biological Invasions, Dr. Susan Cordell, USDA Forest Service Pacific Southwest Research Station, Institute of Pacific Islands Forestry; Dr. Erin Questad, Cal-Poly Pomona; and Dr. Jarrod Thaxton, University of Puerto Rico found that it is not quite that simple. Sherri Eng 2012-06-29T11:50:00-07:00 http://www.fs.fed.us/psw/news/2012/20120409_ClimateChange_and_WestForests.shtml http://www.fs.fed.us/psw/news/2012/20120530BarkBeetlesTreeMortality.shtml ALBANY, Calif. - A recent report analyzing a range of published studies on the impact of bark beetles on trees in the U.S. and Canada provides a more complete picture of the effect of this destructive insect on wildfires. Sherri Eng 2012-05-30T11:50:00-07:00 http://www.fs.fed.us/psw/news/2012/20120409_ClimateChange_and_WestForests.shtml http://www.fs.fed.us/psw/news/2012/20120409_ClimateChange_and_WestForests.shtml ALBANY, Calif. - Climate change is projected to have far-reaching environmental impacts both domestically and abroad. A recently published report by the USDA Forest Service's Pacific Southwest Research Station (PSW) examines the impact of climate change on forest diseases and how these pathogens will ultimately affect forest ecosystems in the Western United States and Canada. Sherri Eng 2012-04-09T16:19:00-07:00