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Celebrating Wildflowers

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USDA Forest Service
Rangeland Management & Vegetation Ecology - Botany Program
1400 Independence Ave SW
3rd Floor SW Mailstop 1153
Washington DC 20250-1153

Celebrating Wildflowers

A man and child preparing to cut down a small tree for a Christmas tree; American holly; white mistletoe berries; and the U.S. Capitol Christmas tree at night, the lit dome of the U.S. Capitol building behind it.

Rusty-Patched Bumblebee (Bombus affinis)

The Celebrating Wildflowers Ethnobotany poster displaying various plants and their products.

Four pictures of rare plants: Townsendia aprica, Fritillaria gentneri, Iris lacustris, and Echinocereus fendleri var. kuenzleri framing the text Rare Plants

Map of the United States showing Forest Service Regions boundaries.

Celebrating Wildflowers News

Holiday Tips: Don’t Spread Forest Pests with Your Christmas Tree

Posted December 17, 2018

Ponderosa Pines covered in snow at Mt Bachelor on the Deschutes National Forest. Photo © Forest Service / Flickr in the Public Domain.

Selecting a Christmas tree and decorating with greenery are popular holiday traditions. Here’s how to have all the fun while ensuring you don’t accidentally spread invasive forest pests. Read more about getting a Christmas tree without spreading invasive forest pests…

“Noble” Christmas Tree Illumines Capitol Hill

Posted December 12, 2018

The public gathers around the U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree after being officially lit during Lighting Ceremony on the west lawn of the Capitol Building in Washington DC, December 6, 2018. (Forest Service photo by Cecilio Ricardo).

Forest Service Chief Vicki Christiansen gives a speech during the U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony at the Capitol Building in Washington DC, December 6, 2018. (Forest Service photo by Cecilio Ricardo).

With a brief countdown and the flick of a switch the towering U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree, on the West Lawn of Capitol Hill, lit up the dark. Visitors from all across America, who stood in near freezing temperatures beneath the majestic pine, cheered as the tree’s thousands of lights glistened the ornaments made especially for it. This year, the tree was a noble fir from the Willamette National Forest in Oregon.

Monarch Conservation Partners Meeting Puts Planning into Action

Posted December 6, 2018

This November, more than 160 stakeholders from 100 organizations came together to put planning into action at the Monarch Conservation Partners Meeting, co-hosted by the Monarch Joint Venture (MJV) and the Midwest Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (MAFWA). Partners convened from 30 states to share information and advance implementation goals of the Mid-America Monarch Conservation Strategy and the Monarch Joint Venture.

The WAFWA Seeks Public Comment on Draft Monarch Butterfly Conservation Management Plan

Posted November 20, 2018

The Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (WAFWA) is seeking public comment on a draft regional plan to enhance and target monarch butterfly conservation west of the Rocky Mountains. In September 2018, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation awarded a grant to WAFWA to develop a regional strategy to improve coordination and conservation among monarch butterfly and other pollinator partners.