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Transforming Archaeology in the Forest Service
January 10,2025
A hippie at heart, Archaeologist Margaret Hangan reflects on her career with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service and a life well-lived as she nears retirement and looks towards her -
Cooking up collaboration
November 18,2024
It’s been a long, grueling day on the fire line. Wildland firefighters, with faces full of soot and ash file wearily towards the building at the center of the camp. A door swings open, and bright -
Paving the way on the Sierra National Forest
November 8,2024
Don’t be fooled into thinking fixing asphalt is quick and easy. While we may take the ground we travel upon for granted, pavement repairs can make all the difference in the safety, accessibility and -
To the fireline
October 11,2024
They look filthy! That would easily be anyone’s first thought when they saw us on day 14. But if they looked again, they’d see more. Our eyes looked tired, yet our grins were clearly visible, because -
A first in conservation education
September 27,2024
The auditorium is filled with the chatter of young voices, echoing throughout the room. Conversation centers around the day’s plan and if the weather will cooperate. The noise fades as a woman -
Showing up in times of need
September 10,2024
There are days we remember forever; from the people we shared them with to the feelings they evoke within us. Most of these days are full of joy and celebration—a wedding, a birth, a graduation. Then -
Firefighter finds comfort, healing at Land Between the Lakes
September 6,2024
Forestry Technician Doug Phelps grew up visiting Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area. He never could have imagined how much the place would come to mean to him. “I remember visiting the -
Boots and bassinets
August 2,2024
Sarah King remembers one time when she was focusing on the day’s task of preparing an area of the Custer Gallatin National Forest in southwestern Montana to be burned to reduce the threat of future -
A place to call home
July 24,2024
Editor’s note: The USDA Forest Service announced a temporary housing refund that will benefit approximately 4,500-5,500 employees in Forest Service housing. This article takes a look at the challenges -
Deaf and Dedicated on the Fireline
July 5,2024
For Nicole Bringolf being deaf hasn’t stopped her from being many other things. She’s a self-proclaimed ski mountaineer, who summited several 14,000-foot peaks in the U.S. and Switzerland since -
Ensuring safety and offering support
April 19,2024
Fighting wildland fire, running whitewater rapids, using heavy machinery, interacting with wildlife, and parachuting into rugged terrain. Depending on the career, these are just some of the exciting -
Rising through the ranks
April 5,2024
A career day at Chaparral High School in Temecula, California. That’s what changed Cole Weissgerber’s life. Before then, he wasn’t really sure what he wanted to do with his life (who really does know -
Our seasonal workforce
March 25,2024
In the heart of the nation's forests and grasslands, a unique opportunity awaits those eager to make a difference. Whether you're drawn to the call of nature or seeking to further advance conservation -
Find your path: One engineer's story
February 20,2024
Consider looking at the forest from another perspective — you arrived there by road, launched your boat by ramp, crossed a canyon by bridge, and maybe used a wildland restroom. These amenities -
Sage, Zip Ties and Smokey Bear
January 29,2024
You’re given hundreds of zip ties, thousands of seeds, bins piled with pinecones and branches, plus lots of glue and wiring. You have four days to decorate the Forest Service wagon for the 135th -
Digital accessibility
December 21,2023
In the heart of the Forest Service, an inspiring journey unfolds – a journey led by Tara Chavez, a blind employee who has defied expectations and shattered barriers in the world of information -
Archaeology on the forest
October 6,2023
As Kristen Francis looks out across the quiet expanse of the Kaibab Plateau in Northern Arizona, she wonders at what all the land has seen and what we can learn if we look closely. “We learn from the -
Students of fire
October 4,2023
Deep in a canyon in Colorado, six Forest Service trucks from Nebraska sit in the shade of a row of pines as firefighters pile brush nearby. A wildland fire crew from Nebraska’s Pine Ridge Job Corps is -
Affording the fight
September 28,2023
Over the past few months, we have highlighted wildland firefighters who support the Forest Service mission to protect our nation’s forests, grasslands and nearby communities from wildfires -
Affording the fight
September 15,2023
This is the eleventh story in a series called Affording the Fight. Wildland firefighter Nicholas Brasher’s reasons for getting up every day ready to face the most challenging circumstances are simple