Along the foothills of the Big Belt Mountains near York, Montana, it’s unusual to see bare ground above 5,000 feet in February. But this winter’s low snowpack in the Northern Rockies created a rare

The Heavy Equipment of Firefighting Wildland firefighting is a coordinated effort. Like players on a sports team or musicians in an orchestra, hand crews, smokejumpers, water tenders, fire engines

When smoke begins to rise across the Rocky Mountains, a unique firefighting force lifts off—fast. Operation Sky Hammer was designed to improve success during initial attack on wildfires. The effort

Pick your favorite theme song and imagine it hits the loudspeakers. You suit up, load up and head out to the plane. After a 20-minute flight you are briefed about the jump spot and the fire behavior

The warning signs flashed early this year. After a dismal winter snowpack across many western high elevations, forests are drying faster and by midsummer may be ripe for extreme fire conditions

High above Northern California, where tree line gives way to rock, snow, and exposure, the work of the U.S. Forest Service takes on a different form. There are no roads, no engines, and no easy access

Drones, also referred to as uncrewed aerial systems or UAS, have been increasingly complicating airspace around wildfires since the first consumer models came to market in 2013. These mechanical

From seed to forest, recovery doesn’t happen on its own. Across the country, the Forest Service works with state, local and other partners to reduce wildfire risk, restore landscapes and grow the next

On Colorado’s Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre and Gunnison national forests, water for the region begins as snow in high-elevation locations before flowing down to creeks, reservoirs and irrigation systems

In places like the Pike-San Isabel National Forests across the country, fire has shaped the land for thousands of years. Many forests depend on fire to stay healthy. Fire cleans out old needles