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Building community to mitigate wildfires

Image shows a collage of four photographs. The left-most shows two people walking towards a car with a hill in the background, the second from the left shows a woman marking on a map on a wall, the third from the left shows a man showing a group of people something in the undergrowth of a forest, and the fourth from the left shows a group of people standing around a table.
What do you do when you can't entirely stop something bad from happening? You mitigate the damage it might cause. Natural disasters, like hurricanes, tornadoes and wildfires, can never be completely stopped. In fact, wildfire is an important part of many healthy ecosystems. That doesn’t mean it won't pose an existential threat to people's lives and property, so dealing with the threat it poses…
#Community, #Wildfire, #WildfirePrevention, #Firefighters, #WildlandFirefighters

Living the language in Minnesota’s Northwoods

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Three villagers pose for a photo while on a hike in the woods. Photo courtesy of Concordia Language Villages. MINNESOTA — Neighboring the Chippewa National Forest is Concordia Language Villages, where language and nature intersect. Central to the mission of Concordia Language Villages is their stewardship…
#Community

Community resilience in action

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Lisa Zamora Thompson, Carson National Forest East Zone archaeologist, talks to attendees about wildfire resilience, land management strategies and the Taos Canyon Forest and Watershed Restoration Project. (USDA Forest Service photo by Olga Melancon).  NEW MEXICO – One community’s…
#Community, #FireAdaptedCommunities

Green gratitude: For the love of our national grasslands

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The large Indian breadroot is a flower you might find blooming on the Fort Pierre National Grassland in the late spring. (USDA Forest Service photo by Dan Svingen) SOUTH DAKOTA — Some people love forests, others love deserts, many love cities. But Dan Svingen, he loves grasslands.Dan Svingen is a happy and…
#Community, national grassland

Smokey Bear and Woodsy Owl poster contest winners: 80th birthday edition

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Aiden Finkelstein, national grand prize winner for the Smokey Bear and Woodsy Owl Poster Contest – Smokey’s 80th edition. (USDA Forest Service photo by Dominic Cumberland) WASHINGTON, D.C. — The recognition ceremony to honor the national grand prize winner of the 2024 Smokey Bear and Woodsy Owl poster…
#Community

Green roofs provide coverage from New York to the Caribbean

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Cuartel de Ballajá green roof, San Juan, Puerto Rico. (USDA Forest Service photo by Diana Martínez) PUERTO RICO – This summer, the International Institute of Tropical Forestry hosted the first USDA E. Kika De La Garza Science Fellow at a USDA Forest Service research facility. Dr. Iván Guzmán…
#Community, #UrbanForestry