#FuelReduction | US Forest Service

Lighting the way on the Allegheny National Forest

A patrol boat on a the Allegany Reservoir while a wildfire burns across the hills in the background.

Rugged terrain, proximity to water, and the bustle of a busy national recreation area made the Tracy Ridge Prescribed Fire one of the Allegheny National Forest’s most complex operations. These factors underscore the skill and coordination required to complete this project.Up to the challengePrescribed fire in such layered, difficult conditions can test even the most experienced fire managers.…

#PrescribedFire, #HazardousFuels, #FuelsTreatment, #Aviation, #Fire, #ControlledBurn, #Helicopter, #FuelReduction

Keeping the lights on and the fires out in rural Montana

Image shows a man and a woman in hard hats and safety gear looking on as electrical utility work is done in a forest.

Wildfires are everyone’s concern—they threaten not just the forests in which they burn, but the lives, property and livelihoods of nearby communities. Many communities that live in the shadow of wildfire risk understand this danger and have banded together to address it. One such organization is FireSafe Flathead, which consists of local, county and state representatives, along with officials…

#CommunityWildfireDefenseGrants, #WildfireRiskReduction, #Wildfire, #Fire, #FuelReduction

Salvaging success

Image shows construction equipment lifting salvaged timber into a logging truck for transport off the national forest.

When a tornado swept through the Sabine National Forest in March 2025, it left behind a trail of broken trees, downed limbs and hundreds of acres of damaged timber. But in just 28 days, the Forest Service, an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, turned destruction into opportunity by mobilizing resources, assessing the damage and awarding two salvage stewardship sales to help…

#SabineNationalForest, #Timber, #Restoration, #Texas, #NationalForestsAndGrasslandsInTexas, #FirePrevention, #Hazards, #HazardousFuels, #Weather, #FuelLoads, #FuelReduction

Going digital

Image shows a section of forest treated using the digital method, showing a much more sparsely wooded area than the surrounding, non-treated areas of forest.

An area treated using digital marking. Fewer trees, farther apart helps promote a healthy forest by reducing the amount of fuel for a potential wildfire. (Image courtesy of The Nature Conservancy) With a paint can in hand, a forester walks step by step through the dense Arizona ponderosa pine…

#MechanicalThinning, #Thinning, #FuelsTreatment, #TimberSales, #Timber, #CoconinoNationalForest, #WildfireRiskReduction, #FuelReduction

Saving historic Mount Wilson and crucial communications from Eaton Fire

Image shows three wildland firefighters on a ridgeline with the sun setting behind them and the sky is orange with smoke from the Eaton wildfire.

The Mount Wilson Observatory and communications equipment at the summit of Mount Wilson were protected both by actions taken by firefighters during the Eaton Fire and treatments applied months before the fire. (USDA Forest Service video by Andrew Avitt)At just under 6,000 feet, the Mount Wilson Observatory and communication site sit within the San Gabriel Mountains of the Angeles National Forest…

#PrescribedFire, #WildlandFirefighters, #HazardousFuels, #FuelReduction, #WildlandFire

Where the city meets the forest

Los Angeles skyline with the Angeles National Forest in the background. (USDA Forest Service photo by Andrew Avitt) Editor’s note: The Forest Service, now in its second year of implementing its Wildfire Crisis Strategy, is treating 11 additional landscapes across the country to help reduce wildfire risk to communities. Combined with the initial 10…