A forest in motion
Dense, dangerously crowded stands of trees are giving way to healthy, spacious forests across Alabama. This transformation is because active forest management on Alabama’s national forests is moving faster than it has in years, and the efforts are improving forest health and supporting local…
#Alabama, #Thinning, #MechanicalThinning, #Timber, #Forestry, #TimberSales, #GoodNeighborAuthority, #HealthyForests, #PrescribedFire, #ForestRestoration, #HabitatRestoration, #Habitat
Reviving sagebrush wetlands: A conservation story
Sagebrush landscapes are often thought of as dry, rugged and lacking plant and wildlife diversity. I am here to tell you—nothing is further from the truth. Having spent years working in these ecosystems, I’ve seen firsthand how wetlands within these arid landscapes are essential to biodiversity and habitat restoration. These overlooked areas provide critical resources for species that rely on…
#SageGrouse, #Restoration, #Habitat, #HabitatRestoration, #Wetlands
A former fish poacher no longer fears a crocodile demise
Photo of Joseph Mwanga. USDA Forest Service photo by Sungeni Ngónamo
With spear in hand and nets at the ready, Joseph Mwanga was 21 when he started making a living by poaching. His catch was a large salmon-like fish called mpasa (Opsaridium microlepis). In the early 2000s, he and his friends would probe Malawi’s protected Bua River in…
#Habitat, #ApplyingKnowledgeGlobally
A head start for tortoises
Gopher tortoise eggs are collected on the De Soto National Forest so they can be sent a head start program on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Natchitoches National Fish Hatchery in Louisiana. (USDA Forest Service photo by Ed Moody)
You think the kids have it tough going back to school this fall? Just…
#DeSotoNationalForest, #Wildlife, #ThreatenedAndEndangeredSpecies, #Tortoises, #Habitat
Partnership restores brook trout in five ponds within five years
Native brook trout migrate in a waterway in Maine. The USDA Forest Service, Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, and Trout Unlimited are working together to restore native brook trout within their historic range. (Freshwaters Illustrated photo by David Herasimtschuk)
A fine mist rolled off the…