U.S. Forest Service
Caring for the land and serving people

United States Department of Agriculture

Pacific Northwest Research Station

Smoke rising from a fire. USDA Forest Service photo.

Research to help you breathe a little easier

Science Story

A prescribed burn in the Colville National Forest, Washington, prevents fuels from accumulating that could otherwise support a wildfire. The fire burns grass on the forest floor beneath some trees.

Incorporating environmental justice into hazardous fuels management

Science Findings | Issue 243

Multiple vehicles and motor homes appear in a forested area that is not a campground. Photo by Monika Derrien, USDA Forest Service.

Making a home in the forest: Nonrecreational camping on national forests and grasslands

Science Findings | Issue 242

Engineered logjams such as this one on Washington’s Entiat River form pools that serve as rearing habitat for young salmon and steelhead. Researchers have developed new methods for evaluating the effectiveness of stream restoration projects throughout a river basin.

Evaluating the effects of stream restoration on fish populations

Science Findings | Issue 241

Salmon swimming in a stream.

Linking fish behavior to patterns of temperature and stream discharge

Science Findings | Issue 240

Some green plants and grasses are visible on a burned forest landscape.

Climate change likely to alter postfire forest restoration patterns

Research Highlight

Featured Projects

Collaborative Postfire Research and Monitoring: Supporting ...

A member of a Burned Area Emergency Response Team examines duff layers in an area burned by the 2020 Lionshead Fire, Oregon. USDA Forest Service photo.

Carbon dynamics research for land and watershed managers ...

Fire and climate adaptation in Oregon and Washington west-side ...

Maple Fire in Olympic National Forest, 2018. USDA Forest Service photo.

Elk Nutrition and Habitat-Use Models for Western Oregon and ...

Elk in western Oregon and Washington rely on a diverse suite of vegetation communities to optimize energy gain and minimize loss. Photo by Mike Middleton.

Latest Publications

Status and trend of nesting habitat for the marbled murrelet under the Northwest Forest Plan, 1993 to 2017

Sensitivity analysis on distance-adjusted propensity score matching for wildfire effect quantification using national forest inventory data

Status and trend of marbled murrelet populations in the Northwest Forest Plan area, 2000 to 2018

Simulating the effort necessary to detect changes in northern spotted owl (Strix occidentalis caurina) populations using passive acoustic monitoring

Oregon’s forest products industry and timber harvest 2017 with trends through 2018

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Science Stories

Research to help you breathe a little easier

Each year, millions of people are exposed to unhealthy air from wildfires—even in communities far from burning forests.

A “new normal” for west-side fire in Oregon and Washington

The rain-soaked, dense forests of the western Cascade Range in Oregon and Washington are iconic.

Wood Products for Cultural Use

The Wood Products for Culture and Heritage project gathered Alaska Native youth in 2019 and 2020 to learn from communities, study traditional arts

Getting to know: Sean Cahoon

As a research ecologist at the Pacific Northwest Research Station, Sean Cahoon uses Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) data to understand long-ter

Pacific Northwest Research Station tackles the science behind 2020’s wild season of wildfire

Labor Day (Sept. 7) 2020 brought with it a storm that knocked out power to more than 100,000 people in the Pacific Northwest.

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