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Technology &
Development Center

Sixty Years of Innovation and Problem Solving

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Tools for Nurseries

Trees grown in USDA Forest Service nurseries help reforest lands. The Technology and Development Program uses new technology, such as the electronic seedling counter pictured, to increase production and reduce the labor required for repetitive tasks.

[photo] A tractor pulling a newly developed seedling counter.

Improved Logging Systems

Cable systems can reduce the environmental impacts of logging in steep terrain. These systems require sturdy anchors, such as large stumps, or, if they are not available, special anchors developed by the Technology and Development Program.

[image] Drawing of a cable system used for logging on steep terrain. [photo] Cable system anchors developed by the Technology and Development Program.

Unlike most commercial yarders, the Bitterroot Miniyarder is small enough to be hauled in the bed of a pickup truck. The Technology and Development Program developed the miniyarder to allow loggers to pull small-diameter logs from the forest more economically.

[photo] The Bitterroot Miniyarder.

Tools for Healthy Forests

Aerial spraying is one of the tools used to control bug or weed infestations in forests. The Technology and Development Program's careful studies of spray technology and meteorological conditions allow forest managers to reduce spray drift outside the intended target area.

[photo] Airplane spraying a forest. [photo] Researcher testing meteorogical conditions before aerial spraying.

Clean Slash Burning

Thinning unhealthy forests generates a lot of slash. Piling and burning slash can create lots of smoke. Burning slash in an air-curtain burner increases combustion efficiency, dramatically reducing the amount of smoke.

[photo] Air-curtain burner used for slash burning.

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