Forest Service

The Biden-Harris Administration announced the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service is making nearly $50 million in grant funding available for proposals that support crucial links between resilient, healthy forests, strong rural economies and jobs in the forestry sector.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service is awarding more than $1 billion in competitive grants to plant and maintain trees, combat extreme heat and climate change, and improve access to nature in cities, towns, and suburbs where more than 84% of Americans live, work, and play.

Forest thinning is improving the robustness of older trees and enhancing native biodiversity on federal lands in eastern Oregon, evidence that collaborative efforts to restore forests are working, research by Oregon State University shows.

Oregon’s junior senator is pushing for more funding for the U.S. Forest Service.  Jeff Merkley Chairs the Interior Subcommittee, which held hearings last week on the Administration’s proposed budget for the Forest Service.  That funding has do...

It may be cold with snow on the ground, but the U.S. Forest Service is already looking to the fire season ahead.  Oregon’s ongoing drought, more frequent heatwaves and less rain and snow, mean longer and more intense fire seasons.   “The h...

The USDA announced Tuesday the investment of $48.6 million to mitigate wildfire risk, improve water quality as well as restore forest ecosystems.  The funds come via the Joint Chiefs’ Landscape Restoration Partnership.   USDA announced the Forest Service and NRCS will invest in projects, including 14 new projects, bringing together agricultural producers, forest landowners, and National Forest Sys

Four western senators introduced legislation Tuesday aimed at reducing the risk of catastrophic wildfires across the region.  The Wildfire Emergency Act, introduced by Oregon’s Ron Wyden, California senators Dianne Feinstein and Alex Padilla as well as Montana’s Steve Daines would allow the Forest Service to leverage private financing to accelerate forest restoration projects and create a program

The U.S. Forest Service needs to fill a wide range of temporary positions in Oregon for the spring and summer.  The Forest Service’s Catherine Caruso said they started looking for summer workers back in September because hiring for a federal job is time consuming.  But despite m...

Senators John Thune and Ben Ray Luján recently introduced the Livestock Disaster Assistance Improvement Act.  The bipartisan legislation by the South Dakota Republican and New Mexico Democrat would improve the effectiveness and timeliness of multiple Department of Agriculture programs that assist farmers and ranchers in the aftermath of adverse weather events.  The legislatio...

It's been two years since the Great American Outdoor Act was signed into law.  The legislation was crafted to address many of the Forest Service roads, buildings, bridges, campsites and more had fallen into disrepair. "From years of underfunding and increasing public use," noted Jeffery Vail leads the Forest Service's Great American Outdoor Act implementation team.  He...