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Source: Oregon State University When it comes to proper management of our public forests, some would like to take a page from the ancient Chinese philosopher Lao-Tzu. He posed the concept of non-action as an approach to life. In our forests, if we do nothing and let...

Source: The Forest Blog By: Russ Vaagen Public lands can and should remain public, with a caveat.  These federal lands need to be managed appropriately. Currently, they are not.  There is a reason that so many people living in rural America are shouting for a change...

Source: Billings Gazette His job title — “city forester” — may sound like a contradiction. But Steve McConnell, who’s been on the job for the city of Billings for about six weeks, has a good idea how he can help build on Billings’ long history of caring for and about...

Source: The Forest Blog By: Russ Vaagen Since the Clinton years, the Forest Service has undergone a great deal of change.  The agency was producing over 12 billion board feet of timber in the late 80’s, and by the mid 90’s that volume dropped to 2 billion.  To provide...

Source: foxnews.com DENVER –  Colorado's beetle-infested forests are peppered with an estimated 834 million standing dead trees that threaten to worsen wildfires and degrade vital water supplies that flow from mountains, officials said Wednesday. Roughly one in every...

Source: The Forest Blog By Russ Vaagen In the last blog post, I didn’t get a good chance to wrap the story of recreation and forest management together as well as I should have.  I don’t believe that every acre should be managed and I don’t think every acre should be...

Source: The Forest Blog By Russ Vaagen For those of us in forest management, outdoor recreation and managing our forests go hand in hand.  I don’t know that it is seen the same way by outdoor recreation enthusiasts, but it should.  When you get down to the interests...

Source: The Forest Blog By Russ Vaagen In a recent visit to EPCOT in Orlando Florida, I had the pleasure of watching “The American Adventure.”  It’s a look back at how the United States was formed and the influences that got us to where we are today.  Everything...

Source: Proud Green Building  3 Design, Construction Trends for 2017 With 2017 well underway, design and construction professionals have their sights set on the year ahead. And while it experienced mostly flat growth in 2016, the construction industry is projected to...

Source: Fresh Home 10 Benefits of Wood Based.Designs In this article we’ll emblaze the kindling of our creative imaginations by exploring and detailing the benefits of wood based designs. This article isn’t going to exclusively revolve upon wooden houses, but use of...

Source: Aginfo.net In a discussion with Oregon-based NRCS public affairs officer Tracy Robillard I learned of a project in which private landowners are trying to a certain extent limit the chance of wildfires burning up their private forests. But there are other...

Source: NPR Scientists say more low-intensity wildfires are needed to clear out overgrown forests to help prevent bigger fires. Deciding where and when to let fires burn is tricky. DAVID GREENE, HOST: Dangerous wildfires made a lot of news across this country last...

Source: Poughkeepsie Journal Early this year, researchers will head to a giant outdoor laboratory in New Hampshire armed with warm clothing, helmets and high-pressure firefighting pumps. The scientists will re-create ice storms by spraying portions of the Hubbard...