Forest Focus

In this episode, we focus on National Invasive Plant, Pest and Disease Awareness Month. With the U.S. Forest Service under the Department of Agriculture there is certainly a connection between these harmful invaders and the threat they pose to our nation's food security, backyard gardens and natural resources.

In this episode, we focus on a former Forest Service employee with the Modoc National Forest, his career, his connection with the Choctaw tribes, and his chance of a lifetime to work with Bison and the Modoc Nation.

In this episode, Ted Weller, an ecologist with the Pacific Southwest Research Station, helps us go batty for bats. Each year, Bat Week is observed the week before Halloween and is used by bat enthusiasts, scientists, conservation groups and others to educate the public, dispel myths and bring attention to the struggles they face. The beneficial impact these amazing creatures have on our ecosystem...

In this episode, we focus on three employees and talk about their childhood, how they got involved in the Forest Service and more. So join us in welcoming a hydrologist, a shared stewardship coordinator, and the acting National Forest Stewardship Program manager in Incorporative Forestry.

We learned in Episode 19 about Ecosystem Services or Nature's Benefits in an introduction-type show. This show, we dive back in with Part 2 of that series with our first forest benefit spotlight shining on - Water. A research associate with the Public Policy Institute of California Water Policy Center joins us to talk about this critical need.

In this episode of Forest Focus, Steve Dunsky, a videographer and historian of the Forest Service for more than 30 years, speaks with Char Miller about the 50th anniversary of NEPA, the National Environmental Policy Act. Char Miller is Director of the Environmental Analysis Program and W.M. Keck Professor of Environmental Analysis at Pomona College in Claremont, California. Dr. Miller is the autho...

The focus of this episode is recycling. What happens when a large wildfire requires the creation of a fire camp or incident command post, where hundreds or even thousands of personnel support the firefighting effort? The amount of trash that accumulates could match that of a small town. We speak with the National Greening Fire Team, ambassadors, and recycling vendors who work to lessen this enviro...

In this episode of Forest Focus, we explore backcountry and wilderness packing with the Pacific Southwest Region's Pack Stock Center of Excellence. Have a listen to a tradition, one covered in over a hundred years of trail dust, that is still critical and relevant today in supporting fire management, ecosystems and forest management.

Millions of us understand what the benefit of being outdoors has on our mind, body and spirit. But what other benefits does the natural world provide on your national forests? Well, this episode we explore how nature benefits our daily lives with an introduction into ecosystem services, otherwise known as nature's benefits.

In this episode we speak with Sarah LaPlante, a Forest Service employee, about her challenges of working as a District Ranger on the Stanislaus National Forest during the COVID-19 pandemic and balancing her workload with her new role as a mother.