Sneak Peek: The Forestry Source, July 2020

June 25, 2020

Enjoy this sneak peek of The Forestry Source. Missing out on this great publication? Join SAF. 

Working Lands Roundtable
In 2018, the Western Governors’ Association (WGA) launched the Working Lands Roundtable, a vehicle for implementing western governors’ natural resource–focused initiatives. In this article, Troy Timmons, the WGA’s director of strategic initiatives, talks about the Roundtable and other initiatives. 

The Sawtooth Fire in Arizona had burned 24,729 acres of private land, Arizona State lands,
and the Tonto National Forest as of June 8, 2020. Photo: Inciweb.

Presidential Field Foresters
This article looks at the 11 SAF Presidential Field Forester Award recipients for 2020. The award recognizes foresters who have dedicated their professional careers to the application of forestry on the ground, using sound, scientific methods, and adaptive management strategies. 

Wildland Firefighting during a Pandemic
Beth Lund, assistant director (operations) of fire and aviation management for the US Forest Service, talks about the challenges the Forest Service and other agencies face in conducting fire suppression operations during the ongoing covid-19 pandemic. A separate article looks at the lesson learned through the 3rd International Smoke Symposium.

Free FIA Data Tools
The US Forest Service’s Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) database is the single most important dataset for forestry in the United States. However, the learning curve for harnessing these data has always been fairly steep. Fortunately, there are free tools for working with this rich FIA dataset that are useful for both industrial forest managers and academic researchers.