The U.S. Forest Service has finalized a policy that it says will provide nationally consistent training, evaluation and certification requirements for the use of chain saws and crosscut saws on National Forest System lands.

The U.S. Forest Service has increased the pace and scale of forest restoration by nine percent since 2011, according to a newly released report. The progress comes in the face of mounting challenges to the agency including record droughts, longer wildfire seasons and increased budget dollars spent fighting wildland fires.

The U.S. Forest Service puts California’s dead tree total at more than 12 million over the past year as the multi-year drought continues unabated. The total is likely to rise as the hot, dry summer brings forest fires.

U.S. Forest Service will auction rights to almost 10 square miles of logging rights at Tongass National Forest. Hemlock, spruce and cedar woodlands will be sold in an effort to support logging and sawmill firms until second growth forest lands mature.

U.S. Forest Service announces intent to modify Tongass National Forest management plan to advance transition, support forest industry

The U.S. Forest Service today announced and is seeking comment on a proposed rule that would provide forest products to federally-recognized Indian Tribes.

The U.S. Forest Service will award more than $14 million in funding for projects aimed at protecting over 28,000 acres of working forests. Money comes from the Land and Water Conservation Fund.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced today that the U.S. Forest Service will award more than $14 million in funding from the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) to seven Forest Legacy Program projects aimed at protecting over 28,000 acres of working forests.

Emerald Ash Borers are likely to kill 99 percent of the U.S. ash wood trees, says the U.S. Forest Service. The super cold winter did not even slow the insects. Infested areas have been quarantined in 22 states.