US Forest Service

A Republican plan before the US Senate to sell millions of acres of federal public lands in the west to developers has been removed from President Trump’s big tax and spending bill.

Republicans want to make 250 million acres of public lands eligible for sale to housing developers.

A year after President Biden's Earth Day visit to Seattle where he announced an order to identify and protect older forests, the results from the government's first-ever national inventory of mature and old-growth forests on federal land is being released.

The Biden administration is directing $930 million toward reducing wildfire dangers in 10 western states by clearing trees and underbrush from national forests. The work is projected to cost up to $50 billion. Last year’s climate and infrastructure bills combined included about $5 billion for the task.

Scientists are studying old wildfires to find what forest treatments slowed the flames – and what treatments didn’t work so well. Researchers are looking closely at the Schneider Springs fire, the largest wildfire in Washington in 2021.

The U.S. Forest Service is looking at something different — very different — to improve situational awareness at big wildfires: high altitude balloons.

The U.S. Forest Service has given the green light to install new seismometers on Glacier Peak, classified as one of the most dangerous volcanoes in the United States. There’s only one monitor there now. More early warning sensors could provide precious time to evacuate.

Mushroom hunters return to foraging with springtime morels. You can look for mushrooms in the Pacific Northwest throughout the seasons, searching for boletes in summer and chanterelles in fall. The Forest Service suggests only picking two-thirds of what you find to allow spores to seed for future mushrooms and leave food for wildlife.

Wildfires know no boundaries. They jump from public to private land, from national forests to state parks. And local communities are often the best…

Washington state and the U.S. Forest Service signed an agreement last week that officials say will improve on-the-ground management of public lands...