The 3-day intermediate spatial institute covered how to use GIS and Global Positioning Systems (GPS).  Using white pine blister rust maps, teachers mapped rock walls using desktop mapping software.  NA S&PF Plant Pathologist Isabel Munck took teachers out in the field to look for new cases of blister rust. (Luckily they did not find any.)  Their final project was a storytelling map of the field visit displayed on a customized Web site. See illustration for a sample; explore the map online.

The 6-day advanced spatial institute incorporated fisheries studies and watershed analysis.  Using data from the Forests, Water and People analysis, teachers learned how to navigate GIS software.  They also learned to collect data in the field with GPS receivers and smartphones, create Web maps online, and analyze data. Finally, the teachers conducted their own watershed projects.

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WASHINGTON--David Nowak, Project leader and research forester, U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Forest Service, Northern Research Station. Best known for: The U.S. Forest Service reported last year that the number of trees in 17 of 20 major U.S. cities surveyed is declining, which has negative consequences for air and water quality, energy usage and air temperatures. Nowak, who co-wrote the study that estimates the loss of urban trees in the United States at about 4 million a year, is focused on reversing this trend. Nowak, along with private industry and nongovernmental organizations, created an innovative Web-based tool known as i-Tree. It uses field data on the size, species and numbers of trees in urban areas, along with local air pollution and ­meteorological information to quantify the forest structure, environmental effects and values to communities. Communities can obtain information about the health of their trees, the ecosystem benefits, how many new trees would be desirable and where they should be planted. Read more.

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A line of dirty fire engines rumbles off of Southern California's Pine to Palms Highway into an open field, trailing a cloud of brown dust. The drivers' faces are smudged with black soot. Across the road, helicopters land to fill with water and fuel before whacking their way back up through the smoky sky. The scenic San Jacinto Mountains behind them are bare and black, burnt clean of tree and bush. Puffs of gray smoke rise like faint ghosts. Jeanne Pincha-Tulley watches as one helicopter rises and veers to the north. It looks like a gnat compared with the big, billowing column of gray that's rising over the furthest ridge. Thousands of fires flare up in the West every year. They range in size and ferocity. Type 1 fires are in a class unto themselves. They are the most complex, the most destructive and most expensive to extinguish. They require the most resources and the most time. They are the fires that you see burning across your television screen on the nightly news. As such, only 17 people nationwide are qualified to manage them. They are the elite of the elite. Pincha-Tulley is one of those 17 - the first and, until recently, only woman to attain that rank. Read more or listen to the story.

Updated Publication: Federal Income Tax on Timber

WASHINGTON--The U.S. Forest Service has significantly updated a publication about Federal income tax on timber. The new fourth edition is titled Federal Income Tax on Timber: A Quick Guide for Woodland Owners. This 26-page document provides a quick reference on timber tax laws that are important to woodland owners. It presents concise and easy-to-understand explanations of issues related to owning woodland. 

NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa.--This month the Northeastern Area State and Private Forestry added a new assistant director and military liaison.

Owen Martin (Photo: Roberta Burzynski)

Owen Martin, the new Director of Fire and Aviation Management, reported for duty in the Northeastern Area State and Private Forestry (NA S&PF) Headquarters office on August 26.  He will be responsible for delivery of the Cooperative Fire Management Program in the 20 States served by NA S&PF and on forested lands on military installations throughout the nation.

Owen comes to NA S&PF from the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest in Rhinelander, WI, where he was Deputy Forest Supervisor.  Since he began working for the Forest Service in 1977, he has worked in four Forest Service regions:  Southwestern (R3), Southern (R8), Pacific Southwest (R5), and Eastern (R9).  Though this is his first assignment with State and Private Forestry, he has worked extensively with both State and Private Forestry and Research in his previous positions. Two of his assignments are of special note. First is his extensive experience with wildfire on the Descanso Ranger District, Cleveland National Forest, in San Diego, CA, where he was an active member of San Diego County Forest Area Task Force, Border Agency Fire Council, Border Managers Task Force, and numerous Fire Safe Councils. The second assignment of note is his work on the cleanup after Hurricane Katrina on the DeSoto Ranger District, on National Forests in Mississippi, in Wiggins.

Owen earned a forestry degree from Northern Arizona University and completed Oregon State's Forest Engineering Institute program.  When not working, Owen enjoys barbecuing and gardening with his wife, and hunting. He has a married daughter and another who is a college sophomore. Two cats round out the Martin household.

You can reach Owen Martin at 11 Campus Blvd., Newtown Square, PA 19073; email omartin01@fs.fed.us; office phone 610-557-4180; cell 610-742-7551; and fax 610-557-4154.  

Fire Management Specialist James H. Furman is the new U.S. Forest Service liaison to the U.S. Air Force Wildland Fire Center at Eglin Air Force Base, in Florida's western panhandle. Under an interagency cooperative agreement he has national responsibilities for fire management on forested land on military installations. 

In his two previous assignments at Eglin AFB, Furman was chief of the Air Force Wildland Fire Center and manager of the wildland fire program.  Earlier this year a team from the center assisted with a prescribed burn at Moody AFB  in Georgia. After his arrival at Eglin, in addition to suppressing about 100 wildfires annually, the prescribed fire program tripled its productivity, completing more than 135 prescribed fires and 100,000 acres per year for each of the past 4 years.  Eglin AFB covers about 464,000 acres and has one of the most active wildland fire programs in the country. Before Eglin, Furman held positions of forest ranger, Santa Rosa County Forester, and Forest Area Supervisor on Blackwater River State Forest, all with the Florida Division of Forestry. 

In 1982, he received a B.S. in Forest Management from Auburn University. He is an active member and past chairman of the North Florida Prescribed Fire Council and serves as a key member on the Steering Committee and Fire Subcommittee for the 1-million-acre Gulf Coastal Plain Ecosystem Partnership.

Furman grew up in rural south Alabama as 1 of 10 children.  He loves hiking and water sports, including paddling and swimming.  He is married with two grown sons.

You can reach James Furman at Eglin AFB Natural Resources, 107 Highway 85 North, Niceville, FL 32578; office phone 850-882-8399, DSN 872-8399, cell 850-978-3236, email jameshfurman@fs.fed.us.  

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WASHINGTON--In partnership with the USDA Forest Service, NASF has published the Fiscal Year 2012 State and Private Forestry Annual Report with supporting appendix of State Fact Sheets. The report gives an overview of success stories from the different programs that fall under the area of State and Private Forestry at the USDA Forest Service.

This year's report is titled Forests: An Investment in the Future and features at least one success story from each of NASF's 59 member states, territories and districts. Read report and appendix.

Wildland Fire

The Forest Service's National Office of Communications has developed a Wildland Fire 2013 page that contains information on a variety of subjects associated with the agency's involvement in wildfire suppression, research, firefighters' roles and a host of other items. Visit the site.

Effects of Climate Change on Birds

Birds can be useful ecological indicators, and in North America we are already seeing some bird species responding to climate changes. In a new Topic Page on the Climate Change Resource Center, Forest Service authors discuss some of the recent observed and expected changes for bird species, and highlight groups of particular concern, such as montane and migratory birds. They also give an overview of how management actions might address these changes. View the page to learn more and to find publications, tools and links on this topic.

Diagnose Problems, Identify Weeds and Even Indoor Insects

Minnesota Extension's Horticulture Team has online resources to keep you updated and informed about yard, garden, and tree pests and diseases. The site helps users identify plant problems, weeds, and outdoor and indoor insects. Give it a try.

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(Forest Service photo)

LARAMIE, Wyo.--Paleontology volunteer Tom Ludwig recently uncovered a completely intact 31-inch Triceratops brow horn on the  Thunder Basin National Grassland in northeastern Wyoming. Many dinosaur species have been defined based on specimens collected from this area, dating back to specimens collected in the 1880's.  Read more.

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