U.S. Forest Service: Responding and Adapting to Wildland Fire

USDA Blog Post:

Posted by Tom Harbour, Director of Fire and Aviation Management, U.S. Forest Service, on April 10, 2014 at 1:00 PM

The U.S. Forest Service has burned more than 480 acres in the Flying J Project, an effort on the Kaibab National Forest in Arizona to protect the community of Tusayan. The project is outside the Grand Canyon National Park and represents a small part of a larger effort to use controlled burns on more than 4,500 acres of the forest. So far, nearly 1,900 acres have been treated. (U.S. Forest Service/Holly Krake)

The loss of property and firefighters during wildfires are a reminder of the challenges we face in reducing the risks associated with large, unpredictable wildfires. Climate change, drought, insect infestations, changing land-use patterns, and other factors have contributed to increases in the complexity and in the numbers of wildfires across the United States.

Over the past four decades, some states such as Arizona and Idaho have seen the number of large fires burning each year more than triple. In many other western states, including California, Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, and Wyoming, the number of large fires has doubled, according to a report by Climate Central. Average spring and summer temperatures across 11 Western states have increased by more than 1.5 degrees Fahrenheit, contributing to higher wildfire risks. In Arizona, spring temperatures have warmed faster than any other state in the U.S., rising nearly 1 degree per decade since 1970, which likely played a role in the increasing number of fires in the state.

The U.S. Forest Service and the U.S. Department of Interior are responding in part to these real, visible trends by implementing the National Cohesive Wildland Fire Management Strategy. The strategy was developed in conjunction with hundreds of stakeholders across all jurisdictions in response to the Federal Land Assistance, Management, and Enhancement Act (FLAME) passed by Congress in 2009.

The strategy identifies the greatest challenges and outlines available opportunities to create resilient landscapes, prevent the loss of lives and property, and respond to wildfires. Although we successfully suppress nearly 98 percent of unwanted wildfires, there is still much work to be done to mitigate the risks posed by the growing number and size of fires. The Cohesive Strategy provides federal, local, and state governments, tribes, and organizations with improved planning and implementation tools for wildland fire management and landscape restoration activities.

The strategy has three goals: to maintain and restore resilient landscapes; create fire-adapted communities; and effectively respond to wildfires. To reach these goals, the Forest Service has used prescribed, or planned, fire and other treatments to reduce hazardous vegetation. In fiscal year 2012, we completed more than 1.2 million acres of prescribed fires and more than 662,000 acres of mechanical treatments.

In addition, to reach the second goal of the Strategy, the California Wildfire Coordinating Group, in collaboration with the Forest Service and many other stakeholders, launched a statewide, interagency wildfire prevention campaign One Less Spark, One Less Wildfire. In response to a rapidly worsening 2013 wildfire season, the campaign based its actions on predicted changes in wildfire threat. Resources were pooled together and utilized to address these rising threats and inform communities throughout the year.

In this time of shrinking resources and rising numbers of wildfires, we will continue to work with our partners and stakeholders to address challenges and meet the goals of the Cohesive Strategy.

Stopping a Winged Purveyor of Disease and Death

USDA Blog Post:

Posted by Sandy Miller Hays, USDA-Agricultural Research Service Information Staff, on April 7, 2014 at 12:00 PM

The mosquito Aedes aegypti can spread several diseases as it travel from person to person. Only the females feed on blood. In this photo, the mosquito is just starting to feed on a person’s arm.

During the month of April we will take a closer look at USDA’s Groundbreaking Research for a Revitalized Rural America, highlighting ways USDA researchers are improving the lives of Americans in ways you might never imagine.  For example, researching mosquitoes that spread diseases that threaten human health worldwide.

Today is World Health Day, and this year’s theme is vector-borne diseases—those diseases spread by organisms like insects, ticks and snails.  Significant vector-borne diseases in the Americas include dengue fever, malaria, leishmaniasis, lymphatic filariasis and schistosomiasis.

One of the most egregious offenders is the mosquito, and the scientists of USDA’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS) are taking aim at this winged attacker with weapons ranging from traditional remedies to computer modeling and satellite images.

Rift Valley Fever (RVF) is a viral disease spread to livestock and humans via mosquito bites, and is a major threat in Africa and the Middle East. ARS scientists partnered with the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the World Health Organization (WHO) and federal partners from NASA, CDC and the Department of Defense to form the Rift Valley Fever Outbreak Early-Warning Team to develop and transfer an early-warning system to detect and predict outbreaks of RVF.

The model is based on analyzing satellite images to detect when temperatures in the Pacific and Indian oceans elevate concurrently to produce widespread and heavy rainfall in Africa. The right conditions can give rise to major increases in the number and longevity of infected mosquitoes that spread the disease. Similar models can help predict outbreaks of malaria and dengue.

In October 2006, the model predicted that RVF would flare up within three months in sub-Saharan Africa, and warnings were sent to countries in harm’s way to allow them to step up surveillance and controls for disease-carrying insects. Additional warnings were issued from 2007-2010 in Sudan, Southern Africa and Madagascar months prior to the detection of RVF disease.

At a remote patrol base in Iraq, ARS scientist and U.S. Army entomologist Seth Britch applies a pesticide treatment to camouflage netting and shade cloth that will be suspended over outdoor eating and cooking areas and areas between dormitories. This treatment reduces populations of biting flies and mosquitoes by transferring lethal doses to the insects when they rest on the camouflage material.

In other work, ARS scientists have shown that compounds in the oil of seeds of Jatropha curcas—burned in homes in India—are effective mosquito repellents. They’ve also shown that a naturally occurring compound from pine oil seems to deter mosquito biting and repels two kinds of ticks.

Additionally, ARS scientists have evaluated treatments applied to uniforms to help protect military personnel against biting insects, and have helped the military evaluate spray equipment to combat insects that threaten the health of deployed soldiers.

These are just a few examples of the ways ARS scientists serve every day on the front lines in the battle against mosquitoes, ticks and other creatures that pose ongoing, serious threats to the health of the world’s population.

ARS agricultural engineer Clint Hoffmann evaluates a pesticide spray nozzle as ARS works to devise better ways of protecting military personnel from disease-transmitting insects like mosquitoes.

USDA Grasshopper Warrior Wins Prestigious Award for Life's Work

USDA Blog Post:

Posted by Natalie Loggans, USDA APHIS, Public Affairs, on August 9, 2013 at 11:55 AM

Nelson Foster inspecting cages used to test the effectiveness of different baits used to suppress grasshoppers.

Grasshoppers and Mormon crickets of the West beware: R. Nelson Foster, of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, is roaming the rangelands looking for you, and when he finds you, he’ll stop your feeding frenzy right in its tracks.

Foster serves as Assistant Laboratory Director at APHIS’ Center for Plant Health Science and Technology in Phoenix, Arizona. For over forty years, he has worked in the lab and in the field conducting groundbreaking research mainly on grasshoppers and similar insects such as Mormon crickets.

In April 2013, Foster’s colleagues nominated him for the Sir Boris Uvarov’s Award in Applied Acridology, given by the Orthopterists’ Society. This international group fosters communication and collaborative research among those dedicated to studying and controlling grasshoppers, crickets, locusts, and related insects. Every four years, the Orthopterists’ Society grants the Sir Boris Uvarov’s Award to one scientist worldwide who has significantly impacted the field of grasshopper, cricket, and locust research.

In June, the Orthopterists’ Society informed Foster that he had won the 2013 award, which will be presented in China next week.  Charles Brown, one of Foster’s APHIS co-workers and a co-nominator for Foster’s award, is not surprised. “This award is justified for all the work that Nelson has done in the field,” Brown said.  “Nelson is largely responsible for the increases in efficiency and safety of grasshopper and Mormon cricket management in the western States. He helped pioneer an effective method of strategic control, called RAATS, which uses less insecticide over less areas of land.”

Nelson Foster collecting grasshoppers with a sweep net on rangeland in South Dakota.

Foster has also helped to develop new insecticides that have reduced environmental impacts. For example, the insecticide Dimilin inhibits the growth of only insects, unlike many traditional insecticides that target the nervous system of insects and other animals alike.

Foster’s research doesn’t just help the USDA, he works with Universities, industry and landowners to develop management tactics, techniques and tools to curtail these insects.  Farmers and ranchers have personally thanked Foster and his teams for helping them decrease grasshopper and Mormon crickets on their land. “Most are a little wary at first, having government workers on their land,” Foster said. “But they warm up to us. They’re surprised to see us out there working from dawn ‘til dusk, just like them. I’ve had ranchers personally open up their homes to us because they love the work we did for them. That’s a truly wonderful experience.”

Reflecting on his life’s work, Foster is humble. “I never worked alone,” he said. “I have always been surrounded by a team of dedicated and cooperative partners who have all done their part to advance this field of study. I get to be a part of the work that helps save our agriculture and our farmers’ way of life. It’s not a job, it’s a joy.”

An early career picture of Nelson Foster examining vegetation for insect pests.