ERI in the News
30 years after the deadly Dude Fire, work begins in the forest to prevent another disaster
PAYSON — On June 27, 1990, two stories dominated the headlines in Arizona. One documented the hottest day on record in Phoenix, where the temperature peaked at 122 degrees. The second story reported that six firemen had been killed in the Dude Fire. Now, 33 years later, forest managers [...]
Revolutionizing what we understand about America’s forests
Forests and the carbon they capture play a pivotal role in combating climate change, and a new study co-authored by NAU researchers is set to transform forest conservation efforts nationwide by providing new, more accurate models for calculating and predicting how much carbon they hold. The U.S. Forest Service, [...]
U.S. Forest Service proposes to protect old growth trees
The Forest Service recently released a proposal to revise its forest management plans nationwide to protect old growth trees. It’s a response to an executive order issued by the Biden administration in 2022. KNAU’s Melissa Sevigny spoke about this unprecedented effort with Andrew Sanchez Meador, executive director of the [...]
Cutting trees, setting fires could help protect Flagstaff from new disaster
In the forest around Hart Prairie, about 14 miles north of Flagstaff, trees appear to be uprooting themselves and walking across the forest floor. But the sound of the forest is mechanical, a hum filling the air, disrupting the peace of the ponderosa pine forest. A feller buncher — [...]
As many forests fail to recover from wildfires, replanting efforts face huge odds — and obstacles
BELLVUE, Colo. (AP) — Camille Stevens-Rumann crouched in the dirt and leaned over evergreen seedlings, measuring how much each had grown in seven months. “That’s two to three inches of growth on the spruce,” said Stevens-Rumann, interim director at the Colorado Forest Restoration Institute. Her research team is monitoring [...]
Study: Aspens are struggling. Elk hunting can help
A new study of aspens on the San Francisco Peaks shows they’re struggling to grow to full-sized trees. Two decades of drought have taken a toll on the trees that draw flocks of visitors to the Peaks each autumn. KNAU’s Melissa Sevigny spoke with Northern Arizona University forest ecologist [...]
Long-term research site shows how old trees respond to forest restoration
A decades-long experiment north of the Grand Canyon on the Arizona Strip is offering new insights into the fate of old pines and oaks when fire is restored to a landscape. Read More
Researchers launch database to track and understand wildfires
A coalition of research institutes from the southwestern U.S. has developed a new nationwide, open-access geodatabase that they believe will revolutionize tracking and understanding wildfires. Read More