USU Wildland Resources

Firewise Landscaping National Interagency Fire Centerhttps://www.nifc.gov/National Fire Protection Associationhttps://www.nfpa.org/USU Firewise Landscapinghttps://extension.usu.e...

The Big Bad Wolf: Greater Yellowstone’s Greatest Controversy “The Big Bad Wolf” exposes the conservation challenges wolves face in a landscape increasingly dominated by human influence. Read on for an exclusive interview with the film’s Co-Producer, Aaron Bott!

Snakes are an important part of any ecosystem, helping keep rodent and certain pest populations in check. Most of Utah's snakes aren't venomous, and the ones to be extra aware of, rattlesnakes, are easy to identify with their diamond-shaped heads. Check the link below for more rattlesnake tips and facts from Nicki Frey!

Utah State University Extension Quinney College of Natural Resources at USU

Ask an Expert — Making Sense of Snakes This Summer Humans enjoy the summer sun, and so do snakes. Consider these tips to identify snakes and avoid confrontations.

When it comes to mitigating wildfire risk, fire expert Brad Washa recommends a proactive approach to begin with, including thinning forests in the wildland-urban interface, and creating more wildfire-resistant homes, neighborhoods and communities.

-->Understanding historic and natural fire regimes is important when considering management options.

Ask an Expert — Does Forest Thinning Lead to Increased Wildfire Danger, Community Risk? May is National Wildfire Awareness Month, a time to help raise awareness about the dangers of wildfires and encourage people to take measures to protect themselves, their homes and their communities.

🌿❄️ The Arctic is warming four times faster than the global average, and plant communities are rapidly adapting. Mateo Petit Bon and a group of scientists are measuring changes from the past four decades and the conclusions are, well... complicated!

“It’s tempting to think of biodiversity loss as the inevitable outcome of climate change,” Petit Bon said. “But what we’re seeing is more nuanced — biodiversity is increasing in some areas, declining in others. It all depends on the balance between warming and competition among plants.”

Quinney College of Natural Resources at USU

No Clear Winners: New Research Shows How Arctic Plants Are Responding to Warmer World A massive new study published in Nature shows that while warming is certainly reshaping vegetation across the polar North, its impacts vary widely.

🐻 A black bear is a rare sighting, and sadly one was killed by a vehicle near Bear Lake this month. Carnivore expert David Stoner emphasizes the role of bears in ecosystems and stresses the importance of being vigilant to avoid conflict with the animals.

-->“What people have found with bears is that they can be important in terms of seed dispersal for certain plants because their digestive system does not masticate a lot of those seeds,” Stoner said. “They move plants around. They will then turn over a lot of dead wood.”

Black bear killed by vehicle in Bear Lake - The Utah Statesman Bear Lake State Park announced via their page the death of a black bear in Bear Lake this week.…

Wildlife major Tanyon Allred at our Utah State University Eastern campus is getting hands-on, job-relevant experience in the field! Fieldwork is a cornerstone for our wildlife majors and involves partnerships with the likes of Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, U.S. Forest Service, and others.

“My favorite hands-on experience is a toss-up,” Allred says. “It’s between going out with a net gun to collar mule deer or tracking a black bear to her den this spring and being able to put a collar on her. Either way, both were unforgettable.”

Quinney College of Natural Resources at USU

Tracking Wildlife, Building Futures: USU Eastern Student Shares Hands-On Experience, Mentorship For Tanyon Allred, a student in the USU Eastern Wildlife Program, education isn't confined to the classroom — it's lived out in the field, alongside wildlife and professionals who dedicate their lives to conservation.

🎉🎓 Great job to our WILD graduates! What a fantastic accomplishment and on to the next adventure! 🐺🦌🌲🌱🏞

Quinney College of Natural Resources at USU

Graduating senior Luke Forsberg and our wildlife ecology program have been a match made in heaven, combining his love for animals and nature with a program of study that led him to a variety of experiences (like surveying fish and amphibians, and working with baby seals!) and will see him continue on with grad school at Utah State University.

“I’ve always been very passionate about the environment — very passionate about animals. I love seeing animals out in their natural habitats. If anything, I think I just now have the knowledge to kind of understand what I’m seeing and maybe explain that to other people and why it’s important,” he said.

Quinney College of Natural Resources at USU

‘Nature Boy’ Luke Forsberg to graduate from Quinney College of Natural Resources - The Utah Statesman At Utah State University, where mountain trails start just minutes from campus and the air is filled with the energy…

Cheatgrass is highly adaptable and very problematic for outcompeting native flora. Research from Peter Adler shows that cheatgrass can adjust its flowering timing to dominate specific environments within a single generation, good info for land managers to help curb the spread of the invasive plant.

“Genetics and plasticity both affected the time of flowering,” Adler said. “Plants sourced from hot, dry locations flowered earlier than plants from cool, wet places, even when grown together in a common garden. But these genetic effects were smaller than the effects of plasticity.”

Quinney College of Natural Resources at USU

Pulling a Fast One: Invasive Grass Can Tweak Genetic Timing for New Ground New research documents how nimble adaptations by cheatgrass can be.