The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture that administers the nation's 154 national forests and 20 national grasslands. The Forest Service manages 193 million acres (780,000 km2) of land. Major divisions of the agency include the Chief's Office, National Forest System, State and Private Forestry, Business Operations, and Research and Development. The agency manages about 25% of federal lands and is the only major national land management agency not part of the U.S. Department of the Interior, which manages the National Park Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Bureau of Land Management.
Bangor is a city in the U.S. state of Maine and the county seat of Penobscot County. The city proper has a population of 33,039, making it the state's 3rd-largest settlement, behind Portland (66,882) and Lewiston (36,221).
Penobscot Indian Island Reservation is an Indian reservation for the Penobscot Tribe of Maine, a federally recognized tribe of the Penobscot in Penobscot County, Maine, United States, near Old Town. The population was 610 at the 2010 census. The reservation extends for many miles alongside 15 towns and two unorganized territories in a thin string along the Penobscot River, from its base at Indian Island, near Old Town and Milford, northward to the vicinity of East Millinocket, almost entirely in Penobscot County. A small, uninhabited part of the reservation is in South Aroostook, Aroostook County, by which it passes along its way northward.
Howland is a town in Penobscot County, Maine, United States, which was settled in 1818. It was named after John Howland, one of the passengers on the Mayflower. The population was 1,241 at the 2010 census.
The Penobscot River is a 109-mile-long (175 km) river in the U.S. state of Maine. Including the river's West Branch and South Branch increases the Penobscot's length to 264 miles (425 km), making it the second-longest river system in Maine and the longest entirely in the state. Its drainage basin contains 8,610 square miles (22,300 km2).
Silviculture is the practice of controlling the growth, composition/structure, and quality of forests to meet values and needs, specifically timber production.
Clearcutting, clearfelling or clearcut logging is a forestry/logging practice in which most or all trees in an area are uniformly cut down. Along with shelterwood and seed tree harvests, it is used by foresters to create certain types of forest ecosystems and to promote select species that require an abundance of sunlight or grow in large, even-age stands. Logging companies and forest-worker unions in some countries support the practice for scientific, safety and economic reasons, while detractors consider it a form of deforestation that destroys natural habitats and contributes to climate change.
The Wind River Experimental Forest is an ecological and silvicultural research in Stabler, Washington, in the United States. Used as a research site by the U.S. Forest Service beginning in 1908, and functioning as an experimental forest since 1932, it is "known as the cradle of forest research in the Pacific Northwest". The site is probably best known for the Wind River Canopy Crane Research Facility (WRCCRF), a 285-foot (87 m)-high freestanding tower crane which supported an 8-person gondola allowing scientists to view the forest canopy from above. The tallest trees in the forest are about 220 feet (67 m).
Selection cutting, also known as selection system, is the silvicultural practice of harvesting trees in a way that moves a forest stand towards an uneven-aged or all-aged condition, or 'structure'. Using stocking models derived from the study of old growth forests, selection cutting, also known as 'selection system', or 'selection silviculture', manages the establishment, continued growth and final harvest of multiple age classes of trees within a stand. A closely related approach to forest management is Continuous Cover Forestry (CCF), which makes use of selection systems to achieve a permanently irregular stand structure.
Carya tomentosa, is a tree in the Juglandaceae or walnut family. The most abundant of the hickories, common in the eastern half of the US, it is long lived, sometimes reaching the age of 500 years. A straight-growing hickory, a high percentage of its wood is used for products where strength, hardness, and flexibility are needed. The wood makes excellent fuel wood, as well. The leaves turn yellow in Autumn.
South Twin Lake having about 3,200 acres (13 km2) is wholly within Penobscot County, Maine. It is about 6 miles (10 km) west of Millinocket, Maine and is part of the Pemadumcook Chain of Lakes. The lake is centered at 45°37.25′N68°51′W and has spillway elevation 492 feet (150 m) above sea level. It is part of the watershed of the West Branch of the Penobscot River.
An experimental forest, or experimental range, as defined by the United States Forest Service, is "an area administered ... 'to provide for the research necessary for the management of the land.'"
The Orland River is a 3.5-mile-long (5.6 km) river in the town of Orland in Hancock County, Maine. It is part of the Penobscot River watershed.
The Stillwater River is an 11.5-mile-long (18.5 km) side channel of the Penobscot River in Maine. From its source in Old Town, the Stillwater runs 2.3 miles (3.7 km) northwest along the northeast side of Orson Island, the site of the Penobscot Indian Reservation. It then runs 9.2 miles (14.8 km) south along the west sides of Orson and Marsh islands, over three dammed falls. The stream rejoins the main stem of the Penobscot in Orono.
August Ludwig "Gus" Hormay (1907–1999) developed and applied the concept of the rest-rotation grazing management system in areas of the Western United States. Rest-rotation rangeland management system uses deferred grazing to manage increased plant reproduction and maintenance, while providing grazing lands for both livestock and wildlife. Gus Hormay's rest-rotation management system was developed to increase a healthy plant community, watershed, soil and wildlife habitat, while at the same time increasing livestock production. It has been in use in various forms since the mid-1960s as a rangeland management tool.
The Bear Brook Watershed in Maine (BBWM) is an experimental forest operated by the University of Maine in Hancock County, Maine, United States. The BBWM focuses around the two small first order branches of Bear Brook on the southeastern slopes of Lead Mountain above Bear Pond. Two years of monitoring studies began in 1987, after which the two watersheds of East and West Bear Brook were determined to be nearly identical. The West Bear Brook watershed was experimentally acidified with ammonium sulfate every other month from November 1989 until August 2016 to study the effects of sulfur and nitrogen acid deposition. East Bear Brook has been used as an untreated reference. Related research topics at BBWM include climate change, carbon sequestration, base cation depletion, and watershed biogeochemistry. There are two USGS stream gauges on the East and West Branches of Bear Brook.
The H.J. Andrews Experimental Forest, commonly referred to as Andrews Forest, is located near Blue River, Oregon, United States, and is managed cooperatively by the United States Forest Service's Pacific Northwest Research Station, Oregon State University, and the Willamette National Forest. It was one of only 610 UNESCO International Biosphere Reserves, until being withdrawn from the program as of June 14, 2017, and a Long Term Ecological Research site. It is situated in the middle of the Western Cascades.
Searsport is an incorporated town and deep water seaport located at the confluence of the Penobscot River estuary and the Penobscot Bay immediately SE of Sears Island and Cape Jellison in Waldo County, Maine, United States. The population was 2,615 at the 2010 census. Searsport includes the village of North Searsport. The town is known as "the home of the famous sea captains" and the "Antique Capital of Maine".
The Jornada Biosphere Reserve is a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in southern New Mexico. It is one of three biosphere reserves representing the Chihuahuan Desert. The area extends from the crest of the San Andres Mountains, which are dominated by shrub woodlands, to the Jornada Plains characterized by semi-desert grasslands.
Aroostook Farm is an experimental farm near Presque Isle, Maine. Founded in 1914, it is the largest (507 acres of the University of Maine's five experimental farms. In January 2020, Potato Grower Magazine wrote that "over the last century-plus, much has been accomplished on that plot of land that has brought the entire North American potato industry into the future, while remaining steadfastly focused on the growers, processors and wholesalers of Maine."
