U.S. Forest Service

During an early fall week at Entiat National Fish Hatchery, more than 200 high school students swapped their laptops and school attire for data sheets and waders, ready to immerse themselves in the dynamic Entiat River.

Gold Creek, about 55 miles east of Seattle, Washington, in the Cascade Range, is about to experience a massive transformation, one that will reopen pathways of wildlife migration and return the cold, clear water that the Endangered Species Act-listed bull trout and other anadromous fish need to...

Friends of the Norfork National Fish Hatchery hosted the annual Hatchery Outdoor Adventure at the Norfork National Fish Hatchery on September 7, 2024. The weather was perfect and the event hosted almost 300 kids!

Stepping carefully among the woody debris at the base of the ravine, Kate Bocskor, senior fish and wildlife biologist at the Sacramento Fish and Wildlife Office, scanned the moist earth for a rare salamander. This is the part of being a wildlife biologist that drew her to the field: exploring...

Staff from Erwin National Fish Hatchery assisted the Tennessee Aquarium, Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, and US Forest Service to release southern Appalachian brook trout in a previously unoccupied tributary to Rock Creek.

About 18 months after the Mosquito Fire ripped through the small town of Foresthill, California, biologists were excited to see California red-legged frogs living for the first time in wetland habitat created in 2021 on the Tahoe National Forest.

Climate change is resulting in lower summer flows in the rivers of the Pacific Northwest. Lower flows and human activity can be problematic for federally protected bull trout, but biologists from Mid-Columbia Fish and Wildlife Conservation Office are working with partners to increase streamflow and...

A felony antler poaching sentence, on the eve of shed hunt season opening, underscores the costs of flouting antler collection rules, say federal and state authorities.

In 2023, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed to add the California spotted owl to the list of species protected by the Endangered Species Act. The proposal noted wildfire as the leading threat to the bird, and thankfully, efforts are already underway to improve the health of California’s...

From volcanic close calls to rainy river floats, the fish and wildlife biologist’s conservation career is only just getting started.

On the screen appears a map of Northern Nevada with a slice of Eastern California. Diamond shaped markers are peppered across the map signifying recovery projects for Lahontan cutthroat trout. Faith Machuca, a Lahontan cutthroat trout recovery ecologist for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in...

In California, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service often partners with the Forest Service to protect species listed under this act. National forests throughout the state are home to dozens of listed species from frogs and fish, to foxes and fishers. The uninterrupted habitats that extend for...

Even over a year later, tears well up in his eyes when he talks about it. The “wave of emotion,” as he describes it, is understandable given that the moment was 15 years in the making. “Even last summer when I took my son and his friend out there and told them the story; it still gave me chills to...

Located not far from Lake Charles, Baton Rouge, New Orleans and Texas, Lacassine National Wildlife Refuge offers diverse vegetation which provides habitats for wildlife.  Species that call the refuge home, include ducks, geese, bobcats, coyotes, foxes, minks, white-tailed deer and alligators. ...

Traditional methods used to monitor for California spotted owls, a species proposed to be listed as threatened under the ESA, is time consuming. It requires hiking in remote forests, hooting for owls and hoping they respond. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has teamed up with Kevin Kelly at the...

Today, we know that lighting on communication towers can be deadly to birds. But you probably didn’t know that there was one tower who changed their lights decades before everyone else – changing the trajectory for towers throughout the U.S. and Canada and saving millions of birds. So what’s the...

Biologists with a passion for plant conservation recently collaborated with Georgia Public Broadcast to produce a 26-minute video for Georgia Outdoors highlighting some of the work to protect and conserve at-risk plants.

In September 2022, the Mosquito Fire roared through the American River Canyon just outside the small northern California community of Foresthill. Steep hillsides covered in oak and pine trees, shrubs and grasses went up in flames. The fire burned for 46 days, destroying homes and small businesses...

This week, 166 endangered Sierra Nevada yellow-legged frogs were released into cool streams on the Plumas National Forest to improve their declining population numbers in the northern Sierra Nevada. In 2022, biologists from the U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and California...

Despite adaptations that allow them to endure extreme conditions, populations of numerous butterfly species are shrinking. That's why the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is working proactively with partners across the nation to change the trajectory for butterflies that are “at risk” of steep...

When people think about the southwestern United States, most picture arid deserts and mountainous areas, however southwestern states including Arizona and New Mexico also contain riparian woodlands and wetlands that many species rely on. One of those species is the Chiricahua leopard frog.

Bats benefit people and our planet in many ways. Bats help farmers by consuming insect pests, which improves crop yields and reduces pesticide use. Nectar-feeding bats pollinate plants, and fruit-eating bats disperse seeds in tropical forests. Spectacular bat flights generate ecotourism dollars....

This is a story about how innovation has helped recovery of an endangered species.

Agencies across the government are taking action to reduce one of the leading causes of bird mortality: collisions with windows.

The feral hog removal for ecological restoration project will protect existing high-quality stream, glade, riparian forest and upland habitats throughout priority watersheds in Iron, Reynolds, Washington and St. Francois counties in Missouri.

When we think about landscape conservation, we tend to think big – big problems that require big solutions. But sometimes, it’s the little things that have the greatest impacts. The beating wings of a small butterfly might just be what is needed to save our nation’s grasslands. The butterfly is...

On October 11, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service staff were part of a team recognized by the Oregon State Land Board for the Three Rivers Fish Passage Restoration Project, funded in part by the Columbia River Fish and Wildlife Conservation Office National Fish Passage Program. This project highlights...

When wildfires erupt, animals do their best to move out of the direct path of the flames while staying close to home if they can find safe refuge. But when a high-severity fire burns across a large landscape, it moves fast and climbs through the tree canopy. Wildlife has a more challenging time...

When you close your eyes and think of a healthy forest, you may picture one that’s thick with trees. But a healthy forest is complex, just like the plant and animal species that live there.