Forest Service Chief Honors ForWarn Team

USDA Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell has announced the winners of the 2013 Chief's Honor Awards. The ForWarn team, including scientists and staff from the Eastern and Western Threat Centers and partnering organizations, received an award for efforts to sustain forests and grasslands. “ForWarn provides a broad overview of forest conditions, mapping specific measures of what is desired and how the current forest status departs from that. In addition to tracking areas of disturbance and recovery, ForWarn also tracks vegetation conditions across adjacent lands to provide a ‘big picture’ perspective view of forest health that is needed to restore, sustain, and enhance vegetation resources,” says Bill Hargrove, Eastern Threat Center research ecologist and lead ForWarn researcher. The Chief's Awards, which acknowledge outstanding achievements pertaining to the Forest Service's strategic objectives, are among the highest honors in the Forest Service. Awards will be presented during a ceremony on March 17.