WERC Highlights -- May 2000

What Methods Should Managers Choose to Reduce Fire Hazards in Our Forests? For improved decision making, resource managers need to know what widespread fuel treatments are needed to restore ecological integrity to many U.S. forests and reduce the high risk of destructive, uncharacteristically severe fires. With support from the Joint Fire Science Program, USGS researchers will assess fuel-reducing treatments in a 5-year study at Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, one of a national network of 11 sites, to determine an appropriate balance of cuttings, mechanical fuel treatments, and prescribed fire. The primary focus is on the ecosystem impacts of fire hazard reduction treatments. The Joint Fire Science Program is a six-agency partnership to develop information and tools for managers and specialists who deal with wildland fuels issues. (Jon Keeley, Three Rivers, CA, 559-565-3170)

Sea Otters Surveyed by NBC: A Dateline Discovery News crew filmed a soon-to-air story while accompanying USGS research ecologist Jim Estes as he scanned from shore for sea otters during the spring 2000 survey of the California population, which was listed in 1977 as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. Surveys are conducted cooperatively by scientists of the USGS, California Department of Fish and Game, and Monterey Bay Aquarium with the help of experienced volunteers. The information gathered will be used by federal and state wildlife agencies in making decisions about the management of this sea mammal. (Jim Estes, Santa Cruz, CA, 831-459-2820) Official news release

Fearsome Frogs to Air on CNBC: A half-hour National Geographic television special on bullfrogs Fearsome Frogs will air as one of the stories on EXPLORER, June 4 at 8:00 p.m. Research by USGS ecologist Cecil Schwalbe and University of Arizona researcher Phil Rosen will be featured. One part of the film is set in the eastern United States, where the bullfrog evolved in balance with its ecosystem, and one part is in the West, where the bullfrog has been introduced away from its natural predators and has become a serious threat to native amphibians and reptiles. Most of the western footage was filmed at San Bernardino National Wildlife Refuge and focuses on efforts of scientists, refuge staff, and private landowners to control bullfrogs and conserve native leopard frogs and garter snakes. (Cecil Schwalbe, Tucson, AZ, 520/621-5508)