Researchers with the University of New Hampshire say the dramatic increase in visitors to New England s national forests during the COVID-19 pandemic will have long-lasting effects. An additional 2 million people visited the White Mountain National Forest and Green Mountain National Forest during the summer of 2020 bringing traffic, trail congestion and litter. Michael Ferguson, associate professor of recreation management and policy at the University of New Hampshire, said this often led to conflicts, mainly between in-state and out-of-state visitors. .
It s Orca Action Month and a restoration project in Puget Sound will help provide more salmon to the aquatic mammals. Highway development has degraded the Duckabush estuary on the Olympic Peninsula. The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife has designed a project to elevate Highway 101 and restore tidelands, helping juvenile salmon habitat. .
Utah state leaders held a groundbreaking ceremony for a new firefighting center to be built along the Wasatch Front. Jamie Barnes, director of forestry, fire and state lands for the Utah Department of Natural Resources, said the new building is "a step forward for the state s wild land s fire program." She noted the new building will serve as the headquarters for the state s fire program, which responds to fires on state and private land, and also helps support other agencies like the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management. .