Images

The RestoreNet plot at McDowell Sonoran Preserve was surrounded by blooming native wildflowers, including purple owl's clover (Castillejia exserta). Photo by Laura Shriver.

Diverse plants growing in a connectivity modified (ConMod) treatment in the Sonoran Desert. Photo by Molly McCormick.

In 2022, we piloted RestoreNet V2.0 testing soil inoculation from undegraded reference sites, seed balls (white balls in photo), and pitting treatments (small indentions). Soil inoculation with healthy soils is expected to increase beneficial microbes at the degraded restoration site. Soil microbes can help reduce water stress in plants. Photo by Hannah Farrell.

USGS crew measuring forest conditions following the Dixie Fire in 2021. Lassen Volcanic National Park. California. 

Setting up fuel transects within an archaeological site at Sequoia National Park to understand potential future fire behavior and how it could affect artifacts within the site. Pictured: Grant Snitker (foreground) and Alex Fetteroff (background), New Mexico Consortium. Copyright: Photo by Grant Snitker, New Mexico Consortium. 

Using terrestrial LiDAR to characterize fuels within an archaeological site at Sequoia National Park site to understand potential future fire behavior and its effects on artifacts. Copyright: Photo by Grant Snitker, New Mexico Consortium. 

A precontact rockshelter and associated artifacts impacted by the combustion of heavy fuels during the KNP Complex Fire, California. Copyright: photo by Grant Snitker, New Mexico Consortium. 

Historic cans from a refuse pile that were scorched by the combustion of nearby fuels during the Caldor Fire, California. Copyright: photo taken by Grant Snitker, New Mexico Consortium. 

In 2008 Landsat data became accessible to all users at no cost. This graphic displays the primary uses of Landsat data. 

View more statistics on the Landsat Project Statistics page. 

Ecosystems and the wild things that live in them are the foundation of our conservation heritage and an economic asset to current and future generations of Americans. Healthy ecosystems support living things and natural processes that bring prosperity and enjoyment for all Americans. 

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Graphic showing potential benefits of RestoreNet 2.0 treatments, including seeding, live topsoil inoculation, livestock grazing, seed balls, and soil pits

RestoreNet treatments include soil pits and connectivity modifiers (ConMods), seen here at a RestoreNet site in the Sonoran Desert.

Ruby Lake National Wildlife Refuge lies at the southern end of Ruby Valley in northeast Nevada. For more information visit the Ruby Lake NWR website.

Two great horned owls sitting on a downed tree near the Columbia River in southwest Washington.

Lahontan cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarkii henshawi) is a federally listed threatened species. Ninety-seven percent of their range are small headwater streams in the Great Basin of North America.

Land managers representing National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, US Forest Service, Navajo Nation, private ranches and farms attend the first RestoreNet stakeholder meeting at the USGS Southwest Biological Science Center in February 2020. 

RAMPS expands drought adaptation project with national parks in the 4-Corners area. National parks across the desert Southwest are experiencing ecological impacts due to climate change.

RAMPS met with DOI Office of Wildland Fire, US Customs and Border Patrol, and US Fish & Wildlife Service staff at Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge in southern AZ last November. The group is developing tools to reduce wildfire risk, conserve wildlife habitat and natural resources, and increase safety and security of border operations.

Arid grasslands in the U.S. Mexico border are fire adapted and used by diverse groups. Science from the Southwest Biological Science Center and the Restoration Assessment and Monitoring Program for the Southwest (RAMPS) is helping these groups find common ground to manage this dynamic landscape.

RestoreNet is a networked experiment testing treatments for improving restoration in drylands. Find out more at www.usgs.gov/sbsc/ramps

Adult Sage Thrasher waiting to deliver food to its nestlings.