http://www.fs.fed.us/research/
Forest Service Research and Development (FS R&D) delivers research to Illinois through the Northern
Research Station (NRS) and its field office in Evanston. The eight employees located there address social science aspects of forest research. This research seeks to understand natural resource values to people, demographic changes, and people’s influence on their environment. Long-term research in Illinois is conducted on the Kaskaskia Experimental Forest.
Illinois Funding History
FY 2013
Enacted ($)
FY 2014
Enacted ($)
FY 2015
Budget ($)
Evanston-NRS-9 People and their Environments
ILLINOIS TOTAL
$1,205,000 $1,274,000 $1,274,000
$1,205,000 $1,274,000 $1,274,000
People affected by wildland fires have different information needs, especially if they must evacuate from their community.
Northern Research Station Overview
Headquartered at Newtown Square, PA, NRS develops and delivers leading-edge science and technology that helps people ensure the longterm health and productivity of rural and urban landscapes. NRS maintains 24 field locations and
24 experimental forests across 20 states in the
Midwest and Northeast: Connecticut, Delaware,
Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Maryland,
Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri,
New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio,
Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, West
Virginia, and Wisconsin.
The FY 2015 President’s Budget is $50,495,000 of which $15,718,000 is for annualized Forest
Inventory and Analysis (FIA). In addition,
$2,944,000 is provided for the National Fire Plan
Research. NRS will also receive a competitive share of the national amount of $6,914,000 for the
Joint Fire Science Program.
FY 2015 Program Changes
The President’s Budget includes a station decrease of $4,126,000 from the FY 2014 Enacted level. At this level, the NRS will continue to provide cutting edge research in urban forestry and forest disturbance processes as well as develop practical tools to enhance forest productivity and increase production of clean air and water. The FIA program will continue to monitor and inventory the nation’s forests to better inform forest policy development and provide valuable data to enhance accelerated forest restoration. NRS will focus on the highest priority research by eliminating the Northeastern
States Research Cooperative; research on mycology, long term soil productivity, and riparian research critical to water quality; and the invasive species program in MI and CT.
FY 2013 Key Accomplishments
 Facilitated community-led revitalization of overburdened urban communities in South

Chicago as part of the Northwest Indiana Urban
Waters Federal Partnership.
Determined the information needs of those threatened by a wildfire and the differing information needs of evacuees and nonevacuees, enabling fire managers to better
 deliver information to affected communities.
Established a systematic framework for collection of key social dynamics information before and during a wildland fire, improving fire
 managers’ and researchers’ ability to apply lessons learned to other events.
Created more precise and accurate maps of the local fire risk conditions faced by fire managers where housing intermingles with forests.

Priority Research in Illinois
Forest Service R&D priority research areas build on existing local and regional research to solve issues important to the American people. Priority research activities in Illinois include:
Forest Disturbance: As climate changes so will our forests. We need to understand how to manage forests to adapt to climate change, including providing opportunities for new and changing species mixes, restoring forests and wetlands as temperatures and rainfall change, controlling invasive insects and diseases, and reducing the risk of wildfire. Illinois forest managers can access current tree and bird distribution maps and habitat projections under different climate change scenarios.
Forest Inventory and Analysis: The NRS FIA program conducts an updated annual inventory of Illinois’ forest resources in cooperation with the
State Forester and other state organizations. FIA provides the scientific based information needed by the nation’s leaders to make sound forest policy decisions and to better understand forest processes and associated threats to ecosystem health.
Urban Natural Resources Stewardship: With most people living in urban areas, an emphasis on science and technology transfer is paramount to ensure the proper care of natural resources and the advancement of ecosystem services in urban and urbanizing landscapes. Communities in Illinois have improved tools for assessing, protecting, and managing urban natural resources through i-Tree software.
Watershed Management and Restoration: The availability of clean water is becoming limited in many parts of the United States, a trend likely to continue as the population grows. It is important to understand where water shortages will occur, to identify how future climate will affect rainfall and snowfall, and to find ways to reduce water pollution and effectively manage and protect water sources. Conservation practices that promote Illinois’ water quality can now be effectively adopted more widely due to research insights into the factors that influence landowners’ decisions to implement such measures.
Localized Needs Research in Illinois
Focusing on critical regional and local research issues, NRS provides research results and tools and technologies including:
Emerald Ash Borer (EAB): To combat the invasive
EAB, which arrived in Chicago in 2006, NRS researchers released parasitic wasps as a biological control in forest preserves and parks.
Establishment of EAB enemies has now been confirmed in some of the release sites. FS scientists will continue working closely with land managers in Illinois to evaluate natural enemy establishment and to assess the impacts on ash trees.
Local Stewardship Networks: NRS scientists are helping connect community groups with organizations or agencies that can help them meet their stewardship goals. By mapping groups, their goals, and locations, this research will more efficiently connect environmental professionals and land managers to help illustrate the region’s stewardship strengths and gaps.
Urban Forest Census: Cities benefit from urban trees in many ways. In cooperation with NRS researchers, the Morton Arboretum is assessing urban forests in the seven-county Chicago region.
The results will serve as a foundation for urban forest management decisions that maximize benefits for enhanced quality of life.
FOREST SERVICE RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT (FS R&D) is a world leader in innovative science for sustaining global forest resources for future generations. Research findings and products benefit forest and rangeland managers, and everyone who uses goods or services from forests. We operate five research stations that encompass all 50 states, the Forest Products Laboratory located in Madison, Wisconsin, and the International Institute of Tropical Forestry located in Puerto Rico. Our researchers and support personnel are located at 67 field sites throughout the United States.
We also maintain 80 experimental forests and ranges across the Nation. Our unique ability to integrate science and decision making and to work across boundaries between public, private, and tribal lands through strong partnerships advances the Agency’s three core themes of restoration, communities, and fire.
The FS R&D program has two components: Priority Research Areas and Strategic Program Areas. The Priority Research Areas address urgent needs in seven areas: Forest Disturbance, Forest Inventory and Analysis, Watershed Management and Restoration, Bioenergy and
Biobased Products, Urban Natural Resources Stewardship, Nanotechnology, and Localized Needs Research (region-specific needs). The
Strategic Program Areas (SPAs) are the long-term programs from which Priority Research Areas are funded. The seven SPAs are: Wildland
Fire and Fuels; Invasive Species; Recreation; Resource Management and Use; Water, Air, and Soil; Wildlife and Fish; and Inventory and
Monitoring.
The FY 2015 President’s Budget includes $275,315,000 for Forest and Rangeland Research, $19,795,000 for the FS R&D National Fire Plan, and
$6,914,000 for the Joint Fire Science Program.