In 1987, Glen Johnson heard the call of the dusky gopher frog, which sounds like a snore. He was the first to report hearing its call since the 1950s. He found a breeding population of the dusky gopher frog at a pond on the Desoto National Forest in Mississippi. …Dusky gopher frogs are among the hundreds of species that live in longleaf pine forests. After nearly vanishing – about 99% of the longleaf pine acres growing in the year 1700 are gone – there are now about 5 million acres of longleaf pine ecosystem. When longleaf pines are healthy, other species can flourish along with them. Fire is an essential ingredient in a healthy longleaf pine ecosystem and across the South, land managers conduct prescribed fires to restore and maintain these ecosystems. On the De Soto National Forest, longleaf pine restoration has an added beneficiary, the dusky gopher frog. …And researchers continue to watch over the frogs.

The University of Minnesota and Superior National Forest have received a $375,000 grant from the U.S. Forest Service’s Wood Innovation Grant Program, matched by power company Minnesota Power and the NRRI to analyze the potential of using balsam fir to create “biochar,” which prevents the release of carbon into the atmosphere while producing a useful material for agriculture and other purposes. Using a low-oxygen kiln, the process produces charcoal that locks in carbon that would be released through normal decomposition or burning. It can then be added to soil to increase its productivity, or filtering stormwater. “As a material, biochar has a lot of beneficial environmental qualities – from improving the microbial health of soils for more productive crops to removing contaminants from stormwater runoff,” said Brian Barry, NRRI chemist and project lead. 

With the return of spring come unwanted visitors known as invasive species. A relatively new addition to the not-welcome list is the spotted lanternfly. Discovered in the U.S. around 2014, the conspicuous planthopper was first found in Indiana in 2021. Since then, it has spread north from Switzerland County all the way to Huntington County. …Spotted lanternflies are robust feeders that prefer a good soft spot on leaves to suck out sap. This causes oozing wounds that lead to wilting leaves and dead branches. Matt Travis is the Spotted Lanternfly National Policy Manager for the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service’s Plant Protection and Quarantine program. That’s a mouthful, but basically he’s the country’s preeminent spotted lanternfly expert. …“Reporting is key, but once you get confirmation, especially adults, stomp it out,” Travis said. “If it’s an egg mass and you get confirmation, scrape it off and stomp the egg mass.”

A state Senate panel Monday approved a bill that would temporarily allow some trucks to carry heavier loads on Georgia highways — and could pave the way for a plan to raise billions of dollars for road and rail improvements. The latest version of House Bill 189 would allow trucks hauling forestry and agricultural products to carry heavier loads until July 1, 2024. That would give lawmakers time to strike a compromise that would permanently increase truck weights while addressing the concerns of critics who say heavier vehicles would mean more potholes and traffic fatalities. The bill also would give lawmakers time to develop and sell a plan for billions of dollars of road and rail improvements to keep freight moving across the state.