USGS Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center: Text Only History

Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center

FRESC's History

The USGS Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center (FRESC), as an organizational unit of the Federal Government is fairly young, but the various groups that merged to form FRESC have lengthy histories, some dating back 30 years. The mergers and FRESC’s eventual incorporation into the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) were part of a series of reorganizations to the research capability of the Department of Interior. These changes were prompted in February 1993 when Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt requested advice from the National Research Council about the research capability of the Department. The council responded by studying the issue and enumerating the findings in a document called “A Biological Survey for the Nation.” In response to these findings, the National Biological Survey (NBS) became operational on November 11, 1993. This initiated two years of additional, rapid change in the Department’s research structure and function.

The NBS formed via the merger and reorganization of existing research staff, facilities, and funding from seven bureaus of the Department of the Interior. Although an array of justifications guided these changes, the vision was excellent biological science conducted in the most efficient manner possible. The largest components of the NBS originated from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Park Service. Smaller components came from the Bureau of Land Management, the Bureau of Reclamation, the USGS, the Minerals Management Service, and the Office of Surface Mining. All units were engaged in scientific activities tied to the missions and responsibilities of their parent organizations. Over a period of about a year, transitions occurred throughout the United States in the assignments of staff and research units in response to the formation of the NBS. FRESC emerged out of these reassignments.

Four established research groups officially merged in October 1994 and adopted the common name "Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center." Most of these groups briefly were assigned to the NBS Division of Cooperative Research as they transitioned from their originating bureaus. Research capabilities covered the subjects of forest ecosystems, contaminants, anthropogenic pollution, arid and semi-arid ecosystems, landscape dynamics, wildlife ecology, population viability, conservation genetics, aquatic and wetland ecosystems, human dimensions of resource management, restoration ecology, and invasive species. The association of FRESC with the USGS was the result of one additional merger. On October 1, 1996, the NBS, including FRESC, was integrated into the USGS as a fourth division of this agency– the Biological Resources Division. This move added an important living resources dimension to the USGS earth sciences orientation, thus making it possible for the bureau to bring physical and biological science to natural resource management problems.

Groups that merged into FRESC had varied histories to begin with, and retirements, recruitments, and reorganizations resulted in additional changes in staffing and facilities. The founding groups’ histories are briefly summarized here to provide a general picture of the origin, size, and research focus of the groups around the time they became part of FRESC.

Oregon State University Cooperative Park Studies Unit
One founding unit of FRESC was the Oregon State University Cooperative Park Studies Unit. The National Park Service established this unit in 1975 on the university's campus in Corvallis, Oregon. A research aquatic ecologist and a research biologist were assigned to the unit, both housed in the College of Forestry. The focus was research and technical assistance for the National Park Service, particularly in the Pacific Northwest Region.

Pacific Forest and Basin Rangeland Systems Cooperative Research and Technology Unit
The Bureau of Land Management established the Pacific Forest and Basin Rangeland Systems Cooperative Research and Technology Unit at Oregon State University in 1991. The unit’s mission focused on research and technical assistance on forest-related and rangeland-related topics, specifically those of interest to managers in Oregon. Office and laboratory facilities were co-located with the U.S. Forest Service in the Forestry Sciences Laboratory on the university campus. Four scientists and one administrative officer were associated with this unit at the time it merged into FRESC.

Olympic Field Station
The National Park Service traditionally employed research scientists at Olympic National Park in Port Angeles, Washington. At the time of merger with FRESC, two research scientists were employed at the park and conducted research on questions relevant to management of Olympic National Park. A third scientist joined them in April 1996, shortly after their merger with FRESC. He originally was a research wildlife biologist stationed in Alaska and assigned to the National Park Service. Prior to assignment to FRESC, he was briefly a part of the NBS Alaska Science Center.
Olympic Field Station Home Page

Willamette Field Station
The Willamette Field Station was established in 1976 as part of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Two research scientists and a secretary, all stationed in Corvallis, Oregon, staffed the field station. Research primarily focused on contaminant issues in the western United States. Also joining FRESC in 1994 was a zoologist from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, who was assigned research on issues related to forest wildlife. He was originally stationed at an Environmental Protection Agency Laboratory in Corvallis and was reassigned to the Willamette Field Station when he joined FRESC in 1994. The staff and their facilities retained the identity of a field station until October 1997, at which time they merged with the Corvallis-based science staff to become the Corvallis Research Group of FRESC. Some staff and facilities continued to be located at an Environmental Protection Agency facility along the Willamette River south of Corvallis, Oregon.

Raptor Research and Technical Assistance Center
The Bureau of Land Management established the Raptor Research and Technical Assistance Center in 1990. Besides the Bureau of Land Management, the station had a history of strong cooperative ties with its host institution, Boise State University, Idaho Department of Fish and Game, Idaho State University, University of Idaho, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service-Boise Office, and The Peregrine Fund, Inc. Six research wildlife biologists, several administrative and clerical staff, a geographer and a computer specialist became part of FRESC in 1996. These staff had a history of conducting research on a variety of wildlife, particularly raptor populations inhabiting semi-arid regions of the western United States. The staff came with office space leased from Boise State University, two dry labs, a geographic information system, and the Richard Olendorff Memorial Library. The latter contained 28,000 holdings on the subjects of raptor ecology, biology, and related topics. At the time of joining with FRESC, this group was renamed the “Snake River Field Station.”
Snake River Field Station Home Page

Washington Cooperative Park Studies Unit
The University of Washington Cooperative Park Studies Unit was founded in 1970 and joined FRESC in 1996. It was the first university-based research unit of the National Park Service. Under its historic ties, the unit's staff studied effects of environmental stress on forest ecosystems, primarily in the Pacific Northwest, and a variety of issues surrounding visitor and subsistence use of national parks. The unit was staffed by two federal scientists, a forest ecologist and a sociologist and was located in the College of Forest Resources at the University of Washington in Seattle. University office space for scientists, laboratory facilities, and office space for graduate students and technicians became associated with FRESC via this merger. The group was renamed the “Cascadia Field Station” under its affiliation with FRESC.
Cascadia Field Station Home Page

Canyonlands Field Station
Three southwestern units of the National Park Service - Canyonlands, Arches, and Natural Bridges - shared the expertise of a small research staff of two federal scientists. With the transition to NBS and on to the USGS, the scientists were first assigned to the Midcontinent Ecological Science Center and then transferred to FRESC in 1997. Shortly after the merger, a third researcher, stationed in Flagstaff, Arizona, was assigned to the group. The staff expertise covered ecology of desert soils, invertebrates and vascular plants. The group was renamed the “Canyonlands Field Station” under its affiliation with FRESC. In 2002, this field station severed administrative ties with FRESC when it became part of the newly created USGS Southwest Science Center.
Canyonlands Field Station Home Page

Colorado Plateau Research Station
Established in 1989 as a National Park Service cooperative park studies unit, the Colorado Plateau Research Station became a part of FRESC in May 1997 and was renamed the Colorado Plateau Field Station. This research group was first assigned to the Midcontinent Ecological Science Center and then transferred to FRESC. As a cooperative park studies unit, it acted as a center for identifying research and resource management needs throughout the Southwestern United States, with a specific emphasis on the Colorado Plateau. The 7 federal and 35 state-employed scientists and staff were recognized for implementing quality interdisciplinary research to support effective management of biological resources. All staff was housed in the Colorado Plateau Center on the Northern Arizona University campus in Flagstaff, Arizona. In 2002, this field station severed administrative ties with FRESC when it became part of the newly created USGS Southwest Science Center.
Colorado Plateau Field Station

Current Situation
The current structure of FRESC and the center’s research capability are described in this web site. You are invited to explore these pages, seek out our science expertise, and ask any questions that come to mind. Undoubtedly the future holds additional organizational change, but that is inevitable given the changing nature of our world and the need for a responsive research organization, like the USGS, to help understanding these changes and related consequences to our natural world and human systems.