Images

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

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.    

A USGS Hydrologic Technician collects eDNA samples alongside a stream in the Nevada wilderness

USGS Restoration Assessment and Monitoring Program for the Southwest (RAMPS) is helping to build capacity in ecosystem restoration on the Navajo Nation with a series of projects in collaboration with Navajo Nation Department of Natural Hertiage, Dine Native Plant Program, and the Native-led non-profit Tolani Lake Enterprises.

A Tetons sunrise in Antelope Flats, Wyoming.                                         

Left: RestoreNet outplant trials with greenhouse-grown seedlings planted into the field, Right: RestoreNet direct seeding trials with seeds combined with soil surface modifications including ConMod artificial nurse plants, mulch, and soil pits. Photos by Katie Laushman (USGS).

Thinning rangelands by removing trees such as juniper is a common mangement action done across the intermountain west. The goals of this type of vegetation treatment typically are to increase forage and habitat for grazing animals, improve soil conditions, and/or reduce risks of catastrophic fire.

An example of mowed linear fuel breaks along both sides of a gravel road in southwestern Idaho

A USGS scientist spreads moss fragments for a study to test the restoration potential of moss, an important component of biological soil crust. A jute net, foreground, helps stabilize the moss fragments as they adhere to the soil.