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Foehn
A warm dry wind on the lee side of a mountain range. The heating and drying are due to adiabatic compression as the wind descend downslope.
Fog
The visible aggregate of minute water droplets suspended in the atmosphere near the earth's surface. Essentially a cloud whose base is at the earth's surface, limiting visibility.
Fold
Bent rock strata.
Food Security Act of 1985
P.L. 99-198 (December 23, 1985), a 5-year omnibus farm bill, allowed lower commodity price and income supports and established a dairy herd buyout program. Changes were made in a variety of other USDA programs. Several enduring conservation program were created, including sodbuster, swampbuster, and the Conservation Reserve Program. Shortly after enactment, the Technical Corrections to Food Security Act of 1985 Amendments (P.L. 99-253, February 28, 1986) gave USDA discretion to require cross-compliance for wheat and feed grains instead of mandating them, changed acreage base calculations, and specified election procedures for local Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation committees.
Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD)
A major disease of cloven-footed animals (e.g., cattle and pigs) that does not exist in the United States. The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service conducts a surveillance program to track the disease in foreign countries, regulates the importation of animal products from countries where FMD exists, and tests imported animals in quarantine.
Forcing Mechanism
A process that alters the energy balance of the climate system, i.e. changes the relative balance between incoming solar radiation and outgoing infrared radiation from Earth. Such mechanisms include changes in solar irradiance, volcanic eruptions, and enhancement of the natural greenhouse effect by emission of carbon dioxide. See radiation, infrared radiation, radiative forcing.
Forest
Terrestrial ecosystem (biome) with enough average annual precipitation (at least 76 centimeters or 30 inches) to support growth of various species of trees and smaller forms of vegetation.
Forest influences
Effects resulting from the presence of forest or brush upon climate, soil water, runoff, streamflow, floods, erosion, and soil productivity.
Forestland
A classification of land use in the Natural Resources Inventory (NRI). It includes areas where trees cover at least 10% of the land and must be at least an acre in size. Forestland was found on 395 million acres, almost 30% of all private lands, in the 1992 NRI.
Fossil
Any evidence of past life, including remains, traces, imprints as well as life history artifacts. Examples of artifacts include fossilized bird's nests, bee hives, etc.

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