Fuego site in the Experimental Network for Assisted Migration and Establishment Silviculture (ENAMES)

Forestry technicians Alyssa Smits and Mekeilah Aguilar preparing the Fuego site for planting. Photo by Allison Phillips.

Landowner: USDA Forest Service.

Location: Fremont-Winema National Forest, Bly Ranger District.

Nearest town: Sprague River, OR.

Species: Ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa.)

Site history: The site was originally a mixed conifer/snowbrush-manzanita stand that was heavily logged 60 to 70 years ago. It burned with high severity (over 90 percent tree mortality) in the 2021 Bootleg fire.

Site characteristics: The site is at an elevation of 5400ft and faces north-northeast-east, with a moderate slope of 6-15°. The soils are excessively drained gravelly loamy coarse sands formed in residuum from pumice and volcanic ash. The mean annual temperature is 24 °F (coldest month 6 °F, warmest month 40 °F) and mean annual precipitation is 2857 mm (2286 mm as snow).

Planting date: Spring 2026.

Contact person:

Kari O’Leary, Vegetation Managemer; Fremont-Winema National Forest.

Robert Slesak, Research Forester; USDA Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station.

Pre-planting site conditions at the Fuego site. Photo by Mekeilah Aguilar.

Fuego site 3D map showing experimental plots color-coded by the climate scenario each seed source is adapted to. Map by Laura Gonzalez Mantecon.

Management objectives: The site falls within Management Area 3 – Scenic Management in the Winema National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan.

Site preparation: Mechanical site preparation will include removal of dead trees of 9 to 22 inches of diameter at breast height (dbh) with retention of 5 to 10 tons per acre of woody material and coarse woody debris.

Pre-planting site conditions: There should be little remaining overstory and slash after the site preparation treatment. Trees over 22 in and below 9 in dbh will not be removed, so there will be remaining snags and downed woody debris in these size classes. Natural regeneration is expected to be low due to high tree mortality in the site; however, it is adjacent to areas that experienced lower mortality, so some natural conifer regeneration is possible.

Experimental design: The experimental design in this site is a randomized complete block with four replications per treatment applied to 0.5-ac plots.

Assisted migration treatments: The team used the Seedlot Selection Tool to choose four planted seed sources (see table below).

Seed source locations matching historical and predicted future climates for the Fuego site. Map by Scout Dahms-May.

Silvicultural treatments: Two different seedling stock types (see below).

Planting density: Operational contract crews will plant 222 trees per acre.

Seedling stock type: 2-0 bare-root and 1-0 containerized seedlings.

Monitoring: The site will be monitored to track and compare seedling survival among seed sources and silvicultural treatments. Measurements are planned for 1, 5, 10, and 15 years after planting.

The site may also serve as a demonstration plot for managers to visit and visually compare seed source performance.

To be available soon.