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

The site conditions at Lickety Split prior to planting. Photo by Sam King.

Land manager: Bureau of Land Management (BLM).

Nearest town: Medford, OR.

Species: Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii).

Site history: The site is a conifer stand of predominantly Douglas-fir, with minor components of ponderosa pine, Pacific madrone, and black and white oak. Understory brush species include manzanita, poison oak, Oregon grape, wood’s rose, and various forbs and grasses. The first recorded entry into the site is a selective cut in 1972, followed by another cut in 1975, a mortality salvage in 1992, and a thinning in 1997. Over the past few years, the combination of drought and flat-headed fir borer has killed 99 percent of the mature Douglas-fir overstory.

Site characteristics: The site is at an elevation of 2,500 ft and faces north-northeast, with a slope of 25–40°.  The soils are moderately deep, well-drained gravelly/silt loams that formed in colluvium weathered from altered sedimentary, metamorphic, and extrusive igneous rocks. The mean annual temperature is 41 °F (coldest month: 29 °F; warmest month: 57 °F) and mean annual precipitation is 1168 mm (635 mm of which is snow).

Planting date: Spring 2025.

Contact person:

Lisa Meredith, Silviculturist; Bureau of Land Management, Medford District.

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

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

The planting crew at Lickety Split. Photo by Rob Slesak.

Dead Douglas-fir interspersed with hardwood shrubs at the Lickety Split site before salvage harvest and site preparation. Photo by Chad Vetter.

Management objectives and other considerations: This site sits within the “Harvest Land Base, Uneven-Age Timber Area” land use allocation in the 2016 Bureau of Land Management Resource Management Plan. This land use allocation calls for timber production while maintaining forest structure, complexity, and diversity, as well as increasing resilience to fire and disease and promoting regeneration.

The land managers decided to test the establishment practice of scalping/grubbing (the removal of living vegetation on a 3 ft radius around planted seedlings) because, despite its high price ($400-$1,000 per ac), it is one of their few options to control competing vegetation during seedling establishment. Information on this practice is not readily available and they have been unable to find recent or local studies on sites that are impacted by severe drought.

Site preparation: Salvage harvest followed by mechanical removal of Douglas-fir regeneration and hardwood shrubs. The slash will be piled and burned before planting as well.

Pre-planting site conditions: After site preparation treatments, the site will be largely clear of woody debris. Understory regeneration of grasses and forbs is expected, as well as natural regeneration of hardwoods and possibly ponderosa pine and Douglas-fir from adjacent stands.

Experimental design: A randomized complete block with four replications per treatment applied to 0.5-acre 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 Lickety Split site. Map by Scout Dahms-May.

Silvicultural treatments: Three mechanical vegetation control treatments: No grubbing/scalping, grubbing/scalping 1 year, grubbing/scalping 2 years.

Planting density: Operational contract crews will plant 681 trees per ac.

Seedling stock type: Containerized (Styro 8/415C).

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.