Treesearch

Decisions made during stand regeneration that affect subsequent levels of competing vegetation and residual biomass can have important short-term consequences for early stand growth, and may affect long-term site productivity. Competing vegetation clearly affects the availability of site resources such as soil moisture and nutrients. Harvest residues can also impact the availability of site resources. We examined second- and third-year seedling performance of a Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco) plantation with different vegetation control and biomass retention treatments...

Oregon’s Land Use Planning Program is often cited as an exemplary approach to protecting forest and farm lands from development. In November 2004, Oregon voters approved a ballot measure—Measure 37—to require the state to compensate landowners for any property value losses resulting from land use regulations, including those adopted under the program. Because compensation is viewed by many land use planners and policymakers in the state as virtually impossible because of the potential expense involved, the passage of Measure 37 has placed the continued enforcement of land use regulations...

This report is a summary of timber resource statistics for an inventory of the 19 counties in western Washington: Clallam, Clark, Cowlitz, Grays Harbor, Island, Jefferson, King, Kitsap, Lewis, Mason, Pacific, Pierce, San Juan, Skagit, Skamania, Snohomish, Thurston, Wahkiakum, and Whatcom. The inventory in 2000 sampled all private and public lands except those administered by the National Forest System and those that were reserved from management for wood products. Area information for parks and other reserves was obtained directly from the organizations managing these areas. Statistical...

To determine the short-term effects (1 to 3 years posttreatment) of fuel reduction on pileated woodpeckers (Dryocopus pileatus) in northeastern Oregon, we compared measures of abundance of logs, snags, stumps, and of woodpecker foraging in mixed-conifer stands that had undergone the following treatments: prescribed burning after mechanical fuel reduction, mechanical fuel reduction without prescribed burning, or no treatment. Pileated woodpecker foraging was significantly more abundant in the stands that were not treated or had mechanical fuel reduction only. Ants, the primary prey of...

Tourism has become integral to southeast Alaska’s regional economy and has resulted in changes to the social and cultural fabric of community life as well as to natural resources used by Alaskans. This study incorporates an ethnographic approach to trace tourism development in three rural southeast Alaska communities featuring different levels and types of tourism. In addition, the effects of tourism from the perspectives of local residents are explored, including economic effects, sociocultural effects, and effects on human uses of natural resources.

The Northwest Forest Plan (NWFP, or Plan) provides policy direction for federal land within the range of the northern spotted owl in California, Oregon, and Washington. In a recent review of the Plan’s first 10 years, federal agencies looked at the status and trends for late-successional and old forests (hereafter, LSOF; includes both mature forests and large, single- and multistoried old forests) in the Plan area. The agencies also looked at the challenges ahead.

The emergence of large fires of long duration (also known as siege fires) with their inherently high costs has raised numerous questions about the opportunities for cost containment. Cost reviews from the 2003 fire season have revealed how additional knowledge created through research can lead to better management and lower costs of fire incidents.

Timber harvest with "green-tree" retention has been adopted in many temperate and boreal forest ecosystems, reflecting growing appreciation for the ecological values of managed forests. On federal forest lands in the Pacific Northwest, standards and guidelines for green-tree retention have been adopted, but systematic assessments of ecosystem response have not been undertaken. We studied initial (1-2 yr) responses of vascular understory communities to green-tree retention at six locations (blocks) in western Oregon and Washington, using a factorial design with retention at contrasting...

The bough cruiser spreadsheet was developed to provide a method for cruising noble fir (Abies procera Rehd.) stands to estimate the weight of boughs that might be harvested. No boughs are cut as part of the cruise process. The approach is based on a two-stage sample. The first stage consists of fixed-radius plots that are used to estimate the number of merchantable noble fir trees per acre. The second stage consists of sample trees that are used to estimate the weight of boughs per tree. The software produces a report with the estimated weight of boughs per tree and per acre.

We monitored the status and trend of late-successional and old-growth forest (older forest) on 24 million ac of land managed by the Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, and National Park Service in the Northwest Forest Plan (the Plan) area between 1994 and 2003. We developed baseline maps from satellite imagery of older forest conditions at the start of the Plan. We used remotely sensed change detection to track losses of older forests on federally managed lands to standreplacing harvest and wildfire, and we analyzed the amounts and spatial distribution of older forests by using the...