Treesearch

Repeated thinning to five growing-stock levels resulted in widely differing tree sizes and volumes per acre after 30 years. Largest trees but the least cubic-volume yield per acre were produced in the heaviest thinning level, whereas highest board-foot yields were found in intermediate thinning levels. Partial defoliation by larch casebearer (Coleophora laricella Hübner), drought, and top damage from ice occurred, and site trees grew less in height than expected during the 30-year study. Curvilinear increases in periodic annual increments of both basal area and cubic volume generally...

The 1999 forest and rangeland condition indicator model is a set of independent econometric production functions for environmental outputs (measured with condition indicators) at the national scale. This report documents the development of the database and the statistical estimation required by this particular production structure with emphasis on two special characteristics of environmental output production processes: (1) the independence of ecological systems from human control, and (2) the broadscale spatial nature of these processes. Resolution of data deficiencies also is examined....

Monitoring is necessary for an adaptive management approach and the successful implementation of ecosystem management. In this document, we present an approach to monitoring biological diversity at different levels of ecological organization: landscape, community or ecosystem, population or species, and genetic. Our approach involves identifying monitoring questions derived from regional, provincial, or watershed assessments; identifying monitoring methods; and analyzing and interpreting data to integrate into management strategies. Examples of monitoring methods, data analysis, and...

During June and August 1992, a new technology designed to exclude cattle from specific areas such as riparian zones was tested. The technology consisted of an eartag worn by an animal that provides an audio warning and electrical impulse to the ear as the animal approaches the zone of influence of a transmitter. The transmitter emits a signal that narrowly defines the desired area of exclusion. Tests on cattle indicated that the technology is about 90 percent effective at excluding animals.

The PPHARVST computer application is Windows-based, public-domain software used to estimate harvesting costs for management planning for ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa Dougl. ex Laws.) plantations. The equipment production rates were developed from existing studies. Equipment cost rates were based on 1996 prices for new equipment. Harvesting systems include a cut-to-length harvester-forwarder system, a whole-tree/log-length skidder system, and a skyline cable system. Harvesting costs can be estimated for both clearcutting and partial cutting for trees ranging from 3 cubic feet to 250...

As the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management turn toward ecosystem and adaptive models of forest stewardship, they are being called on to develop meaningful and lasting relations with citizens. These new management styles require not only improved strategies for public involvement but also methods to examine the interactions between citizens and agencies in order to learn from such experiences. Using the general principles of adaptive management—which stress monitoring, evaluation, and adjustment—this report provides a comprehensive framework to help agency personnel and...

Managing forests for nontimber objectives such as habitat for threatened or endangered species, water quality, recreational opportunities, aesthetic features, and other outputs need not preclude production of wood products. In fact, removal of some trees is often necessary to accomplish these nontimber objectives. The trees selected fro removal are, however, typically smaller (6-10 inches at breast height), than have historically been offered for sale by public landowners in the western United States. This paper reports work at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific...

This work describes climate means and trends in each of three major ecological zones and 13 ecological reporting units in the interior Columbia River basin. Widely differing climates help define each major zone and reporting unit, the pattern of which is controlled by three competing air masses: marine, continental, and arctic. Paleoclimatic evidence and historical weather records show that the region has undergone significant fluctuations in temperature and precipitation as air masses alternate dominance over the basin. The major change in climate occurred near the time of western...

Measures of socioeconomic resiliency were developed for the 100 counties studied in the Interior Columbia Basin Ecosystem Management Project. These measures can be used for understanding the extent to which changes in policies for management of Federal lands may affect socioeconomic systems coincident with those lands. Sixty-seven percent of the basin’s residents live in areas of high resiliency; these represent only 20 percent of the land base. Whereas 68 percent of the land base has low socioeconomic resiliency, only 18 percent of the people live in those areas. These findings allow land...

An assessment of existing and potential impacts to vegetation, aquatics, and visibility within the Columbia River basin due to air pollution was conducted as part of the Interior Columbia Basin Ecosystem Management Project. This assessment examined the current situation and potential trends due to pollutants such as ammonium, nitrogen oxides, sulfur oxides, particulates, carbon, and ozone. Ecosystems and resources at risk are identified, including certain forests, lichens, cryptogamic crusts, high elevation lakes and streams, arid lands, and class I areas. Current monitoring data are...