Skip to main content

An official website of the United States government

Here's how you know

Here's how you know

Official websites use .gov
A.gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Forest Service

U. S. Department of Agriculture U.S.D.A

Research & Development

Forest Service Home
Inside the Forest Service
About the Agency

Pacific Southwest Research Station

Research & Development

Home
Topics

Climate Change

Ecology

Environment and People

Fish and Wildlife

Fire

Forest and Plant Health

Forest Products

Inventory, Monitoring and Assessment

Managing the Land

Water, Air and Soil
Programs

Forest Inventory and Analysis

Technology Transfer
Projects

Infrastructure Research Projects

Stewardship Mapping
Stations
Laboratories
Institutes
Centers and Groups

National Agroforestry Center
Experimental Forests and Ranges

Urban Field Stations
Articles
Data and Tools

Patents

Research Data Archive
Publications

Treesearch

Understory

National Forest Service Library
Multimedia

Forestcast Podcast

Webinars

Videos

Photos
About Research and Development

Contact Us

Forestry Research Advisory Council

Great American Outdoors Act

Institutional Animal Care and Use

People
About the Agency

Agency Leadership

Budget and Performance

Job Opportunities

National Programs and Offices

Regulations and Policies

Pacific Southwest Research Station

R&D MENU ☰ PSW MENU ☰

Home
Research Topics

Climate Change

Ecology

Environment and People

Fire

Forest and Plant Health

Managing the Land

Urban Forestry

Water, Air, Soil
Research Zones

Institute of Pacific Islands Forestry (Pacific Zone – Hawaii and U.S. Affiliated Pacific Islands)

Northern California

Southern California
Partners and Cooperators

Lake Tahoe Basin Partners

Tahoe-Central Sierra Initiative
Experimental Forests and Ranges

Locations
Research Natural Areas

Using RNAs
Research Projects
Publications

Treesearch

Understory
Data and Tools

Datasets
Newsletters

Subscribe
Multimedia

Videos

Webinars

Photos
About the Station

Awards and Accomplishments

Charter

In The News

Contact Us

History

Job Opportunities
Events
People

Forest Service Home
Inside the Forest Service
About the Agency

Pacific Southwest Research Station

Breadcrumb

Research
Pacific Southwest Research Station
Multimedia
Photos
Photo Tour: Variable Density Thinning Study

T

T

T

Publications
Data and Tools
Newsletters
Multimedia
- Videos
- Webinars
- Photos

Photo Tour: Variable Density Thinning Study

Stand condition prior to treatment, with a tree density far in excess of what this area supported historically. Forest densification and heavy surface fuel loads was mostly the result of over a century of excluding fire.

Marking timber. Leave trees were marked with orange paint. In this location within a HighV thin unit, a group of healthy larger trees was retained.

Logs harvested from ‘Variable Density Thinning’ study are loaded at a landing.

Prescribed fire in a HighV thin unit.

Prescribed fire in a HighV thin unit at night.

Aerial photograph with an overlay of borders for treatment units

A HighV thin unit in the summer of 2020 – eight years after thinning and six years after prescribed burning.

A HighV thin unit following thinning, showing characteristic variability in density across the stand.

Above the canopy of a HighV thin + prescribed burn unit.

A HighV thin unit following thinning and prescribed fire.

University of California Merced weather station

A LowV thinning unit, showing an even crown spacing.

A hemispherical photo of the forest canopy in a LowV thin unit, taken with a fisheye lens.

Alexis Bernal collects a tree sample with a chainsaw-mounted increment borer

Two people gather data at a research plot

Dr. Malcolm North addresses a tour of the Yosemite Stanislaus Solutions collaborative

USFS Chief Vicki Christiansen and Congressman Tom McClintock with tour organizers in a HighV thin unit. Stanislaus-Tuolumne Experimental Forest, May 2018.

Last updated April 11, 2023

Return to top

Treesearch Research Data Archive Forest Inventory & Analysis Research Topics About Us

Pacific Southwest Research Station

USDA.gov
Policies & Links
Our Performance
Report Fraud on USDA Contracts
Inspector General
Plain Writing
Open Government
FOIA
Accessibility Statement
Privacy Policy
Non-Discrimination Statement
Anti-Harassment Policy
Information Quality
USA.gov
Whitehouse.gov
eGov
No FEAR Act Data
Contact Us
Sitemap

Forest Service

U. S. Department of Agriculture U.S.D.A

X Facebook LinkedIn Instagram Flickr Youtube

Light

Regular

Bold

Italic Light

Italic Regular

Italic Bold