Treesearch

The Blake Fire burned about 730 ha of mature timber on the west slope of South Fork Mountain in northwestern California. Many steep innergorge and landslide headwall areas burned very hot, killing most large trees and consuming much of the large organic debris in unstable drainages. This created a potential for adverse effects on downstream fisheries from landsliding and the release of sediment formerly retained behind large organic debris. Emergency rehabilitation focused on enhancing channel conditions by falling and bucking downed logs and dead trees and by salvaging dead "high-risk"-tre...

The history of annosus root disease in Europe and the southeastern United States is reviewed in prefacing the focus of this symposium on the disease as it occurs in the western United States. The topic is developed mostly from world literature on the disease published since mid-1970. The occurrence of annosus root disease in both plantations and natural stands of conifers is discussed, with particular emphasis on disease range, host-pathogen variability, and environmental influences. Concluding attention is given tore-examination of the U.S.D.A. Forest Service guidelines for management of...

The Sacramento River's historic riparian habitats have been reduced by over 98 percent due to cumulative, adverse human activities. These activities continue to jeopardize the remaining riparian habitats. The results of these trends is more endangered species conflicts and listings, coupled with less fish, beautiful scenery, and other resource values. This paper provides a conservationist's perspective on how these resource losses could be stopped, and eventually reversed, through a combination of less-damaging bank protection methods, reliable mitigation for unavoidable impacts, willing...

Over the past three days we have been presented with the results of a most impressive quantity and quality of research on the effects of fire on watersheds. My attempt to summarize these papers will hardly do them justice, but hopefully will recapitulate some of their more important and generalizable findings. My comments are organized into the following categories: soil temperature, soil nutrients, soil erosion, soil hydrology and streamflow, vegetation structure, stream temperature, and impacts of firefighting.

Natural vegetation establishment and development were monitored for 3 1/2 years on a new, dredged-material island located within the breached levees at Donlon Island in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. Vegetation measurements and maps prepared annually indicate that marsh and riparian vegetation types have developed rapidly. Topographic data for the island has been overlaid with vegetation data, and the results can be used to select elevations when designing future levees, dredged-material deposition areas, and fish and wildlife habitat enhancements.

Maintenance of vegetation is a central goal of watershed management. When prescribed burning of chaparral is included in management practice, then it is important for managers to understand and use the natural chaparral fire regime to maximize vegetation response. Variations from the natural fire regime in intensity, frequency, season, and environmental conditions at the time of burning can all have substantial effects. These factors interact differently with the species that comprise chaparral. This paper focusses on the variation in responses of different groups of chaparral species to...