Treesearch

Spending on postfire emergency watershed rehabilitation has increased during the past decade. A west-wide evaluation of USDA Forest Service burned area emergency rehabilitation (BAER) treatment effectiveness was undertaken as a joint project by USDA Forest Service Research and National Forest System staffs. This evaluation covers 470 fires and 321 BAER projects, from 1973 through 1998 in USDA Forest Service Regions 1 through 6. A literature review, interviews with key Regional and Forest BAER specialists, analysis of burned area reports, and review of Forest and District monitoring reports...

This research was designed to assist the managers of Yellowstone National Park (YNP) in their decision making about winter visitation. The focus of this report is on winter use patterns and winter visitor preferences. It is the author’s hope that this information will benefit both the quality of winter experiences and the stewardship of the park resources. This report addresses three fundamental questions: 1) Who are the visitors to YNP and why did they visit? 2) What are the characteristics of the winter visit and how do visitors travel within the park 3) What are the visitor evaluations...

The implementation of properly designed treatments to restore and sustain desired forest conditions in the Inland Northwest, besides moving forest stands more rapidly to an ecologically desirable and sustainable condition, can generate positive revenues from the timber to be removed. These treatments also have potential to increase the number of relatively high paying jobs, especially in rural areas where per capita incomes are nearly 30 percent below those of urban areas. In contrast the much-proposed thin-from-below prescription commonly does not fully accomplish ecological goals and...

The objective of this research was to synthesize a number of studies focusing on human dimensions of public land management in the Bitterroot National Forest. While 35-40 such studies have been conducted, their cumulative knowledge is limited by use of a variety of approaches, scales and frameworks. Four themes emerged from the synthesis: public attitudes toward management of national forest lands; the relationship between the Forest Service and local residents; recreation and wilderness use; and the linkages between the Bitterroot National Forest and local economic development.

Ecological diversity is being addressed in various research and management efforts, but a common foundation is not explicitly defined or displayed. A formal Ecosystem Diversity Framework (EDF) would improve landscape analysis and communication across multiple scales. The EDF represents a multiple-component vegetation classification system with inherent flexibility for a broad range of applications. Examples are drawn from experience in the Bitterroot Ecosystem Management Research Project to demonstrate concepts and applications. Continuing work will address integration of evolving protocols...

Management activities are analyzed at landscape scales employing both simulation and optimization. SIMPPLLE, a stochastic simulation modeling system, is initially applied to assess the risks associated with a specific natural process occurring on the current landscape without management treatments, but with fire suppression. These simulation results are input into MAGIS, an optimization modeling system, for scheduling activities that reduce these risks and address other management objectives. The derived treatment schedules are utilized in additional SIMPPLLE simulations to examine the...

The Great Basin Research and Management Project was initiated in 1994 by the USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station’s Ecology, Paleoecology, and Restoration of Great Basin Watersheds Project to address the problems of stream incision and riparian ecosystem degradation in central Nevada. It is a highly interdisciplinary project that is being conducted in cooperation with the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest. The project’s focus is unique in that it is examining the linkages between the watershed, riparian corridor, and riparian ecosystem scales, and is focusing on both the mid...

The forest sector has had a relatively long history of applying sectorial models to estimate the effects of atmospheric issues such as acid rain, climate change, and the forestry impacts of reduced atmospheric ozone. The models of the forest sector vary in scope and complexity but share a number of common features and databases. Individual chapters from this publication

In its various forms we have been talking about and discovering the principles of ecosystem-based management for over a decade and yet we still are in very early stages of uncovering its many dimensions and implications. This is not surprising since ecosystem-based management is a radical departure from the model of natural resource management that evolved over the previous century. What is it that we are unfolding with ecosystem-based management and what might the future hold for us? These are questions I will briefly discuss and that will form the meat of some of this conference.

Our experience testing ecosystem-based management (EM) treatments in ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa)/fir (Abies spp.) is summarized here. Topics covered include silvicultural treatments, fire application, soils and nutrient considerations, wildlife habitat considerations, associated riparian communities, and treatment of invasive weeds.