Treesearch

State and local regulatory enactments that affect private forest management are identified and summarized. The results of a Delphi technique survey of the current and long-term effects of such regulation on private timber harvests, and TAMM projec­ tions of their impact on U.S. timber supply and price, are de­scribed.

This paper is intended to broaden awareness and help develop consensus among USDA Forest Service scientists and resource managers about the role and significance of disturbance in ecosystem dynamics and, hence, resource management. To have an effective ecosystem management policy, resource managers and the public must understand the nature of ecological resiliency and stability and the role of natural disturbance on sustainability. Disturbances are common and important in virtually all ecosystems.

Tenderfoot Creek Experimental Forest (TCEF) is located in Central Montana 24 miles north of White Sulphur Springs and 9 miles northwest of Highway 89 from Kings Hill via Forest Road #839. The experimental forest can also be accessed by Forest Road #586 via Sheep Creek. A general view of TCEF showing roads and drainages is shown in figure 2. The road down Tenderfoot Creek is open only to Administration Travel vehicles.

Trends in snow acidity reflect the balance between strong acid inputs and reactions with neutralizing materials. Carbonate dust can be an important contributor of buffering capacity to snow; however, its concentration in snow is difficult to quantify because it dissolves rapidly in snowmelt. In snow with neutral or acidic pH, most calcite would dissolve during sample melting if snow samples were processed using standard techniques. Here a method is described for separating particulate carbonate matter from snow. Snow samples were melted in solutions close to saturation with calcite,...

The MAGIC model (Cosby et al. 1985, 1986) was calibrated for East and West Glacier Lakes, two adjacent high-altitude (3200 m- 3700 m) catchments in the Medicine Bow National Forest of southern Wyoming. This model uses catchment characteristics including weathering rates, soil chemical characteristics, hydrological parameters, and precipitation amounts and composition to calculate simulated lake and stream chemistry. The simulations suggest that if precipitation were acidified to pH 4.27 with sulfuric acid, the ANC of the lakes would rapidly drop by about 30 meq/m3 . This rapid drop would...

We characterized spawning sites of Yellowstone cutthroat trout Oncorhynchus clarki bouvieri, described the microhabitat of completed redds, and tested the influence of habitat conditions on the morphology of completed redds in Pine Creek, Idaho. Cutthroat trout spawned in June as flows subsided after peak stream discharge. During spawning, minimum and maximum water temperatures ranged 4-9°C and 16-20°C, respectively. Trout spawned where water depths averaged 20 cm beside redds and 22 cm upstream of redds. Water velocities averaged 42 cm/s beside redds and 46 cm/s upstream of redds. More...

Fisheries resources are finite and conflicts may arise when several groups compete for the same resource. Diverse groups of anglers often derive different benefits and possess different preferences concerning the way a resource should be managed. This paper examines the conflict which arose when new regulations were proposed for reaches of ldaho's Big Wood River. One organized group of anglers lobbied for specific restrictive regulations. Another group of anglers responded and successfully challenged the new regulations in court. We describe factors contributing to the controversy and...

Experimental burns were conducted on 36 plots in mixed conifer logging slash in northern Idaho, under varying fuel loadings and moisture conditions. This paper reports the immediate effects of these burns on the forest floor, the woody fuel complex, and the plant community, and includes recommendations to managers for using prescribed fire in this forest type. Much of the shallow layer of duff was consumed exposing mineral soil under the full range of burn conditions; however, the deep pockets of rotten wood in the forest floor retained moisture throughout the burning season, and were...

Temperature measurements were made to better understand the role of microclimate on mountain pine beetle, Dendroctonus ponderosae Hopkins (Coleoptera: Scolytidae), activity as a result of thinning lodgepole pine stands. Sampling was done over 61 days on the north slope of the Unita Mountain Range in northeastern Utah. Principal components analysis was applied to all temperature variables. Most of the variation was attributed to two variables, coolest part of the night and hottest part of the day. The thinned stand was approximately 1 °C warmer than the unthinned stand. Day temperature was...

Annual weeds continue to expand throughout the West eliminating many desirable species and plant communities. Wildfires are now common on lands infested with annual weeds, causing a loss of wildlife habitat and other natural resources. Measures can be used to reduce burning and restore native plant communities, but restoration is difficult and costly.