Treesearch

Fifty years ago in 1908, the U. S. Forest Service launched its research program in forest management on the Fort Valley Experimental Forest near Flagstaff, Arizona. This was the first scientific venture of its kind in America - - now the oldest.From the beginning the chief aim of research here has been to work out better ways of managing ponderosa pine in the Southwest. Already, we have learned much. But to keep pace with the advance of science and industry, we need to know more. For example, in 1953 the pulp industry came to Flagstaff, bringing new opportunities for more intensive forest...

This meeting was planned to allow a review of the measurements and processes involved in watershed research. The agenda lists topics and discussion leaders. The discussion should come from all those present. We are fortunate to have with us Bernie Frank, Ted Osborne, and Hank Sims from the Washington Office; George Hardaway and Alan Iamb from Region 3; and Jack McNutt from Region 2. We'll expect to hear from them throughout the meeting.

In studies of an ecological nature, it is often desirable to make records of temperature or humidity on the site of the particular study. A standard instrument shelter, as used by the U. S. Weather Bureau (U. S. Weather Bureau 1941), is heavy, bulky and not adapted for short term use on field projects. This paper describes a small light instrument shelter, large enough to hold a single hygrothermograph and adapted for mounting on a single post. This shelter has been in use housing hygrothermographs, thermographs, and maximum-minimum thermometers for more than a year in connection with a...

Pole blight is one of the most serious diseases of western white pine (Pinus monticola Dougl.) and is restricted to that species. The disease is given this name because it affects pole-size trees primarily, usually those within the 40- to 100-year age class, although trees both younger and older are occasionally affected.

Lightning-caused fires are a continuing serious threat to forests in the northern Rocky Mountain area. More than 70 percent of all forest fires in this area are caused by lightning. In one 10-day period in July 1940 the all-time record of 1,488 lightning fires started on the national forests in Region l of the U.S. Forest Service.

In nearly 70 years of recorded weather history, Washington and northern Idaho have on three occasions experienced exceptionally sharp freezes in late autumn or early winter that caused considerable damage to plants. A brief review of these events is warranted since the records are consistent enough to permit the drawing of significant conclusions.

Benton Creek on the Priest River Experimental Forest, Idaho, is one of the few gauged streams flowing from a small, forested watershed in the northern Rocky Mountains, a region of summer drought and heavy winter snows. Over sixteen years of streamflow records from this watershed are summarized here to characterize the runoff from such a stream. The streamgauging station was installed in 1938 under the direction of Harry T. Gisborne of the Northern Rocky Mountain Forest and Range Experiment Station as a part of a broad investigation of the many factors which might influence fire clanger.

What happens to individual forage plants when subjected to different degrees of grazing by cattle? In what way does grazing change growth habits and composition of the herbaceous vegetation? Answers to these basic questions will help the range operator to properly evaluate his range management practices. Six experimental pastures on native ponderosa pine-bunchgrass range at the Manitou Experimental Forest near Woodland Park, Colorado, furnished an excellent opportunity to study changes in native vegetation is relation to past grazing use. These units had been grazed at 3 intensities for 9...

A guide for estimating site quality on bare, cut-over, or burned-over lands in the western white pine type is needed for planning the management of these lands. On many areas trees may be entirely lacking or an insufficient number in the proper crown classes remain on which reliable site index determinations can be based. Therefore, reliance must be placed on some method other than tree measurement to provide an insight into the probable growth potential of a given area. This paper presents results of a limited study of the relationships of soil characteristics to site index of western...

The first experiment in thinning western white pine (Pinus monticola Dougl.) was planned and established by J. A. Larson and D. R. Brewster in 1914 in a 55-year-old stand on the Priest River Experimental Forest, Idaho. It was designed to compare the effects of three thinning treatments on volume and quality growth, and on total volume production with an unthinned stand. As thinnings of saw-log material in this species are becoming salable, it is desirable to know if production can be increased by this early stand treatment and, if so, to what extent.