Treesearch

This study tested the feasibility of estimating snow loads on roofs from measurements of depth and water content of snow on nearby ground. The water content, and therefore the weight, of snow on the ground proved comparable to that of snow on roofs.

Seedlings of Douglas fir, grand fir, western larch, western red cedar, and western white pine were grown in modified environments for four growing seasons to see whether characteristic growth responses of roots and shoots might suggest a cause for pole blight of white pine. Environments included three soil profiles (topsoil, hardpan, and rock) and two moisture regimes (adequate and deficient). Of several variable characteristics of growth, total root weight was the only significant source of variation in diameter and height growth of white pine. Of all five species, white pine also...

A method is described for computing daily values of moisture stress on forest vegetation, or water deficits, based on the differences between Thornthwaite's potential evapotranspiration and computed soil-moisture depletion. More realistic functions are used for soil-moisture depletion on specific soil types than have been customary. These functions relate daily rates of depletion to characteristics of soil-moisture tension. Separate functions account for surface soil wetting and drying processes following rain and during dry periods. Two methods of summarizing the day-by-day distribution...

Fuel beds of ponderosa pine needles and white pine needles were burned under controlled environmental conditions to determine the effects of fuel moisture and windspeed upon the rate of fire spread. Empirical formulas are presented to show the effect of these parameters. A discussion of rate of spread and some simple experiments show how fuel may be preheated before the fire reaches the fuel. The interrelationship between unit energy release rate and rate of spread produces a fire characteristics curve. Diffusion flame analysis shows good agreement when working with 1/2-inch stick fires.

Average cull deductions for 11 cull indicators were determined from over 2,000 abnormalities on 1,027 merchantable Engelmann spruce in 21 stands throughout Colorado. On a board-foot basis, Fomes pini punk knots or sporophores caused an 81 percent deduction. Deduction for broken tops or dead tops with adjacent dead rust brooms amounted to 24 percent. Basal wounds, dead rust brooms, a dead leader, frost cracks, all forks, joined at the base to another tree, spike top, and trunk wounds were each responsible for a 10 percent deduction. Fomes pini was the most important decay fungus.

This paper describes salient problems in management of timberlands on the North Slope of the Uinta Mountains and discusses broad issues inherent in management of "low site" areas

Inventory data in this report are the result of the first comprehensive survey of Utah's timber resource. The survey was conducted as part of the continuing nationwide Forest Survey. Fieldwork started in 1956 and was completed in 1961. The Intermountain Region of the U. S. Forest Service inventoried National Forest lands, and the Intermountain Forest and Range Experiment Station inventoried lands outside National Forests. The Intermountain Station combined the two sets of data into the Statewide compilation on which this report is based. Statistics on timber cut and timber products output...

The acorns of Gambel oak (Querelas gambelii Nutt.) periodically provide quantities of food for deer, elk, squirrels, turkeys, and other wildlife in the forests of the Southwest. While the species currently has little commercial value for wood products, it is important for wildlife.

Much of the loss of cattle through fences results not from breakage of the fence proper, but rather from gates not fitting properly, being dislodged from their fasteners, or simply left askew because they are too hard to close. The need then is for an easily worked gate fastener that is simple, inexpensive, and keeps a gate firmly in place to turn livestock. Such a fastener was developed several years ago at the Manitou Experimental Forest in Colorado.

Thermocouples have proved valuable in research conducted by the Fire Physics Project at the Northern Forest Fire Laboratory because they can measure several important fire variables besides flame and convection column temperatures. These include rate of spread and flame residence time. Describes a simple, rapid method of fabrication and reports useful and diverse applications of thermocouples in laboratory and field use.