Treesearch

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.

Successful range seeding can quickly restore grass on depleted openings or parks in the ponderosa pine zone in Colorado. Research results and experience from numerous seedings in the ponderosa pine zone are summarized in this circular to guide ranchers and range managers in seeding ranges successfully.

There can be no progress without research. No industry can continue to meet the present day competition unless it is continually developing new products or new and better methods of production. This fact is well illustrated in the field of plastics - a recent product developed by research. The importance of this research is emphasized by the financial budget of such industries as Dow Chemical, DuPont, and others. It is of no less importance in the field of range management.

Results of a coordinated soil-rootlet mortality study in 1954 indicate that the severity of the pole blight disease of western white pine (Pinus monticola Dougl.) is significantly correlated with certain physical soil characteristics and rootlet mortality. The finding of this relationship does not necessarily imply that these factors are the cause of pole blight. Evidence reported herein was obtained from a detailed study of 6 healthy and 11 diseased 1-acre plots, well distributed throughout the white pine type of northern Idaho. This study is being continued.

Thirty-year results from a test of thinning a 60-year-old western white pine stand indicate that thinning does not appreciably change total volume growth, but it does improve the quality of the final product by increasing diameter growth and improving stand composition. This test was established in 1919 on the Priest River Experimental Forest, Idaho, to test three degrees of thinning from below in a 60- year-old stand of western white pine. At the time of thinning, the stand contained about 1,000 trees and 175 square feet of basal area per acre. The basal area stocking was 80 percent of...

Disease surveys conducted in 1953 and 1954 to determine the distribution of pole blight of western white pine (Pinus monticola, Dougl.) reveal that most areas of damage have now been found. During 1953 extensive surveys of pole blight distribution disclosed 20 new diseased areas and a number of affected stands adjacent to or near old disease centers. The 1954 distribution surveys, limited to a 2-week period, revealed no diseased locations and only a few enlarged zones. The established range of the disease has not increased in the past 2 years except for some extension to the northeast on...

In the Colorado Front Range, intensity of land use must be gaged with special care to maintain acceptable watershed conditions. Sparse cover, unstable soils, and intense summer rains compound the difficulties characterizing multiple-use management. Water from the Front Range is acutely needed in the adjacent Great Plains, but its quality and regularity of flow have long since been impaired by heavy grazing and unrestricted timber cutting. While such activities can very likely be continued at a reduced scale, it is important to establish the limits dictated by good watershed management. A...

Have we been overlooking a good bet by not using more Russian wild rye in our range reseeding programs? The drought of the past few years has proved the ability of Russian wild rye to stay alive when other seeded grasses die.

Supplemental feeding of yearling heifers on fall range at the Manitou Experimental Forest during the fall season of 1953 increased weight gains 22.4 pounds per head, increased market values 75 cents per cwt., and resulted in $3.93 more value per animal after cost of feed had been deducted.