Treesearch

Approximately 170,000 ha have been logged on the Tongass National Forest since the early 20th century, resulting in a vast network of young, and even-aged Sitka spruce–western hemlock stands. Many of these stands are in a stem exclusion phase, with dense overstories that competitively shade out understories. In 2001, a USDA Forest Service planning committee convened to develop multiple resource treatments to examine the effects of precommercial thinning, resulting in a collaborative, long-term project to improve knowledge and catalyze the Tongass-Wide Young Growth Studies (TWYGS) project....

The Rocky Mountain Research Station (RMRS) and Intermountain Region (R4) of the USDA Forest Service are actively improving the science-manager relationship paradigm with an exciting new effort: the RMRS–R4 Science Partner Program. These programs complement existing grassroots science-manager relationships by improving coordination and learning at the project and programmatic levels as well as deploying science resources where needed. We showcase a model for helping the Forest Service achieve its goal of leveraging best available science toward beneficial land management outcomes at...

The Long-Term Soil Productivity (LTSP) Study is one of the most successful and extensive collaborative science efforts undertaken by the USDA Forest Service. It was launched through a back-of-the-bus conversation about problems arising from the National Forest Management Act of 1976 and rose as a grassroots effort to determine how soil compaction and organic matter removal are linked to both tree and stand productivity. It has sparked collaborations at all levels of the agency and with universities, non-profits, and other research organizations, nationally and internationally, with the...

Many of the cultural traditions practiced by Native Americans were channeled from or associated with their experiences with the natural world. These traditions, in turn, served to inform land management practices that effectively maintained a sustainable ecological balance among people and land for thousands of years. Today, many Native Americans find it difficult to continue the ecological and cultural, or “ecocultural” practices of their ancestors (Long et al. 2018). Here we explore some of the factors that give rise to these challenges. This chapter provides a general overview of...

Ecosystems of the Lassen and Modoc National Forests depend on disturbance as part of the natural process. However, climate change, a source of disturbance itself, has also been changing patterns of other ecological disturbances, including the frequencies and intensities of fire, pests, and pathogens. This chapter presents a review and synthesis of peer-reviewed literature focused on natural disturbance processes and how those processes relate to and interact with a changing climate. The chapter begins with an overview of different ways climate change can impact the ecosystems of these two...

As described in Chapter 1.1 (Dumroese, this synthesis, The Northeastern California Plateaus Bioregion Science Synthesis: Background, Rationale, and Scope), the Lassen and Modoc National Forests (hereafter the Lassen and the Modoc) share dry pine forestland that was not addressed by two prior science syntheses: Science Synthesis to Support Socioecological Resilience in the Sierra Nevada and Southern Cascade Range (hereafter, Sierra Nevada Science Synthesis; Long and others 2014) and Synthesis of Science to Inform Land Management within the Northwest Forest Plan Area (hereafter Northwest...

As described in Chapter 1.1 (Dumroese, this synthesis, The Northeastern California Plateaus Bioregion Science Synthesis: Background, Rationale, and Scope), the Lassen and Modoc National Forests (hereafter the Lassen and the Modoc) share dry pine forestland that was not addressed by two prior science syntheses: Science Synthesis to Support Socioecological Resilience in the Sierra Nevada and Southern Cascade Range (hereafter, Sierra Nevada Science Synthesis; Long and others 2014) and Synthesis of Science to Inform Land Management within the Northwest Forest Plan Area (hereafter Northwest...

Sagebrush (Artemisia species) habitat, an intricate, species-rich mosaic of different sagebrush species and a remarkably diverse assemblage of grasses, forbs, and other shrubs, once covered about 170 million acres (69 million ha) across the Western United States (fig. 4.3.1). Noss et al. (1995) note that sagebrush habitat is an imperiled ecosystem because of its degradation, fragmentation, or removal by humans (Connelly et al. 2011), including conversion to agriculture (Leonard et al. 2000) compounded by other factors such as invasion by nonnative annual grasses, encroachment by junipers...

The adaptive management of forests and rangelands is directed toward achieving an ecologically sustainable landscape that contributes to social and economic sustainability. This “socioecological resilience” is a significant focus of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service 2012 Planning Rule directing how national forests are to revise their forest plans, as introduced in Chapter 1.1 (Dumroese, this synthesis, The Northeastern California Plateaus Bioregion Science Synthesis: Background, Rationale, and Scope). This process is complicated not only by ecological disturbances...

The anticipated changes in human populations, natural ecosystems, and the global climate are expected to impact public lands management. Land use is expected to shift due to altered productivity of local ecosystems, to overall increased human population, and to the changing market interests and cultural values. In rural areas, these demographic trends may result in the expansion of the wildland urban interface into previously undeveloped areas for amenity communities, and conversely, to departure from communities dependent on natural resource-supported economies. A recent science synthesis...