Treesearch

Small-leaf globemallow occurs in the Central Basin and Range and Colorado Plateau ecoregions (Lambert 2005). It occurs naturally in Nevada, the southern two-thirds of Utah, western Colorado, northwestern New Mexico, northern and central Arizona, and adjacent California (Kearney 1935; Holmgren et al. 2005; La Duke 2016; USDA NRCS 2017). It has been grown in southern Idaho (Pendery and Rumbaugh 1990) but is not native there. On the high plateaus of central and northern Arizona, small-leaf globemallow is the most abundant globemallow species (Kearney 1935). Although the distributions of...

Douglas’ dustymaiden is native to North America and is widely distributed throughout the West, occurring from southern Alberta, British Columbia, and Saskatchewan to California, Nevada, northern Arizona, northern New Mexico, Colorado, and the Dakotas (Cronquist 1994; Morefield 2006; LBJWC 2017). Variety douglasii is more widespread, occurring throughout the range reported for the species. Variety alpina occurs only in Montana, Idaho, Oregon, California, Utah, Colorado, and Wyoming (Morefield 2006).PDF UPDATED: FEBRUARY 2024.

This report provides the findings from recreation monitoring of the Salmon Wild and Scenic River’s recreation segment during summer of 2020. This baseline study is intended to provide a greater understanding of river use on this segment and, in combination with visitor use social science, inform user capacity and management actions in the future.

Recent bark beetle outbreaks in western North American subalpine forests have prompted managers to salvage log some beetle-affected stands. We examined the short-term (i.e., two to three years post-treatment) consequences of such salvage logging on vascular understory plant (i.e., graminoid, forb, and shrub) communities. At 24 lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta) sites in Colorado, USA, that had been attacked by mountain pine beetles (Dendroctonus ponderosae), we evaluated how logging operations impacted understory plant species richness, cover, and composition by comparing paired unlogged and...

To investigate the long-term impacts of biomass harvesting on site productivity, we remeasured trees in the 1974 Forest Residues Utilization Research and Development Program at Coram Experimental Forest in western Montana. Three levels (high, medium, and low) of biomass removal intensity combined with broadcast burning treatment were assigned after clearcut in western larch (Larix occidentalis Nutt.) stands in 1974. From 1976 to 79, twenty five 2 + 0 bare root seedlings of Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco) were consecutively planted in rows. In 2013, tree height, dbh...

Wildfires have become larger and more severe over the past several decades on Colorado’s Front Range, catalyzing greater investments in forest management intended to mitigate wildfire risks. The complex ecological, social, and political context of the Front Range, however, makes forest management challenging, especially where multiple management goals including forest restoration exist. In this report, we present a science-based framework for managers to develop place-based approaches to forest restoration of Front Range ponderosa pine and dry mixed-conifer forests. We first present...

Mastication is a wildland fuel treatment technique that is rapidly becoming the preferred method for many fire hazard reduction projects, especially in areas where reducing fuels with prescribed fire is particularly challenging. Mastication is the process of mechanically modifying the live and dead surface and canopy biomass by chopping and shredding vegetation to reduce canopy bulk density, raise canopy base height, lower surface fuelbed depth, and increase surface fuelbed bulk density, thereby reducing fire hazard. However, little is known about the properties of masticated fuelbeds as...

Historically, the ponderosa and dry mixed-conifer forests of the Colorado Front Range were more open and grassy, and trees of all size classes were found in a grouped arrangement with sizable openings between the clumps. As a legacy of fire suppression, today’s forests are denser, with smaller trees. Proactive restoration of this forest type will help to reduce fuel loads and the risk of large and severe wildfires in the Colorado Front Range. Using the best-available information on the historical conditions of these forests to develop “desired conditions” for restoration, the Rocky...

Management practices since the late 19th century, including fire exclusion and harvesting, have altered the structure of ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa Douglas ex P. Lawson & C. Lawson) dominated forests across the western United States. These structural changes have the potential to contribute to uncharacteristic wildfire behavior and effects. Locally-relevant information on historical forest structure can improve efforts to restore more fire adapted conditions. We used a dendrochronological approach to reconstruct pre-settlement era (ca. 1860) structure for 170, 0.5-ha plots in montane...

In response to large, severe wildfires in historically fire-adapted forests in the western US, policy initiatives, such as the USDA Forest Service’s Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program (CFLRP), seek to increase the pace and scale of ecological restoration. One required component of this program is collaborative adaptive management, in which monitoring data are used to iteratively evaluate and improve future management actions. Here, we assess the success of seven CFLRP treatments, implemented on 2,300 ha during the first three years of the Colorado Front Range Landscape...