Treesearch

Yellow starthistle is an invasive, annual, spiny forb that, for the past 30 yr has been steadily advancing up the Salmon River Canyon in west central Idaho. In 1994, a decision was made to attempt to manage yellow starthistle by establishing a complex of biological control agents in a containment zone where the weed was most dense. Between 1995 and 1997, six species of seedhead-attacking insects were introduced and successfully established. By 1999, the insects had spread through the entire containment zone. Following this dispersal, a rapid buildup of insect populations occurred, and,...

This document is based on previous documentation of the nationally standardized Forest Inventory and Analysis database (Hansen and others 1992; Woudenberg and Farrenkopf 1995; Miles and others 2001). Documentation of the structure of the Forest Inventory and Analysis database (FIADB) for Phase 2 data, as well as codes and definitions, is provided. Examples for producing population level estimates are also presented. This database provides a consistent framework for storing forest inventory data across all ownerships for the entire United States. These data are available to the public.

This report presents a summary of the most recent inventory information for Colorado's forest lands. The report includes descriptive highlights and tables of area, number of trees, biomass, volume, growth, mortality, and removals. Most of the tables are organized by forest type, species, diameter class, or owner group. The report also describes inventory design, inventory terminology, and data reliability. Results show that Colorado's forest land totals 23 million acres. Nearly 50 percent of this forest land is administered by the USDA Forest Service. Pinyon-juniper forests cover over 5.5...

In order to develop strategic land management plans, managers must assess current and future ecological conditions. Climate change has expanded the need to assess the sustainability of ecosystems and predict their conditions under different climate change and management scenarios using landscape dynamics simulation models. We present a methodology for developing a state-and-transition model (STM) with the Vegetation Dynamics Development Tool (VDDT), using outputs from the Forest Vegetation Simulator (FVS). Preside, a recently developed accessory to the FVS program, is used to process and...

The theme of the 2009 National Silviculture Workshop held in Boise Idaho in June 2009 was, “Integrated management of carbon sequestration and biomass utilization opportunities in a changing climate.” The session had a series of outstanding presentations and field tours focused on the theme of the meeting nationally, and with specific reference to the forests of the northern Rocky Mountains. There was consensus in the meeting that climate change will be the defining issue for this generation of resource managers. Silviculture will play a key role in the future of climate change, and it will...

A major challenge for today’s resource managers is the linking of standand landscape-scale dynamics. The U.S. Forest Service has made major investments in programs at both the stand- (national forest project) and landscape/regional (Forest Inventory and Analysis [FIA] program) levels. FIA produces the only comprehensive and consistent statistical information on the status, changes, and trends in the condition and health of all forest ecosystems in the USA. Intended to be a strategic inventory, FIA data have not been used very much for small area inventory, planning, and analysis due to the...

Variable-density thinning is emerging as a valuable tool for the silvicultural promotion of old-growth conditions in second-growth forests of the Pacific Coast. This paper reports on an experimental variable-density thinning prescription applied between 2006 and 2007 at north coastal California’s Humboldt Redwoods State Park. The prescription strategy relied on known patterns of second-growth stand development during the stem exclusion phase, and was designed to alter current stand development trajectories in order to promote reference forest conditions. Prescription outcomes are described...

The ecological effects of post-thinning slash retention on vegetation, wildlife browse, and soil were evaluated in sixty-year-old stands of second-growth pine in central Oregon. Three slash-retention treatments were compared: whole-tree removal, bole-only removal, and thin no removal (boles and slash scattered on site). The study intent was to create a wide gradient of surface organic matter mass among treatments and assess any ensuing changes in site quality. No differences in site or soil productivity indices were found among the slash-retention treatments after 20 years. Tree growth,...

This paper presents a method for estimating stand growth from stand density and average diameter in stands of pure and mixed species in Southwest Idaho. The methods are adapted from a model developed for Douglas-fir, ponderosa pine, and lodgepole pine on the Salmon National Forest. Growth data were derived from ponderosa pine increment cores taken from sample plots on the Boise and Payette National Forests. The model was tested against growth plots and permanent inventory plots located on the Boise and Payette National Forests. Model results closely fitted observed dbh’s on these managed...

Manipulative experiments at the University of Montana’s Lubrecht Experimental Forest have long been set aside as permanent research and demonstration areas (RDA’s) to communicate the tradeoffs among different stand management strategies. However, most of these have either degraded over time or have diminished relevance to contemporary forest management issues. An evaluation and rehabilitation of Lubrecht Forest’s research and demonstration infrastructure is currently underway. Examples are presented of existing RDA’s that are being refurbished, replaced, revised, or retired. New demonstrati...