Download (PDF 598 KB): https://research.fs.usda.gov/download/treesearch/15859.pdf
Abstract
The Northwest Forest Plan is a large-scale ecosystem management plan for federal lands in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. An effectiveness monitoring program has been developed to determine the extent to which the goals and objectives of this Plan are being achieved. Priority resources identified for ecological monitoring include late-successional and old-growth forests, northern spotted owls, marbled murrelets, and aquatic and riparian ecosystems. The challenge in developing the monitoring program has been to integrate all of these critical components into one efficient and responsive program. Our method has been to develop a common prospective monitoring approach, conceptual framework, indicator selection strategy, monitoring design, and data assessment and reporting process. This paper discusses how our proposed approach addresses some common problems encountered by other monitoring programs. We discuss four major areas of utility to others developing ecological monitoring programs: linkage to decision making, basis for indicator selection, ecological foundation for monitoring, and data quality and accessibility.
Parent Publication
Citation
Palmer, Craig; Mulder, Barry; Noon, Barry. 2000. An effectiveness monitoring program for the northwest forest plan: new approaches to common monitoring problems. In: Hansen, Mark; Burk, Tom, eds. Integrated tools for natural resources inventories in the 21st century. Gen. Tech. Rep. NC-212. St. Paul, MN: U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Forest Service, North Central Forest Experiment Station. 313-320.
