The Applegate Adaptive Management Area ecosystem health assessment

Abstract

As requested by the Applegate Partnership, the Medford District Bureau of Land Management, the Rogue River and Siskiyou National Forests, a team of six specialists (Dr. Tom Atzet, USFS ecologist; Dr. Mike Amaranthus, PNW soil scientist, Dr. Don Goheen, USFS pathologist and entomologist, Tom Sensenig, BLM silviculturist, Dr. Dave Perry, Oregon State University conservation biologist and Dr. Kevin Preister, Rogue Institute of Ecology and Economy, social anthropologist, Sue Rolle and Dr. Diane White coordinated the effort and edited the manuscript respectively) were given two weeks to assess ecosystem health of the Applegate Adaptive Management Area using existing information. The assessment sets context for provincial scale processes and watershedanalysis. It includes historic, current and future desired ranges of conditions, research and monitoring strategies, findings and recommendations. The assessment integrates goals and objectives of the Applegate Partnership, the President's Plan and Record of Decision, the Regional Ecological Assessment Report and forest and district land use planning documents.The team found stand densities two to three times historic levels, high tree mortality rates, increasing insect and disease populations, and increasing fire hazard. This extractive report features recommendations.

Parent Publication

• Forest health through silviculture: Proceedings of the 1995 National Silviculture Workshop

Citation

Atzet, Thomas. 1995. The Applegate Adaptive Management Area ecosystem health assessment. In: L. G. Eskew, comp. Forest health through silviculture: proceedings of the 1995 National Silviculture Workshop, Mescalero, New Mexico, May 8-11, 1995. Gen. Tech. Rep. RM-GTR-267. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Forest and Range Experiment Station: 162-166