Bear damage to young Douglas-fir.

Abstract

Newly-formed sapwood of young conifers has probably been a food for bears since time immemorial, but damage to trees has only recently attracted the attention of foresters. In many localities, all stages of bear-caused wounds can be found, from fresh ones to those covered with callus, On a 3-acre clear-cut, made in 1950 in a rather open part of the 110-year-old stand of Douglas-fir on the Wind River Experimental Forest, 107 trees out of a total of 132 were found to have been wounded between 1854 and 1918. More than two-thirds of the wounds were made between 1865 and 1885--that is, when the stand was 25 to 45 years old. Many of the trees had been wounded 2 to 5 times, at intervals of 2 to 46 years.

Citation

Childs, Thomas W.; Worthington, Norman P. 1955. Bear damage to young Douglas-fir. PNW Old Series Research Notes No. 113, p. 1-4