Managing for old-growth forests: a moving target

Abstract

Presentation Abstract Old-growth Douglas-fi r (Pseudotsuga menziesii) forests are a goal for conservation and restoration across millions of acres of federal forest lands in western Oregon and Washington. Where old growth currently exists, management is typically focused on protecting stands and watersheds from logging and high-severity wildfi re. Where old growth was converted to Douglas-fi r plantations during the 20th century, the goal is often to actively manage those areas to create ecological diversity and accelerate development of old-growth conditions. What does it mean to use old growth as a target for management? Most old-growth Douglas-fi r forests are over 200 years old, and many contain trees over 500 years old. Yet existing empirical studies and our scientifi c knowledge of forestry are less than a century old and have limited value in projecting how silvicultural manipulations will infl uence ecosystem function objectives centuries into the future. Old growth as a target can mean using the structure and function of current old-growth stands as a goal for manipulating plantations.

Parent Publication

• Density management in the 21st century: west side story

Citation

Spies, Thomas A.; Pabst, Robert J. 2013. Managing for old-growth forests: a moving target. In: Anderson, P.D.; Ronnenberg, K.L., eds. Density management in the 21st century: west side story. Gen. Tech. Rep. PNW-GTR-880. Portland, OR: US Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station: 108-109.