Desirable forest structures for a restored Front Range
| Authors: | Yvette L. Dickinson, Rob Addington, Greg Aplet, Mike Babler, Michael A. Battaglia, Peter Brown, Tony Cheng, Casey Cooley, Dick Edwards, Jonas Feinstein, Paula J. Fornwalt, Hal Gibbs, Megan S. Matonis, Kristen A. Pelz, Claudia Regan |
| Year: | 2014 |
| Type: | Miscellaneous |
| Station: | Rocky Mountain Research Station |
| Source: | Technical Brief CFRI-TB-1402. Fort Collins, CO: Colorado State University, Colorado Forest Restoration Institute. 23 p. |
Abstract
As part of the federal Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program administered by the US Forest Service, the Colorado Front Range Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Project (FR-CFLRP, a collaborative effort of the Front Range Roundtable1 and the US Forest Service) is required to define desired conditions for lower montane ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) forests on Colorado’s Front Range (approximately 6,000 to 8,000 ft asl) and monitor progress towards these desired conditions. Currently, more than 70% of these forests exhibit high to very high degree of departure from their historical range of variability (FRRT 2009) and the FR-CFLRP aims to "return Front Range ponderosa pine forests to a condition that reduces the threat of uncharacteristic fire; increases forest resilience to fire, insects, disease, drought, and climate change; and provides sustainable vegetation and watershed conditions, wildlife habitat, and community needs" (FRRT 2009). This will be achieved in part by working to "establish a complex mosaic of forest density, size and age" at the stand and landscape scales (Clement and Brown 2011). The following report is a summary of the Front Range Roundtable’s efforts to refine these desired conditions for forest structure across the Front Range at both the stand and landscape scales.