Wildfires consume existing forest fuels but also leave behind dead shrubs and trees that become fuel to future wildfires. Harvesting firekilled trees is sometimes proposed as an economical approach for reducing future fuels and wildfire severity. Postfire logging, however, is controversial. Some question its fuel reduction benefits and its ecological impacts.
The marbled murrelet (Brachyramphus marmoratus) is a threatened coastal bird that feeds on fish and nests in old-growth forests. In northwest Washington, murrelet populations are declining despite protections provided by the Northwest Forest Plan.
Principal findings of the National Fire and Fire Surrogate (FFS) study are presented in an annotated bibliography and summarized in tabular form by site, discipline (ecosystem component), treatment type, and major theme. Composed of 12 sites, the FFS is a comprehensive multidisciplinary experiment designed to evaluate the costs and ecological consequences of alternative fuel reduction treatments in seasonally dry forests of the United States. The FFS has a common experimental design across the 12-site network, with each site a fully replicated experiment that compares four treatments: prescribed fi re, mechanical treatments, mechanical + prescribed fire, and an unmanipulated control. We measured treatment cost and variables within several components of the ecosystem, including vegetation, the fuel bed, soils, bark beetles, tree diseases, and wildlife in the same 10-ha experimental units. This design allowed us to assemble a fairly comprehensive picture of ecosystem response to treatment at the site scale, and to compare treatment response across a wide variety of conditions.
This publication describes the bird communities of major mainland rivers of southeast Alaska and is based on a review of all known relevant studies as well as recent fieldwork. We synthesized information on the composition, structure, and habitat relationships of bird communities at 11 major mainland rivers. Information on current management concerns and research needs are also included.
This guidebook describes The Island Research Natural Area, an 84-ha (208-ac) tract established to represent examples of the western juniper/big sagebrush/bluebunch wheatgrass (Juniperus occidentalis/Artemisia tridentata/Pseudoroegneria spicata), and the western juniper/big sagebrush-antelope bitterbrush/bluebunch wheatgrass (Juniperus occidentalis/Artemisia tridentata-Purshia tridentata/Pseudoroegneria spicata) plant associations.
The Malheur model for fire-caused delayed mortality is presented as an easily interpreted graph (mortality-probability calculator) as part of a one-page field guide that allows the user to determine postfire probability of mortality for ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa Dougl. ex Laws.).
Old-growth forests provide unique habitat features and landscape functions compared to younger stands. The goals of many forest management plans in the Pacific Northwest include increasing the area of late-successional and old-growth forests.
Over the past 30 years, the Pacific Northwest Interagency Natural Areas Committee has promoted the establishment and management of natural areas in Oregon and Washington--protected areas devoted to research, education, and conservation of biodiversity.
Excess nitrogen stemming from human activities is a common water pollutant. Fertilizer runoff, sewage, and fossil fuel emission all contain nitrogen that often ends in streams, rivers, and ultimately the ocean.
Two series of single and stereo photographs display a range of natural conditions and fuel loadings in post-hurricane forests in the southeastern United States. Each group of photos includes inventory information summarizing vegetation composition, structure and loading, woody material loading and density by size class, forest floor loading, and various site characteristics. The natural fuels photo series is designed to help land managers appraise fuel and vegetation conditions in natural settings.
We used two data sets to evaluate stream and watershed condition for sixth-field watersheds in each aquatic province within the Northwest Forest Plan (NWFP) area: stream data and upslope data. The stream evaluation was based on inchannel data (e.g., substrate, pieces of large wood, water temperature, pool frequency, and macroinvertebrates) we sampled from 2002 to 2009 (193 watersheds) as part of a repeating sample design. We just completed our first round of sampling, so only current condition was calculated for this data set. When condition scores for the inchannel data were grouped into categories, relatively few fell into the low (10 percent) and very low (1 percent) categories. The majority of inchannel attribute scores fell into the moderate (35 percent) and high (41 percent) condition ranges, with relatively few (12 percent) in the very high category. For low-scoring watersheds, water temperature was often the most influential factor. Aquatic invertebrate scores also appeared influential in producing the low scores.
A photograph gallery using just html/css to switch the contents of an 'object' for browsers that understand and an iframe alternative for IE.
A mixed gallery using just html/css to switch the contents of an 'object'. The content can be text, images, shockwave/flash and quicktime movie.
A flyout list menu with top level links and a close menu icon for the iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch.
A droplist menu with top level links and a close menu tab for the iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch.
A pulldown panel containing a droplist menu using just CSS and suitable for the iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch.
The previous menu modified to give a clearer indication of the 'CLOSE' tab for the iPad etc..
A multi level dropdown/flyout animated menu with a 'close' tab for the iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch.
A simpler version of the Anywidth v2 menu, using the latest techniques and discoveries for the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch.
A simpler version of the Anywidth v3 menu, using the latest techniques and discoveries for the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch.
A simpler version of the Anywidth v4 menu, using the latest techniques and discoveries for the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch.
A simpler version of the Anywidth v5 menu, using the latest techniques and discoveries for the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. NO need for a special 'close' button or tab.
Using just CSS to produce a multi-level menu with a click action instead of the normal hover suitable for the iPad.
Using :before/:after and content: together with the general sibling selector to produce a CSS only gallery with minimal code for the iPad etc..
Using CSS3 transitions, transforms and keyframes to produce a 3D animation of the Earth, Mars, Jupiter and the Moon.
A full screen slide show with permanent image changes for all modern PC browsers and Safari Mobile browsers.
A simpler version of the Anywidth #6 menu, using the latest techniques and discoveries for the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. NO need for a special 'close' button or page wide transparent image.
Using just CSS to produce a multi-level menu with a click to open/close action instead of the normal hover suitable for the iPad.
This report summarizes resource statistics for eastern Oregon's juniper forests, which are in Baker, Crook, Deschutes, Gilliam, Grant, Harney, Jefferson, Klamath, Lake, Malheur, Morrow, Sherman, Umatilla, Union, Wallowa, Wasco, and Wheeler Counties. We sampled all ownerships outside of the National Forest System; we report the statistics on juniper forest on national forest lands by using data from the national forest, Pacific Northwest Region inventory. Statistical tables summarize the area covered by juniper trees and juniper forest, wood volume, and numbers of trees, by ownership and juniper type. We found juniper on an estimated 6.5 million acres, a little more than half that was considered forest land. Evidence suggests that amount of forest land will continue to increase.
Many of America's national forests and grasslandscollectively called the National Forest Systemface increased risks and alterations from escalating housing development on private rural lands along their boundaries. National forests and grasslands provide critical social, ecological, and economic benefits to the American public. This study projects future housing density increases on private rural lands at three distances2, 3, and 10 milesfrom the external boundaries of all national forests and grasslands across the conterminous United States. Some 21.7 million acres of rural private lands (about 8 percent of all private lands) located within 10 miles of the National Forest System boundaries are projected to undergo increases in housing density by 2030. Nine national forests are projected to experience increased housing density on at least 25 percent of adjacent private lands at one or more of the distances considered. Thirteen national forests and grasslands are each projected to have more than a half-million acres of adjacent private rural lands experience increased housing density. Such development and accompanying landscape fragmentation pose substantial challenges for the management and conservation of the ecosystem services and amenity resources of National Forest System lands, including access by the public. Research such as this can help planners, managers, and communities consider the impacts of local land use decisions.
Over the past 7 years, a strong collaboration has emerged between the H.J. Andrews Experimental Forest ecosystem research group and the Spring Creek Project for Ideas, Nature, and the Written Word, an independently funded program for nature writing based in the Department of Philosophy, Oregon State University. The program is called Long-Term Ecological Reflections and it brings together scientists, creative writers, and environmental philosophers to consider new ways to conceptualize and communicate views of long-term ecological change in forests and watersheds and the participation of humans in that change. The program is designed to parallel the Long-Term Ecological Research program, a national science program initiated in 1980 and involving the Andrews Forest. Both programs focus on primary inquiry and have 200-year planning horizons, which have resulted in some uniquely farsighted perspectives and astute ecological observations.
This report examines public perspectives on disturbance-based management conducted in the central Cascade Range in Oregon as part of the Blue River Landscape Strategy.
The original Forests on the Edge report (FOTE 1) indicated that 44.2 million acres of private forest land was projected to experience substantial increases in residential development in the coming decades.
This report chronicles a large-scale effort to map place values across the Pacific Northwest Region (Washington and Oregon) of the U.S. Forest Service.
Forests significantly influence the global carbon budget: they store massive amounts of carbon in their wood and soil, they sequester atmospheric carbon as they grow, and they emit carbon as a greenhouse gas when harvested or converted to another use.
This study updates an earlier assessment of the past, current, and prospective situation for the Nation's land base. We describe area changes among major land uses on the U.S. land base for historical trends from 1982 to 2002 and projections out to 2062.
Gertie Painter raised thousands for charity with a series of abseils throughout her 90s but sadly died during her ninth