Forestry

Ecology and Management of Larix Forests: A Look Ahead ... Proceedings of an International Symposium

United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 16:04:49 PDT

This proceedings is the product of an international symposium on the Larix species of North America, Europe, and Asia. Western larch, an important species in the Western United States and Canada, was featured. The symposium included information on ecology, management, silviculture, regeneration processes, growth, wildlife, vegetation succession, silvics, history, genetics, breeding and provenance testing, physiology, fire, insects and disease, and research need. This proceedings illustrates the importance of Larix in the temperate forests of the Northern Hemisphere.

First Order Fire Effects Model: FOFEM 4.0, User's Guide

United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 09:44:55 PDT

A First Order Fire Effects Model (FOFEM) was developed to predict the direct consequences of prescribed fire and wildfire. FOFEM computes duff and woody fuel consumption, smoke production, and fire-caused tree mortality for most forest and rangeland types in the United States. The model is available as a computer program for PC or Data General computer.

Manually Calculating Fire-Danger Ratings - 1978 National Fire-Danger Rating System

United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 11:21:28 PDT

This publication contains instructions for manually calculating the indexes and components of the 1978 National Fire-Danger Rating System (NFDRS). The procedures are explained with worked examples. Working sets of nomograms for the 20 NFDRS fuel models are not included. However, an order form for obtaining the needed nomograms is provided. USDA Forest Service General Technical Report INT-39, The National Fire-Danger Rating System--1978 by John E. Deeming, Robert E. Burgan, and Jack D. Cohen, a companion publication, covers the NFDRS background, applications, and general principles of the system.

Proceedings -- National Wilderness Research Conference: Current Research

United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 15:34:28 PDT

Includes more than 70 reports of current wilderness research. Papers are organized around nine topics: wilderness resource research, including natural fire, air quality, impacts to soil and vegetation, fish and wildlife, and water; and wilderness user research related to recreational use and user characteristics, attitudes and behavior, benefits, and management concepts and tools.

Uneven-Aged Forest Management: State of the Art (or Science?)

Fri, 18 Mar 2011 12:00:30 PDT

Examines some important historical factors that have caused widespread preference of the even-aged management system over the uneven-aged. Major decisions facing forest managers interested in applying uneven-aged management are defined, and a review is made of techniques traditionally used, or recently proposed, for use in making these decisions. Finally, problem areas needing further research and development are identified.

Proceedings -- National Wilderness Research Conference: Issues, State-of-Knowledge, Future Directions

United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 15:28:21 PST

Includes 35 reports giving perspectives on wilderness values, management, and research; states-of-knowledge for wilderness resource research; states-of-knowledge for wilderness user research; and future directions for wilderness research.

Field Guide to Intermountain Rushes

Fri, 11 Feb 2011 10:15:37 PST

This guide provides technical descriptions of 23 Intermountain rushes (Juncus spp.), including the common and several less abundant species. Line drawings and color or black and white photos illustrate diagnostic characteristics of each species. An illustrated morphology and a glossary acquaint the layperson with terminology used to classify rushes. The guide is intended as a tool to aid in classification; it is not inclusive.

A Partial Glossary of Elk Management Terms

United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 14:38:48 PST

This glossary helps define terms that have been misused during forest planning. Terms that were developed from research on the influences of timber sales and roads during the summer months have been used inappropriately when referring to winter range, hunting seasons, and other conditions. The glossary is based on the results of an "Elk Management Terminology Workshop" held at the University of Montana's Lubrecht Experimental Forest on April 3-4, 1990.

Ranking Thinning Potential of Lodgepole Pine Stands

United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 14:05:09 PST

This paper presents models for predicting edge-response of dominant and codominant trees to clearing. Procedures are given for converting predictions to a thinning response index, for ranking stands for thinning priority. Data requirements, sampling suggestions, examples of application, and suggestions for management use are included to facilitate use as a field guide.

An Application of Discrete Optimization for Developing Economically Efficient Multiple-Use Projects

United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 13:20:56 PST

A discrete version of the continuous joint production model in economic theory is presented for use in designing multiple-use projects and identifying efficient management prescriptions for forest planning. Data requirements are less demanding than the continuous theoretical model, yet some of the more important features are maintained. Models can be formulated graphically or as mixed-integer programming problems that are easily solved via computerized routines.

Utah Timber Production and Mill Residue, 1992

United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 15:44:10 PST

Utah's timber production in 1992 was 13.3 million cubic feet (63.7 million board feet, Scribner rule), up 9 percent from 1974. Sawlog production was 10.2 million cubic feet (52.5 million board feet). House log volume was 1.6 million cubic feet (8.2 million board feet). Lodgepole pine comprised 48 percent, Uintah County 29 percent, and National Forest lands 78 percent of the harvest. Mill residue volume was 7 million cubic feet, 82 percent of which was used, most for fencing, firewood, animal bedding, or industrial plant fuel.

Forest Resource Statistics for Northern Utah, 1993

United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 13:52:12 PST

About 5.2 million acres, or 25 percent, of northern Utah is forested. Fifty-two percent of this forest area is capable of producing commercial wood products and is classified as timberland. Forty-eight percent is classified as woodland, primarily pinyon-juniper. The predominant forest types on the timberland are aspen, Douglas-fir, lodgepole pine, and spruce-fir. The National Forest System manages 70 percent of the timberland; 23 percent is under private ownership, and 7 percent is under other public ownership (local, State, and other Federal). Thirteen percent of the timberland is withdrawn from commercial timber production and is in a reserved status. Most reserved timberland is found under National Forest System management. The total volume of growing stock on nonreserved timberland in northern Utah is 3.4 billion cubic feet. In order, Douglas-fir, lodgepole pine, aspen, Engelmann spruce, and subalpine fir species account for most of the volume. Net annual growth averages 38.6 million cubic feet after the impact of mortality, which averaged 47.9 million cubic feet annually.

Logging Utilization - Utah, 1993

United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 12:21:11 PST

Data collected on 20 logging operations in Utah in 1993 provided board-foot and cubic-foot conversion factors of log scale and factors to apply to harvest volume estimates to obtain removals estimates. The components of timber products and removals, obtained by application of these factors to the 1992 Utah timber harvest, are included. Additional findings, presented in table form, are the diameter distribution of trees removed from growing stock per thousand cubic ft of products and the volume of logging residue in pieces 6 ft and longer as a proportion of product volume. Survey methods and estimates of data reliability are also presented.

Pine Hollow Exclosures: Effect of Browsing on an Aspen Community Sprayed With 2, 4-D

United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 11:48:03 PST

The Pine Hollow aspen (Populus tremuloides) exclosures on the Ashley National Forest in eastern Utah were sampled in 1984, 19 years after they were established. The effects of 2, 4-D, wildlife, and cattle on plant succession were evaluated. Two exclosures were used to protect the sprayed area from (1) all animal use and (2) only livestock use. A third sprayed area was left open for use by all animals. The aspen overstory was killed as a result of spraying, with sufficient reproduction occurring to restock the stand. However, animal use drastically altered the aspen reproduction, as well as the understory production. Total protection favored desirable understory species while the open area had fewer desirable species.

Heat Content of Bark, Twigs, and Foliage of Nine Species of Western Conifers

United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 13:50:13 PST

Comparative combustion tests showed that bark, twigs, and foliage of nine commercial timber species in the Northern Rocky Mountains generally produce more heat than equal volumes of their ovendry wood and that these parts of harvested trees could be profitably utilized as a source of energy.

Sucker Regeneration in a Utah Aspen Clone After Clearcutting, Partial Cutting, Scarification, and Girdling

United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 12:35:48 PST

Clearcutting, partial cutting, scarification, and girdling were used to stimulate root suckering in a Utah aspen clone. Regeneration was inventoried yearly during the first 4 years after treatment and again after 12 years. Clearcutting resulted in the greatest number of suckers. In most years, partial cuts (cuts that removed 67 percent of the basal area) had less than 50 percent as much regeneration as the clearcut plots. Girdling stimulated suckering to a lesser degree than cutting. Mortality was high on girdled plots and by the 12th year after treatment few suckers had survived. Scarification had no apparent effect on sucker production.

Genetic Variation in Susceptibility of Western White Pine to Needle Blight

United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 11:55:50 PST

Ten clones of western white pine differed in their susceptibility to white pine needle blight. Two clones were significantly less infected than the average and two clones were significantly more infected than the average. This variability suggests a simple inheritance, maybe just one or two genes.

Linear Measurement: A Method of Estimating Fascicle Numbers for Larch Casebearer Population Sampling

United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 09:56:24 PST

Branch samples collected from 23 plots in northern Idaho and western Montana in 1975 had a combined mean distribution of 3.13 fascicles/inch (1.23 fascicles/cm) of branch length. By subsampling, it is possible to determine cumulative lineal inches of branch necessary to obtain a sampling unit of 100 fascicles for a plot, eliminating the need for counting fascicles on each sample.

Terpenes for Indirect Selection of Growth Potential in Rocky Mountain Douglas-Fir

United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 15:42:38 PST

Possibilities of using terpene composition for indirect selection of growth potential were explored for Rocky Mountain Douglas-fir. Volatile leaf oil analyses were made on 170 5-year-old seedlings that represented full-sib hybrid families, wind-pollinated parental lines of inland origin, and wind-pollinated parental lines of coastal origin. Correlation analyses showed that terpenes could not be used efficiently for indirect selection of growth potential in the inland variety. But, terpenes may be useful in selecting parental lines in programs of intervarietal hybridization.

Variation in Suckering Capacity Among and Within Lateral Roots of an Aspen Clone

United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 15:14:13 PST

Excised roots were used to determine variation in suckering capacity among and within lateral roots of an aspen (Populus tremuloides Michx.) clone. Differences among lateral roots were significant. Within segments of a lateral root sucker production showed a high degree of polarity, increasing from the distal to proximal ends. There was no evidence of a gradient in suckering capacity in a segmented root; i.e., distal segments were not significantly different from proximal ones. This indicated that aging was not a factor regulating suckering within lateral roots. Sucker production was not affected by root length.