http://www.fs.fed.us/pnw/publications/rns.shtml Pacific Northwest Research Station Research Notes en-us https://www.fs.fed.us/pnw/pubs/pnw_rn577.pdf The Silvies Valley Ranch is an example of using local innovation to combat the global problem of incised streams on rangelands. Incised channels reduce the flow between water in the channel and water in the surrounding soils, which reduces the vegetation available for wildlife habitat and cattle forage. One of the ranch owners, Scott Campbell, a doctor of veterinary medicine, believes that stream incision is related to the decline of beaver populations; thus, the ranch’s approach to restoration includes efforts to mimic beavers’ influence on the system. He is using an extensive network of low-rise dams made from locally available materials (dirt, gravel, rock, and logs), commonly referred to as “artificial beaver dams” (ABDs). Campbell said that the ABDs on the ranch successfully increased stream connectivity to their floodplains and increased the quantity and forage quality of wet meadows on the property, with no changes in where cattle were grazing. The experiences of this landowner exemplify a unique approach that provides a model for others facing similar challenges to doing restoration on private land. The transformation taking place on the Silvies Valley Ranch has garnered the attention of neighboring ranch owners, some of whom are beginning to experiment with similar restoration technologies. Campbell would like to continue installing structures, but has encountered numerous roadblocks in the permitting process. He has since taken an active role in building legislative support for the ABD technology being used on the ranch, and in facilitating its adoption in other places. This case study—based on interviews with stakeholders involved in the Silvies Valley Ranch project—highlights the social benefits and challenges experienced by one rancher using ABDs as a restoration tool, and provides insights for improving their use in the future. It is part of a larger interdisciplinary study that explores the potential of different beaver-related restoration approaches for achieving watershed restoration and livestock production goals on rangelands in the Western United States. Davee, Rachael; Charnley, Susan; Gosnell, Hannah Wed, 01 Nov 2017 08:00:00 PST Res. Note. PNW-RN-577. Portland, OR: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station. 11 p. Jason Blake https://www.fs.fed.us/pnw/pubs/pnw_rn576.pdf Wood decay elements include snags, down wood, root wads, tree stumps, litter, duff, broomed or diseased branches, and partially dead trees, all of which contribute to ecological processes and biodiversity of the forest ecosystem. Down wood can serve as reservoirs for moisture and mycorrhizal fungi beneficial to the health and growth of commercial tree species. Decaying wood, leaf litter, small twigs, and roots contribute nutrients and structure to humus and soil organic matter, and host microbes that play beneficial roles in nitrogen cycles and other processes. Snags and down wood provide nurse functions for tree and shrub species, and can aid in restoration of degraded forest environments. Various elements of wood decay provide habitat for many species of wildlife including invertebrates, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals. Fire can influence the amounts and distributions of wood decay elements and enhance or detract desired ecosystem processes, depending on severity, charring, soil temperature, and other factors. Managing wood decay elements for ecosystem processes entails better understanding decay dynamics, the role of coarse wood in soil, the role of wood decay in carbon cycling and sequestration, and other considerations. Marcot, Bruce G. Wed, 01 Sep 2017 08:00:00 PST Res. Note. PNW-RN-576. Portland, OR: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station. 43 p. Mervin Leigh https://www.fs.fed.us/pnw/pubs/pnw_rn575.pdf Fungi are key players in the health, diversity, and productivity of forest ecosystems in Pacific Northwest forests, as mycorrhizal associations, pathogens, decomposers, nontimber resources, and food resources for wildlife. A number of invertebrate species are associated with wood decay fungi, serve as vectors for fungal pathogens, or are fungivorous (consume fungi) and influence rates of wood decay and nutrient mineralization. In Washington and Oregon, 31 wildlife species among 8 families are fungivores, and at least 14 wildlife species disperse fungi. Down wood can provide nurse substrates for seedlings and beneficial mycorrhizal fungi, refuges from pathogenic soil fungi, sources of nutrients for decay fungi, and substrates supporting overall fungal diversity. Presence, density, distribution, and diversity of fungi are influenced by forest stand management practices, forest age class, and effects of fire. Old forests provide for a suite of rare fungi species. Old legacy trees retained during forest harvest can provide some degree of conservation of beneficial and rare fungi. Fungi can be difficult to detect and monitor; surveying for fungi at various times of the year, for multiple (at least 5) years, and by including hypogeous (belowground) samples, can improve detection rates. Studies are needed in the Pacific Northwest to quantify the amount of down wood—number of pieces, sizes, total biomass, percentage of forest floor cover, and other attributes—necessary for maintaining or restoring fungal biodiversity and viable levels of individual fungi species, especially rare species. Marcot, Bruce G. Wed, 01 Aug 2017 08:00:00 PST Res. Note. PNW-RN-575. Portland, OR: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station. 31 p. Mervin Leigh https://www.fs.fed.us/pnw/pubs/pnw_rn573.pdf We conducted an experimental study of infection, transmission, and persistence of a nucleopolyhedrovirus (NPV) of Douglas-fir tussock moth (Orgyia pseudotsugata) to better understand mechanisms determining the efficacy of the virus when it is used as a microbial control agent. In a field experiment, we quantified infection rates of larvae exposed to either Tussock Moth Biocontrol-1, the strain currently used for control by the U.S. Forest Service, or a wild-type strain isolated from a natural population. We first allowed each pathogen to decay on experimental branches for 0, 1, or 3 days before allowing uninfected larvae to feed on the branches, and then we fit both a generalized linear model and an epidemiological model of virus transmission to the infection data. Longer decay of the NPV resulted in lower infection rates, but evidence that overall virus transmission differed between wild and pesticide isolates of NPV was weak. The short persistence time of the virus suggests that it does not last long on foliage, in turn suggesting that application of TM Biocontrol-1 must be carefully timed to ensure maximum mortality. Polivka, Karl M.; Dwyer, Greg; Mehmel, Constance J. Wed, 01 Feb 2017 08:00:00 PST Res. Note. PNW-RN-573. Portland, OR: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station. 15 p. Mervin Leigh http://www.fs.fed.us/pnw/pubs/pnw_rn568.pdf In spring and summer of 2010 and 2011, sawmill production capacity and wood utilization information was collected from major wood manufacturers in southeast Alaska. The estimated mill capacity in southeast Alaska for calendar year (CY) 2009 was 249,350 thousand board feet (mbf) (log scale), and for CY 2010 was 155,850 mbf (log scale), including idle sawmills. Mill consumption in CY 2009 was estimated at 13,422 mbf (log scale), and for CY 2010 was 15,807 mbf (log scale). Wood products manufacturing employment in southeast Alaska increased from 57.5 full-time equivalent positions in 2009 to 63.5 in 2010 despite the loss of 23,500 mbf of capacity in two sawmills owing to fires, the decommissioning of one large sawmill (65,000 mbf), and equipment sales at two small mills (5,000 mbf). Alexander, Sussan J.; Parrent, Daniel J. Tue, 31 Jul 2012 08:00:00 PST Gen. Tech. Rep. PNW-RN-568. Portland, OR: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station. 18 p. Douglas Beebe http://www.fs.fed.us/pnw/pubs/pnw_rn566.pdf Agencies and organizations deploy various strategies in response to environmental challenges, including the formulation of policy, programs, and regulations. Citizen-based environmental stewardship is increasingly seen as an innovative and important approach to improving and conserving landscape health. A new research focus on the stewardship of urban natural resources is being launched by the U.S. Forest Service in the Pacific Northwest region. Early scoping efforts are addressing various scales of human systems ranging from individuals to organizations to the entire positive "footprint" of stewardship on the land. This report addresses a fundamental need—to understand and describe civic environmental stewardship in urban settings. Stewardship has been described and defined in diverse ways within a variety of contexts, including the philosophical literature of environmentalism, agency program descriptions, and outreach by sponsoring organizations. Constructing a framework to convey the layered meanings of stewardship will help to focus and guide future research. A cognitive mapping technique was used to elicit responses to the question "What is environmental stewardship?" Semistructured interviews were conducted with representatives of nine Seattle environmental organizations, a group of practitioners who collectively represent over 100 years of experience in the field. Program planners and managers have particularly direct experiences of stewardship. Cognitive mapping enables participants to explore, then display, their particular knowledge and perceptions about an idea or activity. Analysis generated thematic, structural representations of shared concepts. Results show that the practitioners have multilayered perceptions of stewardship, from environmental improvement to community building, and from actions to outcomes. The resulting conceptual framework demonstrates the full extent of stewardship activity and meaning, which can aid stewardship sponsors to improve stewardship programs, leading to better experiences for participants and higher quality outcomes for projects and environments. Romolini, M.; Brinkley, W.; Wolf, K.L. Tue, 31 Jul 2012 06:00:00 PST Gen. Tech. Rep. PNW-RN-566. Portland, OR: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station. 41 p. Douglas Beebe http://www.fs.fed.us/pnw/pubs/pnw_rn565.pdf In spring and summer of 2008 and 2009, sawmill production capacity and utilization information was collected from major wood manufacturers in southeast Alaska. The estimated mill capacity in southeast Alaska for calendar year 2007 was 292,350 thousand board feet (mbf) (log scale), and for calendar year 2008 was 282,350 mbf (log scale). Mill production in calendar year 2007 was estimated at 31,717 mbf (log scale), and for calendar year 2008 was 23,666 mbf (log scale). Wood products manufacturing employment in southeast Alaska dropped from 133 in 2007 to 94 in 2008 as two large and one small operation became idle. Alexander, Sussan J.; Parrent, Daniel J. Thu, 29 Jul 2012 09:00:00 PST Gen. Tech. Rep. PNW-RN-565. Portland, OR: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station. 15 p. Douglas Beebe http://www.fs.fed.us/pnw/pubs/pnw_rn564.pdf This paper analyzes patterns of forest products trade between Asia and Alaska. Roos, Joseph A.; Sasatani, Daisuke; Brackley, Allen M; Barber, Valerie Wed, 21 Jul 2010 09:45:00 PST Res. Note. PNW-RN-564. Portland, OR: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station. 42 p. Douglas Beebe http://www.fs.fed.us/pnw/pubs/pnw_rn563.pdf Production of high-quality water is a vitally important ecosystem service in the largely semiarid interior Columbia River basin (ICRB). Alexander, Susan J.; Parrent, Daniel J. Thu, 14 Jan 2010 11:45:00 PST Res. Note. PNW-RN-563. Portland, OR: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station. 26 p. Tiffany Dong http://www.fs.fed.us/pnw/pubs/pnw_rn562.pdf 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. Hall, Troy E.; Farnum, Jennifer O.; Slider, Terry C.; Ludlow, Kathy Mon, 24 Aug 2009 11:45:00 PST Res. Note. PNW-RN-562. Portland, OR: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station. 20 p. Tiffany Dong http://www.fs.fed.us/pnw/pubs/pnw_rn561.pdf In spring 2006 and 2007, sawmill capacity and wood utilization information was collected for selected mills in southeast Alaska. The collected information is required to prepare information for compliance with Section 705(a) of the Tongass Timber Reform Act. The total estimated design capacity in the region (active and inactive mills) was 289,850 thousand board feet (mbf) Scribner log scale in calendar year (CY) 2005 and 284,350 mbf in CY 2006. The estimated design capacity of active mills was 259,850 mbf for CY 2005 and 247,850 mbf for CY 2006. This is a 2.9-percent decrease in active design capacity from CY 2004 (255,350 mbf) to CY 2006. The estimated volume of material processed during CY 2006 was 32,141 mbf Scribner log scale. This is a 3.6-percent increase over CY 2004 (31,027 mbf Scribner log scale). Brackley, Allen M.; Crone, Lisa K. Tue, 3 Feb 2009 13:37:00 PST Research Note. PNW-RN-561. Portland, OR: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station. 24 p. Keiko Williams http://www.fs.fed.us/pnw/pubs/pnw_rn560.pdf This publication provides estimates of total softwood harvest by owner for Alaska for 1910-2006. This information is a mix of reported and estimated data. These data are being used to develop assumptions needed in forest planning by both public and private forest managers. Brackley, Allen M.; Haynes, Richard W.; Alexander, Susan J. Tue, 3 Feb 2009 13:27:00 PST Research Note. PNW-RN-560. Portland, OR: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station. 24 p. Keiko Williams http://www.fs.fed.us/pnw/pubs/pnw_rn559.pdf Updated projections of demand for Alaska timber were published July 2006. Their application in land management planning for the Tongass National Forest has resulted in numerous questions and requests for clarification. This note discusses a broad range of these questions from the context of why we do projections, the model we used, the assumptions that determine the levels of timber harvest, our use of scenario planning, comments about how producers in Alaska compete with other North American producers, and the potential that some significant changes in southeast Alaska markets have changed the demand projections. Brackley, Allen M.; Haynes, Richard W. Thu, 11 Sep 2008 08:00:00 PST Research Note. PNW-RN-559. Portland, OR: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station. 41 p. Tiffany Dong http://www.fs.fed.us/pnw/pubs/pnw_rn558.pdf Sold prices for national forest stumpage provide geographically specific price references for timber. This report presents "sold" price series for western national forests between 1984 and the first 3 months of 2007. Selected trends in stumpage prices and sold volumes as well as issues related to species aggregation in the data are also discussed. Kling, David Mon, 16 Jun 2008 09:15:00 PST Res. Note. PNW-RN-558. Portland, OR: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station. 57 p. Tiffany Dong http://www.fs.fed.us/pnw/pubs/pnw_rn557.pdf Estimates of national forest recreation use are available at the national, regional, and forest levels via the USDA Forest Service National Visitor Use Monitoring (NVUM) program. In some resource planning and management applications, analysts desire recreation use estimates for subforest areas within an individual national forest or for subforest areas that combine portions of several national forests. In this research note we have detailed two approaches whereby the NVUM sampling data may be used to estimate recreation use for a subforest area within a single national forest or for a subforest area combining portions of more than one national forest. The approaches differ in their data requirements, complexity, and assumptions. In the "new forest" approach, recreation use is estimated by using NVUM data obtained only from NVUM interview sites within the area of interest. In the "all-forest information" approach, recreation use is estimated by using sample data gathered on all portions of the national forest(s) that contain the area of interest. White, Eric M.; Zarnoch, Stanley J.; English, Donald B.K. Thu, 16 Aug 2007 09:00:00 PST Res. Note. PNW-RN-557. Portland, OR: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station. 26 p. Tiffany Dong http://www.fs.fed.us/pnw/pubs/pnw_rn554.pdf The purpose of this note is to provide a starting point for discussion of fire hazard reduction treatments that meet the full range of management objectives, including budget priorities. Thoughtful design requires an understanding not only of the physical and biological outcomes, but also the costs and potential revenues of applying variations of fire hazard reduction treatments in a wide range of stand conditions. This analysis was done with My Fuel Treatment Planner software and provides estimates of cost and net revenue from fire hazard reduction treatments on 18 dry forest stands from 9 national forests in the Western United States. The data and software tools used in this analysis are all available, so these analyses can be easily modified to address a wider range of treatments and conditions. Fight, Roger D.; Barbour, R. James Fri, 15 Dec 2006 12:00:00 PST Res. Note. PNW-RN-555. Portland, OR: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station. 12 p. Tiffany Dong http://www.fs.fed.us/pnw/pubs/pnw_rn554.pdf Forest-land managers use price data and market analysis to form expectations and make informed management decisions. There is an abundance of price data for sawtimber, but for nonsawtimber, the availability of price data is limited. This constrains the ability of forest-land managers to form reasonable price expectations for stands that contain both sawtimber and nonsawtimber. In this paper, I show that export chip prices are a reasonable proxy for nonsawtimber prices in the Pacific Northwest. This conclusion is supported by evidence of arbitrage between the chip export market and three domestic markets in the Pacific Northwest. As to the chip export market in general, I observed increasing chip prices from 1968 through 1995, a structural break in 1995 after which point we observe declining prices. I also found evidence of an inverse relationship between chip price and lumber production. Busby, Gwenlyn M. Fri, 08 Dec 2006 12:00:00 PST Res. Note. PNW-RN-554. Portland, OR: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station. 16 p. Tiffany Dong http://www.fs.fed.us/pnw/pubs/pnw_rn552.pdf Roads are important ecological features of forest landscapes, but their cause-andeffect relationships with other ecosystem components are only recently becoming included in integrated landscape analyses. Simulation models can help us to understand how forested landscapes respond over time to disturbance and socioeconomic factors, and potentially to address the important role roads play in these processes. Aitken, Marti; Hayes, Jane L. Thu, 05 Sep 2006 12:00:36 PST Res. Note. PNW-RN-552. Portland, OR: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station. 27 p. Tiffany Dong http://www.fs.fed.us/pnw/pubs/pnw_rn553.pdf In spring 2004 and 2005, sawmill capacity and wood utilization information was collected for selected mills in southeast Alaska. The collected information is required to prepare information for compliance with Section 705(a) of the Tongass Timber Reform Act. The total capacity in the region (active and inactive mills) was 370,350 thousand board feet (mbf) Scribner log scale during both calendar years (CYs) 2003 and 2004. The capacity of active mills for the same periods was 255,350 mbf. This is a 7.4-percent increase in active capacity from CY 2002 (237,850 mbf) to CY 2004. The actual volume of material processed during CY 2004 was 31,027 mbf Scribner log scale. This is a 21.9-percent reduction over CY 2002 (39,702 mbf Scribner log scale). Brackley, Allen M.; Parrent, Daniel J.; Rojas, Thomas D. Mon, 31 Jul 2006 14:32:36 PST Res. Note. PNW-RN-553. Portland, OR: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station. 15 p. Tiffany Dong http://www.fs.fed.us/pnw/pubs/pnw_rn551.pdf Cofiring wood and coal at Fairbanks, Alaska, area electrical generation facilities represents an opportunity to use woody biomass from clearings within the borough's wildland-urban interface and from other sources, such as sawmill residues and woody material intended for landfills. Potential benefits of cofiring include air quality improvements, reduced greenhouse gas emissions, market and employment development opportunities, and reduction of municipal wood residues at area landfills. Important issues that must be addressed to enable cofiring include wood chip uniformity and quality, fuel mixing procedures, transportation and wood chip processing costs, infrastructure requirements, and long-term biomass supply. Additional steps in implementing successful cofiring programs could include test burns, an assessment of area biomass supply and treatment needs, and a detailed economic and technical feasibility study. Although Fairbanks North Star Borough is well positioned to use biomass for cofiring at coal burning facilities, long-term cofiring operations would require expansion of biomass sources beyond defensible-space-related clearings alone. Long-term sources could potentially include a range of woody materials including forest harvesting residues, sawmill residues, and municipal wastes. Nicholls, David L.; Patterson, Stephen E.; Uloth, Erin Tue, 02 May 2006 15:25:36 PST Res. Note. PNW-RN-551. Portland, OR: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station. 15 p. Tiffany Dong http://www.fs.fed.us/pnw/pubs/pnw_rn550.pdf New equipment, technology, and marketing efforts have allowed Alaska's wood products producers to consider opportunities previously unavailable to them. Until recently, the primary product produced by Alaska firms was rough, unseasoned lumber sold primarily within local markets. Given the purchase and installation of new drying and planing equipment, Alaska producers can now enter domestic and export markets for a variety of secondary wood products. Previously underutilized species, such as red alder (Alnus rubra Bong.), paper birch (Betula papyrifera Marsh.), and Alaska yellow-cedar (Chamaecyparis nootkatensis (D. Don) Spach) are also gaining in popularity and market potential. A detailed knowledge of species preferences for Alaska lumber, across business types and geographic regions, will be essential if Alaska producers are to be competitive. Roos, Joseph; Nicholls, David L. Wed, 05 Apr 2006 15:25:36 PST Res. Note. PNW-RN-550. Portland, OR: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station. 13 p. Tiffany Dong http://www.fs.fed.us/pnw/pubs/pnw_rn549.pdf The distribution of a forest decline of yellow-cedar (Callitropsis nootkatensis (D. Don) Orsted) has been documented in southeast Alaska, but its occurrence in British Columbia was previously unknown. We conducted an aerial survey in the Prince Rupert area in Sep 2004 to determine if yellow-cedar forests in the North Coast Forest District of British Columbia were experiencing a similar fate as in nearby Alaska. Numerous large areas of concentrated yellow-cedar mortality were found, extending the known distribution of the decline problem 150 km south of the Alaska-British Columbia border. The forests with the most concentrated tree death occurred at 300 to 400 m elevation, frequently on south aspects. The appearance of these forests including proximity to bogs; mixtures of dying, recently killed, and long-dead trees; and crown and bole symptoms of dying trees were all consistent with the phenomenon in southeast Alaska. Hennon, Paul E.; D'Amore, David V.; Zeglan, Stefan; Grainger, Mike Mon, 28 Nov 2005 15:25:36 PST Res. Note. PNW-RN-549. Portland, OR: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station. 16 p. Tiffany Dong https://www.fs.fed.us/pnw/pubs/pnw_rn293.pdf Commercial thinning in fully-stocked normal Douglas-fir stands of merchantable size is evaluated and compared to the alternatives of leaving stands to grow unthinned or of liquidating them. Comparisons are made in terms of volume production and financial returns. Randall, Robert M. Wed, 01 Dec 2017 08:00:00 PST Res. Note. PNW-RN-293. Portland, OR: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station. 8 p. Mervin Leigh http://www.fs.fed.us/pnw/pubs/pnw_rn249.pdf None of several types of chemotherapeutants applied before inoculation (antibiotics, metallic salts, systemic fungicides) prevented infection of sugar pine seedlings by white pine blister rust. DMSO (dimethyl sulfoxide) did not enhance the action of any material with which it was applied. Harvey, George M. Wed, 29 Feb 2012 11:34:36 PST Res. Note. PNW-RN-249. Portland, OR: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station. 4 p. Douglas Beebe