Bitterroot Ecosystem Management Research Project

Study Title: Trapper-Bunkhouse Fuel Reduction Research Study

Researchers: Mick Harrington, Rocky Mountain Research Station—Fire, Fuels, and Smoke Science Program, Missoula, MT; Ward McCaughey, and Steve Sutherland, Rocky Mountain Research Station—Forest and Woodlands Ecosystems Science Program, Missoula, MT; Debbie Page-Dumroese, Rocky Mountain Research Station—Forest and Woodlands Ecosystems Science Program, Moscow, ID

Description: Treatments to address excessive forest fuels and deteriorating forest health will continue to be an important aspect of vegetation management on public lands in the foreseeable future. Although much progress has been made in understanding fuels and forest health issues, we still have much to learn to effectively integrate these objectives with other management objectives and issues. The Bitterroot National Forest hopes to conduct ecologically based fuel reduction treatments with a primary goal of reducing the severity of a large wildfire moving out of the wilderness or across the front. In a replicated study design, we will evaluate the impacts of several types of treatments on wildlife habitat, soils, stand dynamics, weed invasion, and potential fire behavior. In FY07, we collected pre-treatment data and anticipate treatments to begin in FY08

Study Title: Evaluating Vegetative Response of Ponderosa Pine, Douglas-fir, Associated Understory Species, and Noxious Weeds to Fuel Reduction Treatments

Study Coordinator: Ward McCaughey, Rocky Mountain Research Station - Forest and Woodlands Ecosystems Science Program, Forestry Sciences Lab

Research Principals: Ward McCaughey, Rocky Mountain Research Station - Forest and Woodlands Ecosystems Science Program, Forestry Sciences Laboratory.

Description: In FY07 we collected pre-treatment data on a small portion of the proposed Trapper Bunkhouse Land Stewardship Project on the Bitterroot National Forest, Montana. This study, spread over approximately 250 acres, is designed to evaluate treatments addressing forest fuels and forest health which are important issues of vegetation management on public forests. Little is known about specifics of short- and long-term vegetation changes in low elevation ponderosa pine stands containing a large component of Douglas-fir understory and overstory, much of which forms extensive ladder fuels. This study is part of a replicated design of silvicultural treatments being developed to scientifically and statistically test differences in treatment effects.