Silviculture and monitoring guidelines for integrating restoration of dry mixed-conifer forest and spotted owl habitat management in the eastern Cascade Range

This report addresses the need for developing consistent regional guidelines for stand-level management that integrates goals and objectives for dry forest restoration and habitat management for the northern spotted owl. It is an outcome of a focused 3-day workshop attended by 25 scientists, managers, and regulators in Hood River, Oregon, September 5–7, 2012. The workshop’s goals were to (1) develop novel and feasible stand-level silvicultural prescriptions that integrate dry forest restoration and conservation of the northern spotted owl, among other ecological values; and (2) develop options for monitoring such prescriptions in an adaptive management framework, ideally in a coordinated network of management studies. We review background issues, objectives, and information for forest restoration (chapter 2), northern spotted owl habitat management (chapter 3), and monitoring and adaptive management (chapter 5). The core of this report is chapter 4, which reviews guidelines for developing new silvicultural prescriptions that address these issues. Finally, we discuss some relevant social, economic, and organizational issues affecting successful implementation of such a program of work (chapter 6).