Old Growth

Oregon to look again at western forest habitat conservation plan

by

The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Oregon Department of Forestry have received a $750,000 federal grant to explore the possibility of a habitat conservation plan for state-owned forests west of the Cascades.  HCPs are authorized by §10 of ESA, and they allow the state to obtain an incidental take permit to kill or injure listed species if that happens in accordance with the plan.   The plan would consider species including the spotted owl and marbled murrelet and set guidelines for timber harvesting and recreational use.  A previous attempt to create a plan ended in 2008 without new guidelines being adopted. Without the HCP and permit, harming listed species is illegal for anyone.  “Harm” is defined to include significant habitat modification or degradation which “actually kills or injures fish or wildlife by significantly impairing essential behavioral patterns, including, breeding, spawning, rearing, migrating, feeding or sheltering” (50 C.F.R. § 222.102).

 

 

The next extinction on the national forests

by

Based on this year’s winter survey, the federally endangered South Selkirk mountain caribou herd may be down to three individuals – all females.  That would not be good for continued viability of the species on national forest lands.  We can try to blame Canada for what’s happened to this cross-boundary herd, but, “The mountain caribou have struggled as old growth forests have been thinned by logging and other industrial activities, George said. With thinner forests the caribou have become more susceptible to predation.”  There has been a lot of that on the Idaho Panhandle and Colville national forests over the years, though maybe not recently.  However, as recently as 2007, the Forest Service lost a lawsuit brought because of their failure to protect caribou from snowmobiles.

It would be hard to say that national forest management has had nothing to do with their current status.  Mark Hebblewhite, a Canadian wildlife biologist at the University of Montana and a science adviser to the Canadian government put it this way:

“It’s game over …  The functional loss of this herd is the legacy of decades of government mismanagement across caribou range.  It is completely unsurprising. Bad things happen to small populations.”

Meanwhile, north of the border, the boreal woodland caribou may become Canada’s spotted owl, as conflicts with logging are driving it towards extinction.   A letter from the Alberta government to Ottawa said “now is not the time to impede” an economic recovery currently underway in Alberta.  Maybe when there are three females left.

Logging planned in national park – by environmentalists

by

Really.  Redwood National Park and three state parks.  Led by Save the Redwoods League.

The new task for this century, Hodder said, is to restore landscapes that were logged but now exist in parks in a damaged, unnatural state.

That means removing old logging roads, restoring streams to bring back salmon and other fish, and doing everything to help second-and-third growth redwood trees get bigger, he said. On April 27, the league is scheduled to sign an agreement with the California state parks department and the National Park Service to allow for “restoration forestry” funded by the league as a way to undo the damage from industrial logging and recreate forests that are more natural.

All four parks involved together have about 120,000 acres of forests. Of those, about 40,000 acres is old-growth redwood, and the other 80,000 acres are in formerly logged areas that project planners hope to thin and restore in the coming decades. Most of the trees cut down will be Douglas fir, with some second-growth redwood and hardwoods like tan oak, said Paul Ringgold, a forest ecologist and chief program officer of the Save the Redwoods League. Roughly 30 to 70 percent of the trees will be taken out in the 10,000 acres treated between now and 2022, he said, and in some cases, sold to timber companies.

“These stands are a legacy of clear-cut logging,” Ringgold said. “We want to restore these areas as close as we can to the way they were pre-logging.

Coastal pine marten trending toward extinction on national forests

by

The coastal marten is at a high risk for extinction in Oregon and northern California in the next 30 years due to threats from human activities, according to a new study.

“The study, published today in the online journal PeerJ, will be available to federal and state wildlife agencies for their consideration to determine whether distinct geographic population segments of the coastal marten warrant state or federal listing as threatened or endangered, said Katie Moriarty, a certified wildlife biologist and lead co-author on the study.

Their population assessment revealed that the central Oregon population of coastal martens is likely fewer than 87 adults divided into two subpopulations separated by the Umpqua River. Using a population viability analysis, they concluded that the extinction risk for a subpopulation of 30 martens ranged from 32 percent to 99 percent.

In the short term, limiting human-caused deaths of the coastal martens would have the greatest impact on the animal’s survival, said Moriarty, who has studied the animals for several years. In the long term, the species requires more habitat, which perhaps could be accomplished by making the adjacent federal land in Siuslaw National Forest suitable for martens.”

So this isn’t just new information for use in the ESA listing process, but it also raises new questions about whether existing forest plans would provide conditions needed for viable populations.  I look forward to seeing how the Forest Service answers this question.  (And yes, the Forest Service does have the authority to limit trapping.)

Elder Care Works: Guest Post from Alan Baumann

by

We’ve talked about the People’s Research Priorities before on this blog, but this is the first time we’ve posted research prioritized, funded and carried out by a member of the public here. The author, Allan Baumann graduated from O.S.U. in 1979 in Forest Management. He worked with O.S.U. researchers, the F.I.R. project and then on the Umpqua NF for 31-years. He held a variety of roles in Silviculture, Fire Ecology, Timber Pre-Sale and Sale Appraisals and research. Perhaps this fits into the category of “Seniors are doin’ it for themselves” to paraphrase the Eurythmics song.

The Stand:

Lynx #1 is a 3.64 hectare (9-acre) partially-harvested stand with light-moderate entries in 1976 and 1996. It is an average Site Class Four quality stand. The stand is at about 1,000 meters elevation (3,300 feet) and is located on Panther Ridge above Steamboat, Oregon. There are three main age classes of old-growth present in the overstory: 150-175 years, 300-350 years, and 500+ years of age.

The Growth:

Similarly, the average tree weight increased from 3.13 to 4.17 Mg_Tree, while the average tree increased its diameter by 3.56” over the 40-year period. Remarkably, 89% of the 440 live-trees measured exhibited moderate-fast growth rates following both stand entries at 20-year intervals. At its current growth rate, the 440 live old-growth trees will “grow back” carbon, totaling what was removed by harvest in 1996, by the year 2020. There was 550.7 Mg_Ha of biomass measured before
harvest in 1996. The partial removal in 1996 led to a 15% reduction, or removed 84.2 Mg_Ha of biomass. In 2016, there was 538.64 Mg_Ha of biomass measured in the old-growth trees in Lynx #1; with Lynx stand #1 actively growing at 3.62 Mg_Ha per year.

Older Trees Grow Differently:

Furthermore, it is key to understand that old-growth trees seemingly grow differently than young-growth. The study measured key structural attributes like bark thickness, limb diameter, crown form and noted any visible tree pathogens like conks, fire scars, broken tops or multiple tops. Conventional young-growth thinking is that key crown structural form is important for adequate tree development; e.g. having crown ratios greater than 40% for Douglas-fir and not having a one-sided form.

In testing these hypothesis against the Lynx old-growth some interesting results were found. These might influence future forest management for improving the resilience, health and sustainability of these valued genetic-legacy trees of the forest. An in-depth look at one-sided crown trees found that while 24% did have poor growth rates, 76% had moderate or fast growth rates. Testing trees with less than 20% crown form found only 13% growing poorly, while 87% grew moderate-fast over the 40-year period. Testing trees with both poor crowns and one-sided structure, found that 23% had poor growth and 77% had moderate-fast growth rates.
Further analysis was done on trees with visible conk indicators. Fifty-one (51) trees with Phellinus pini were measured and while 26% had poor growth rates, 74% had moderate-fast growth rates. Six (6) trees with Phaeolus Schweinitzii were measured and 33% had poor growth rates and 66% were unexpectedly growing moderate-fast. Implications for this additional growth are not normally considered.

Lynx #1 white paper finala link to the entire white paper.

Here are some caveats from the author:

It is important to know that my study only followed the 471 old-growth trees in the 9-acre stand. There is a healthy intermediate layer in this all-aged stand with a 90-year cohort and now a 20-yr and 40-yr. cohort after two light partial harvests. These were not measured or factored into any carbon calculation for my paper, though it would be very interesting to sample and tabulate.

I have been asked to go back and get 50 trees as a control in an untreated area nest to this stand. I plan to do that this year and then recalculate their carbon sequestration over the same time frame given the proximal site and weather conditions.

BLM O&C plan changes may lead to ESA listing

by

One of the factors considered in listing a species under ESA is the adequacy of exiting regulatory mechanisms.  One of the biggest payoffs from national forest and BLM planning may be the adoption of such mandatory mechanisms that would protect a species and reduce or eliminate the need to list it under ESA.

The Northwest Forest Plan included a requirement to survey for rare species prior to logging projects – “Survey and Manage.” BLM amended its Northwestern and Coastal Oregon Resource Management Plan in August 2016 (see prior discussion on this blog here).  One significant change in the approach to managing at-risk species was eliminating the Survey and Manage requirement.  Here is the statement regarding this change from the BLM:

“The Proposed RMP, like the action alternatives, does not include the Survey and Manage measures of the No Action alternative. The Survey and Manage measures were included in the Northwest Forest Plan to respond to a goal of ensuring viable, well-distributed populations of all species associated with late-successional and old-growth forests. This goal of the Northwest Forest Plan was founded on a U.S. Forest Service organic statute and planning regulation, which did not and do not apply to the BLM, and is not a part of the purpose for this RMP revision. As detailed in the analysis in the Proposed RMP/Final EIS, the Proposed RMP will allocate a larger Late-Successional Reserve network than the No Action alternative, will protect older and more structurally-complex forests, and will continue to provide management for many of the formerly Survey and Manage species as Bureau Sensitive species. The Proposed RMP can achieve the purpose of this RMP revision and respond the BLM’s statutory authorities and mandates without the Survey and Manage measures.”

Here is a response:

Conservation groups Monday petitioned the government to list the rare Siskiyou Mountains salamander under the federal Endangered Species Act, claiming federal land managers’ apparent reneging on old “look before you log” provisions in potential future logging sales imperil the rare forest amphibian.

Since 2007, the BLM has been required to survey for rare species like the Siskiyou Mountains salamander and manage 110 high-priority sites for the benefits of salamanders and their habitats. This survey-and-management plan, was also known as the “look before you log” approach, generally includes logging buffers should sales move forward.

Conservation groups originally filed for Endangered Species Act protection for the salamander in 2004. The 2007 conservation agreement, as well as old-growth forest protections under the Northwest Forest Plan, were cited by the Fish and Wildlife Service when it denied Endangered Species Act protection for the salamander.

The Fish and Wildlife Service will now have to consider the effect of the changes in the BLM plan, and may decide that listing this species is warranted.  That could lead to further restrictions on logging.  Of course BLM could then blame someone else – for forcing it to recognize that protecting species and ecosystems is part of its mission.

 

New Study About Forests Impacted by Extreme Mortality

by

http://academic.oup.com/bioscience/advance-article/doi/10.1093/biosci/bix146/4797261

 

Massive tree mortality has occurred rapidly in frequent-fire-adapted forests of the Sierra Nevada, California. This mortality is a product of acute drought compounded by the long-established removal of a key ecosystem process: frequent, low- to moderate-intensity fire. The recent tree mortality has many implications for the future of these forests and the ecological goods and services they provide to society. Future wildfire hazard following this mortality can be generally characterized by decreased crown fire potential and increased surface fire intensity in the short to intermediate term. The scale of present tree mortality is so large that greater potential for “mass fire” exists in the coming decades, driven by the amount and continuity of dry, combustible, large woody material that could produce large, severe fires. For long-term adaptation to climate change, we highlight the importance of moving beyond triage of dead and dying trees to making “green” (live) forests more resilient.

Speaking of European forestry …

by

Take a little break from the Forest Service …. sort of (actually sounds kind of familiar).

Poland says compliant with EU court order against ancient forest logging

The Luxembourg-based European Court of Justice on Monday warned Poland’s right-wing government to “immediately” stop logging in the Bialowieza Forest or face fines of up to 100,000 euros ($118,000) a day.

Bialowieza includes one of the largest surviving parts of the primeval forest that covered the European plain 10 thousand years ago.

Activists, scientists and other critics allege Poland is engaged in commercial logging but the government insists it is only felling trees for public safety reasons in accordance with the EU injunction.

The EU court did allow for exceptions, saying: “Poland must immediately cease its active forest management operations in the Bialowieza Forest, except in exceptional cases where they are strictly necessary to ensure public safety.”

The problem lies in the word “necessary,” which Poland has interpreted more broadly than the EU court.

On Tuesday a Greenpeace Poland activist, Kasia Jagiello, said that the group was calling for the creation of a commission that would include representatives of the environment ministry, as well as independent scientists and NGO representatives.

WA murrelet strategy should “meet only minimum federal standards for protections”

by

At least that’s what the Washington state politicians are urging their Department of Natural Resources to adopt for its lands.

The DNR is currently considering five different proposals to protect the bird species. A final decision is expected within the next few weeks. Walsh has come out in favor of “alternative B” which he says would meet minimum federal standards for species preservation while ensuring the least amount of negative impact on local economies.

A press release noted that Walsh, and his peers who signed off on the letter to the DNR, believe that reduced timber sales in coastal communities would “create significant economic hardship on counties and communities that can least afford it.”

In other words, let’s manage this species so it stays on the edge of extinction.  This is why we have endangered species (and a federal Endangered Species Act).

What is Beyond the “Fog of War”?

by

There are scary and uncertain times ahead for our forests. There is just too much “Fog of War” going on for the public to sort out and fact-check for themselves. Even the ‘fact-checkers’ should be suspect, until proven reliable and bias-free. The rise of ‘fake news’ has blurred multiple lines, and many people, even in mass media, fall for the hoaxes, satire or misinformation. (Example: An article appeared on the Grist website, showing concern about a recall of “Dog Condoms”, presenting the link to www.dogcondoms.com )