The stand on this watershed has been managed using the single-tree selection method since 1958. Every 10-15 years, some trees are removed to control the number of trees in each size class.
Cutting individual trees does not create large enough openings to allow shade-intolerant (light demanding) trees to become established and beech regenerate naturally to replace trees that are removed. Data collected since 1958 indicate that the number of valuable shade-intolerant trees in this stand are decreasing while there has been a dramatic increase in shade-tolerant trees.
Watershed 5 is one of the original 5 Fernow watersheds. Scientists documented from this study that short term streamflow increases following cutting are proportional to the amount of trees removed.