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Using
Inventory Data to Define and Locate Stands of Small-Diameter Timber
in the Inland West
Issues
- Intense efforts to suppress wildfire in the western forests
for the past 50 years resulted in an increase in the proportion
of densely stocked, small-diameter stands. Many of these stands
are under stress and may be at risk for disease, insect attack,
and uncharacteristically severe fire.
- Many estimates of the extent of the acreage and location
of these stands have been made with little quantitative information
to support them.
- Identifying the extent and location of these stands is essential
to understanding the problem and developing realistic management
options.
 The Ecologically Sustainable Production
of Forest Resources (ESP) Team and PRIME Program at the PNW Station
are developing methods to use forest inventory data to define
and locate small-diameter, densely stocked stands. This information
is important for finding ways to use the sale of wood to offset
costs of large scale treatments designed to alter developmental
trajectories of these stands. Selection criteria were developed
from an analysis done on the Colville National Forest and expert
information provided by forest managers and researchers. These
criteria were applied to the available inventory database for
lands in the inland west including all non-Forest Service land
and National Forests in Idaho, Montana, and Utah. Work is continuing
to add the remaining National Forest lands.
Preliminary findings
- Approximately 15% of the inland west
timberlands meet the selection criteria for small-diameter, dense
stands.
- About 60% of the identified stands
are single story.
- For the states where data was available
for all ownerships (Idaho, Montana, and Utah), 70% of small-diameter
acreage is in National Forests.
Contacts: Glenn
Christensen or Bruce Hiserote, Pacific Northwest Research
Station, Portland, OR. (503) 808-2000.
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