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Explore forest conditions, ownership, sustainability, wildlife, and water quality in Oregon, evaluating key concerns and solutions. Discuss the state's balance in forest management and addressing pressing forest problems.
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Federal Forestlands Advisory Committee Situation Assessment Purpose: To provide background information on forest conditions and trends to help identify the “most pressing problems” that need to be addressed in the Guidance Document
What we’ll cover • Survey Research on Forest Issues • Forestland Ownership and Allocation • Sustainability • Fish and wildlife • Productive capacity • Forest health • Soil, air, water quality • Carbon • Socio-economic • Questions
Forest Issues (Oregon) Very Concerned Somewhat Concerned Davis, Hibbitts & Midghall, Inc. 2006.
Importance of Water Quality Protection in Forest Management Activities Davis, Hibbitts & Midghall, Inc. 2006.
Remedies For Water Quality Concerns – Aided and Unaided • Unaided • Stop pollution/Cleanliness - 22% • More Protection/Monitoring - 13% • More/Enforce Laws/Regulations - 10% • Better Management/Accountability - 9% • Aided (Strongly Agree) • Leave streamside buffers– 62% • Require forest managers to minimize erosion – 55% • Reduce harvesting and use alternatives to wood - 27% % Davis, Hibbitts & Midghall, Inc. 2006.
National forests should provide for as much diversity of animals and plants as possible. Institute for a Sustainable Environment. 2002.
Old growth forests should NOT be harvested in order to provide ecosystems for wildlife like spotted owls and salmon. (National Forests) Institute for a Sustainable Environment. 2002.
National forests that are NOT old growth SHOULD be harvested to provide jobs and forest products (National Forests) Institute for a Sustainable Environment. 2002.
For each, please tell me how serious aproblem it is for Oregon’s rural communities Davis, Hibbits, and McCaig, Inc. 2001 .
Wildfire Danger Very Concerned Davis, Hibbits, and McCaig, Inc. 2001 .
Necessary To Use Controlled Fires To Eliminate Excess Fuel Davis, Hibbits, and McCaig, Inc. 2001 .
Necessary To Thin Trees From Crowed Forests Davis, Hibbits, and McCaig, Inc. 2001 .
National forests should be managed to balancetimber harvest, wildlife conservation, recreation and other forest values. Institute for a Sustainable Environment. 2002.
“Some people say Oregon generally has a ‘balanced’ approach to forest management while other people feel things are out of balance. Which way do you feel?” Davis, Hibbits, and McCaig, Inc. 2001 .
Balance For FederalForestlands Management Meeting a wide range of social needs including employment, recreation, and revenues to support healthy rural communities, and providing aesthetic and spiritual values32% Protection of water quality and wildlife habitat 40% Growing forests for products people use29% Davis, Hibbits, and McCaig, Inc. 2001 .
Land AllocationSimple 3 Category SystemEach Providing a Blend of Environmental, Social, and Economic Outputs • Reserves • No scheduled timber harvest - harvest only to benefit nontimber values • Multi-resource • Laws or plans significantly reduce harvest to provide for other values • Wood production • Scheduled timber harvest occurs and sustainable supplies of timber are anticipated
Oregon Conservation Strategy (ODFW) • Goals - Maintain healthy populations • Maintain habitat, at-risk-species, reverse species declines • Long-term, big picture, blue print • Statewide issues: • Land use changes, • invasive species, • chg in disturbance regimes, • barriers to movement, • water quality, • institutional barriers to conservation
Oregon Conservation Strategy (Cont.) • Includes an ecoregional approach • Conservation Opportunity Areas • ID Strategy species and habitats • Issues and actions • Potential uses • As a reference • Set priorities • Build partnerships • Measure success • Available at: www.dfw.state.or.us/conservationstrategy
11000 10500 10000 Timberland Area (thousands of acres) 9500 9000 (-22%) 8500 1960 1970 1980 1990 Year Change in Private Timberland Area in Oregon, 1953-1997 • Landbase relatively • stable over past • 20-years • May be changing • Land sales to • people with little • background in • forestry • Changes in Land use • planning laws • (M - 37) • Declining markets • in E. Oregon Source: Donnegan, 2001. Assessing temporal trends in Forest Inventory and Analysis data: Applications to Criteria and Indicators. Wood Compatibility Workshop, Dec. 5-7, 2001. Base dataset: Resource Planning Act, 2000.
OREGON TIMBER HARVESTActual Harvest vs. Sustainable (Public w/o Congressionally Reserved)
Annual Growth and Mortality of Sawtimber on Non-congressionally withdrawn Timberland (W. Oregon) E.D Hovee & Co. Baseline Growth and Mortality Assessment Private and Other 1990 – 99, Federal 1993 - 2004
Annual Growth and Mortality of Sawtimber on Non-congressionally withdrawn Timberland (E. Oregon) E.D Hovee & Co. Baseline Growth and Mortality Assessment Private and Other 1990 – 99, Federal 1993 - 2004
Annual acres of Forests needing treatment by category in 20, 25 year restoration timeframes MacDonald, et. al. 2006. The Condition of Oregon’s Forests and Woodlands: Implications for the Effective Conservation of Biodiversity. The Nature Conservancy.
Major Issues Include: • Changes in fire frequency, leading to type conversions of habitat (cheatgrass, Arundo) • Changes in nutrient cycling (cheatgrass, knotweed) • Toxicity to livestock (tansy ragwort, yellow starthistle) • Loss of forage quality and quantity for big game (leafy spurge, knapweeds, yellow starthistle) • Invasive shrubs acting as a population sink for native birds due to increased predation of nests within invasive shrubs (buckthorn) • Changes in stream and river hydrology (knotweed, blackberry) • Loss of nesting habitat and increased nest predation on endangered snowy plovers (European beachgrass)
Air Quality • 69% Fine Particulate Emissions from Wildfire
Water Quality • 303(d) Listings on Federal Land • 4700 miles high temperature • 340 miles sedimentation • 70 miles toxics % Wadeable Stream Miles that Fail to Meet Standards (Coho ESU)
Drinking Water Quality • 75% of municipal watersheds are forested • USFS – 4.3 million acres • BLM – 2.6 million acres • Primary concerns include: • Sedimentation / turbidity • Pesticides • Fire retardants
Climate Change • Increase in rare wildland fire conditions • Fire - primary agent of vegetation change • Wholesale conversions of habitats • Temperate dry forests to grasslands • Moist tropical forests to dry woodlands • High-severity fires eliminate entire forests • Greater risk of extinction • Recommended actions include: • Identify fire-dependent or fire-sensitive ecosystems • consider climate change and variability when developing plans • Consider alternate climate scenarios when determining post-fire vegetation management • Reduce uncharacteristic fuel levels Source: ASSOCIATION FOR FIRE ECOLOGY. SAN DIEGO DECLARATION ON CLIMATE CHANGE AND FIRE MANAGEMENT
Mill Closures and Related Job Losses, 1980-2003 Source: Ehinger and Associates, 2003