Hydrologic Effects of a Changing Forest Landscape (2008) / Chapter Skim
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2 Forests and Water Management in the United States
2 Forests and Water Management in the United States
Pages 23-44
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From page 23... ...
It describes the regional differences in the relationships between forests and water; outlines forest management and water resource management objectives and practices; and examines how ownership patterns, laws, regulations, and institutions govern the use and management of forests and water. Finally, this chapter introduces the emerging issues for water and forests relevant to forest hydrology science and management in the twenty-first century.
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From page 24... ...
24 FIGURE 2-1 Forest cover in the United States. SOURCE: Map created by Catchment Research Facility, University of Western Ontario.
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FIGURE 2-2 Map of forest vegetation types for the United States. SOURCE: USDA Forest Service.
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26 FIGURE 2-3 Federal lands in the United States. SOURCE: Reprinted, with permission, from Regional Economics Assessment Database (2002)
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Forest and water management is fragmented among many laws and institutions. Forest Management Objectives and Practices Forest management applies biological, physical, social, economic, and policy principles to meet specific goals and objectives.
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Water diversions and associated ditches, pipelines, and canals are authorized on national forests through the issuance of special use permits or the granting of rights of way. Since the 1970s, the Forest Service also has appropriated water resources and asserted water rights to protect instream flows for fish habitat and outdoor recreation (Wilkinson and Anderson, 1985)
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From page 29... ...
, which governs timber harvest on federal lands in the Pacific Northwest. This strategy is a part of the land and resource management plans for each national forest and Bureau of Land Management district in the area.
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These watersheds are predominantly forested, with federal lands in the upper basin above flood protection reservoirs and a mixture of private and state lands downstream of the reservoirs but above the municipal water intakes. Forest management activities on these watersheds include road building, timber harvesting, post-harvesting chemical treatments, fire suppression, and firefighting with flame retardants.
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From page 31... ...
In a major flood in February 1996, high turbidity in the river from private forestlands downstream of the federally managed reservoir caused the city of Salem to shut down its water supply system. Turbid water also was caught and held in the federally managed flood control reservoir in the upper basin, which drains federal forestland.
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From page 32... ...
Responsibilities and interests include management for drinking water supplies, flood control, reservoir operations for hydropower production, water for irrigation, fish and wildlife, and outdoor recreation. However, forest and water management remain fragmented (WWWPRAC, 1998; NRC, 1999)
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From page 33... ...
Water use laws, regulations, and institutions usually focus on the use of water out that has been removed from water bodies, rather than the roles of water in streams, lakes, and other bodies of water. Water quality laws, regulations, and institutions are structured to help stakeholders control the impacts of land uses, including the effects of forest use and management practices on the quality of available water resources.
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From page 34... ...
Cumulative Watershed Effects Changes in forest cover and extent within a watershed can result from forest fragmentation (the subdivision of large, continuous forest patches into smaller, discontinuous patches) ; conversion from forest to developed uses; timber harvesting; and forest loss due to fire, disease, grazing, and insects.
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From page 35... ...
led to increased populations of native grazers, such as elk and deer. Largely resulting from changes in USFS and Bureau of Land Management regulations, the grazing of domestic animals on national forests declined in the late twentieth century, while efforts to reintroduce predators have had some effect on native grazer populations and behavior, especially in national parks.
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From page 36... ...
. Forest managers have begun to reintroduce fire to some national forests using prescribed fire and "let-it-burn" policies (Schullery, 1986; Arno and Brown, 1991; Czech and Ffolliott, 1996)
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From page 37... ...
Given the inevitability of wildfires in the future; the escalating impacts of wildfires on natural, human, and economic resources; and the need for improved preparation to combat future wildfires, the experience from the 2002 fire season provided important lessons for foresters and fire managers: ● The need to improve knowledge of and ability to predict the risk of wildfires occurring in a particular locale; ● The need to develop plans for the recovery of ecosystems to fire;and ● The need to estimate and plan for the direct costs involved in mitigating wildfires and rehabilitating burned landscapes. remains a major forest management practice of the Forest Service on most national forests in the western United States (see Box 2-6)
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From page 38... ...
Questions: How do insect outbreaks affect water quantity and quality? How can future hydrologic effects of insect outbreaks be understood or predicted as indirect effects of climate change?
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. The Forest Service, along with nongovernmental organizations such as The Nature Conservancy, has adopted practices to inventory and limit the introduction and spread of invasive species on many national forests and other forested lands.
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Forested land and mills are increasingly owned by two new forms of large, privately held companies that are referred to as timber investment management organizations and real estate investment trusts. These companies now own what used to be industrial timberlands.
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From page 41... ...
. Question: How do changes in ownership affect forest management, and how do these changes affect water resources?
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From page 42... ...
Forest cover declined greatly in the Northeast, South, and Midwest in past centuries, but in the twentieth century, forest cover declined in parts of the Pacific Northwest, and increased in the South, Northeast, and Midwest. In the twenty-first century, forest cover is projected to decrease in the South and Northeast to exurban development.
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From page 43... ...
FORESTS AND WATER MANAGEMENT IN THE UNITED STATES 43 FIGURE 2-5 Proportion of rural area by county in 1980, 2000, and 2040. SOURCE: Reprinted, with permission, from Ecology and Society (2005)
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