Environmental Issues in Pacific Northwest Forest Management (2000) / Chapter Skim
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9 Conclusions and Recommendations
9 Conclusions and Recommendations
Pages 199-210
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From page 199... ...
The Northwest Forest Plan for federal forests in the range of the northern spotted owl west of the Cascades Crest brought the most dramatic and immediate changes. But even it was the continuation of a process of change that has affected management of federal forests throughout the region and, indeed, in other parts of the country as well.
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From page 200... ...
This not wholly coherent amalgam of more-or-less natural reserves scattered across a forested landscape of tracts, large and small, managed for various purposes reflects the shifting policies for federal forests as wed as the changing management practices on nonfederal forests. To suggest Mat there should be a single coherent policy framework for all Pacific Northwest forests is probably futile.
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From page 202... ...
Managers cannot control these phenomena, but they can and should protect and, where necessary, restore the natural mechanisms by which ecosystems are buffered from such change. Recommendation: The important roles of natural disturbances and legacies in sustaining ecological processes must be recognized in forest-management practices for both federal and nonfederal forests in the Pacific Northwest.
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From page 203... ...
The approach should include elements such as acknowledgment of ignorance, identification of key ecosystem processes, mode} development, monitoring that focuses on management objectives, standards for data evaluation and data quality, and timely feedback. For example, the role of pathogens and insects in sustaining Pacific Northwest forests is clearly important, but is poorly understood.
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From page 204... ...
Those protocols should be sensitive to protection of streams, soils, and other vulnerable components of the forest environment. Economic consequences: The impacts of changing forestry practices on federal lands on overall employment and regional income in the Pacific Northwest have been relatively small.
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From page 205... ...
The ecological characteristics and appearance of old-growth forests vary among forest types across the Pacific Northwest. Increasingly, definitions rely on indexes of successional development based on multiple forest characteristics.
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From page 206... ...
FOREST PRODUCTS SUBSTITUTION Recent reductions In federal timber harvests in the Pacific Northwest have been met by increased timber harvests in the South and increased
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From page 207... ...
Although solid information is lacking, it does not seem likely that changes In the availability of nonwood forest products in the Pacific Northwest will be reflected in markets for these or competitive nonwood products in other forest regions in the United States. Sustaining the increased level of timber harvests in the South, which come mainly from private forests, will require more intensive management practices.
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From page 208... ...
Recommendation: Experience with FEMAT, the Northwest Forest Plan, and other processes used to help resolve disputes over Pacific Northwest forestry practices should be used to explore alternative mechanisms for dispute resolution. RESEARCH RECOMMENDATIONS Limitations on available knowledge for guiding forest management and
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From page 209... ...
Specific areas of research in need of increased funding and attention include the following: · Me relationship of natural disturbances to the sustainability of protected and managed Pacific Northwest forests and the extent to which the effects of these disturbances can be simulated by management practices; · the relative importance of legacies and their role in maintaining forests and regenerating harvested areas, and the extent to which management actions can "create" legacies; · the role of insects and pathogens in sustaining natural processes in Pacific Northwest forests and factors involved in insect and pathogen outbreaks in the region; 0 forest restoration methods and their role in restoring and maintaining forest vitality; · the impacts of forest-management practices, including timber harvesting, on the production of nonwood forest products, including recreation and special forest products such as wild-grown mushrooms; · information for making accurate assessments of the impacts of changes in forest practices on regional and local employment and income;
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From page 210... ...
270 Pacific Northwest Forests · the impacts of changes in forest practices in the Pacific Northwest on biological and nonbiolog~cal factors within the region and in other affected regions; · continued basic research on the biological functioning and interactions of the multitude of life forms present in the Pacific Northwest forests.
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