Journal of Forestry
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4189
(FIVE YEARS 218)

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21
(FIVE YEARS 4)

Published By Oxford University Press

1938-3746, 0022-1201

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Forrest Fleischman ◽  
Cory Struthers ◽  
Gwen Arnold ◽  
Michael J Dockry ◽  
Tyler Scott

Abstract In this article, we respond to a critique of our earlier work examining the USDA Forest Service’s (USFS’s) planning processes. We appreciate that our critics introduce new data to the discussion of USFS planning. Further data integration is a promising path to developing a deeper understanding of agency activities. Our critics’ analysis largely supports our original claims. Our most important difference is in our conceptualization of the planning process’s relationship to agency goals. Although our critics conceive of the USFS’s legally prescribed planning processes as a barrier to land management activities, we believe that public comment periods, scientific analysis, and land management activities are tools the agency uses to achieve its goals of managing land in the public interest. Study Implications: The USDA Forest Service’s current planning process has been critiqued as a barrier to accomplishing land management activities, but it is also an important tool for insuring science-based management and understanding public values and interests that the agency is legally bound to uphold.


2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tyler A Beeton ◽  
Antony S Cheng ◽  
Melanie M Colavito

Abstract Collaboration is increasingly emphasized as a tool to realize national-level policy goals in public lands management. Yet, collaborative governance regimes (CGRs) are nested within traditional bureaucracies and are affected by internal and external disruptions. The extent to which CGRs adapt and remain resilient to these disruptions remains under-explored. Here, we distill insights from an assessment of the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program (CFLRP) projects and other CGRs. We asked (1) how do CGRs adapt to disruptions? and (2) what barriers constrained CGR resilience? Our analysis is informed by a synthesis of the literature, case examples and exemplars from focus groups, and a national CFLRP survey. CGRs demonstrated the ability to mobilize social capital, learning, resources, and flexibility to respond to disruptions. Yet authority, accountability, and capacity complicated collaborative resilience. We conclude with policy and practice recommendations to cultivate collaborative resilience moving forward. Study Implications Collaborative approaches between public lands management agencies and nongovernment organizations have become common in forest restoration. Yet collaborative progress may be affected by turnover, wildfire disturbances, or legal or policy changes. We assessed how forest collaboratives in the United States adapted to changes that affected their performance and documented the factors that constrained response. We found that forest collaboratives developed myriad strategies to adapt to these changes, although limited authority, capacity, and accountability constrain adaptation options. We offer policy and practice recommendations to overcome these constraints, increase adaptation options, and enhance the sustainability of forest collaboratives.


2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
David C Wilson ◽  
Michael A Kilgore ◽  
Stephanie A Snyder

Abstract Virtually all states have developed best management practices (BMPs) to mitigate potential adverse effects associated with timber harvesting. This study examined how BMP implementation on Minnesota’s family forest lands varied according to whether the land had a forest management plan, the timber sale was administered by a forester, or a written timber harvesting contract was used. Analysis of field monitoring data from 174 commercial timber harvesting sites on family forest lands found that BMP implementation is only modestly influenced by a forest management plan, supervising forester, or timber harvesting contract. Supervision of a forester had the greatest influence, with six guidelines implemented differently. In contrast, differences were found for just two BMPs with a forest management plan and only one with a written timber harvesting contract. When timber sales were administered by a forester, forest management guidelines generally related to management of the land-water interface were implemented to a higher standard, with significant increases observed for avoidance of infrastructure in filter strips, use of water diversion and erosion control structures, avoiding unnecessary wetland and waterbody crossings, and slash management. Higher timber utilization efficiency (within leave tree guidelines) was also found when a professional forester supervised the timber sale. Study Implications: We examine how BMP implementation on family forest lands varies with three types of supervisory and planning assistance: a forest management plan for the property, sale administration by a professional forester, and a written timber harvesting contract. Field monitoring data from 174 commercial timber harvests on family forest lands indicate that BMP implementation is only modestly influenced by any single form of assistance. Supervision by a forester had the greatest influence, increasing use of four guidelines related to management of the land-water interface. Results may help to inform best practices for landowner assistance and planning.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angela L Larsen-Gray ◽  
Craig Loehle

Abstract When working forest stands are harvested, vegetated strips along streams are often retained as part of forestry best management practices (BMPs) to protect water quality. These riparian buffers, known as streamside management zones, when following forestry BMP recommendations, also likely provide benefits to various terrestrial wildlife species. To better understand the role of riparian buffers in contributing to biological diversity in working forest landscapes, we reviewed literature (n = 30) that reported on herpetofauna, bird, and mammal responses to riparian buffers in the eastern United States. Although few results were consistent among taxa, community composition commonly varied among riparian buffer widths. Narrower riparian buffers more commonly supported edge and disturbance-associated species whereas wider riparian buffers tended to support interior-associated species. We did not find a consistent width that supported all terrestrial wildlife species studied. Study Implications: Based on our findings, it may be most efficacious to use varying riparian buffer widths across a landscape to provide structural conditions for a diversity of wildlife species. Some interior species may be best conserved on older managed stands or other retained areas in the landscape rather than riparian buffers. Landscape context and functionality of riparian buffers as movement corridors need to be further investigated, as this is an assumed but not quantified indirect benefit for various terrestrial wildlife species and perhaps especially important for species with low vagility or low dispersal ability that require older forest or riparian areas.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Lane Moser ◽  
Eli S Sagor ◽  
Matthew B Russell ◽  
Marcella A Windmuller-Campione

Abstract Innovation and knowledge exchange are critical to foster adaptive management and continual learning. Across the spectrum of knowledge exchange, ranging from peer-reviewed research to anecdotes, there is a largely untapped middle ground: real-world silvicultural case studies implemented and documented by foresters. The University of Minnesota Great Lakes Silviculture Library is a novel, freely available platform designed to enable foresters to exchange these case studies. Five years after its launch, we conducted focus groups with foresters from Minnesota and Wisconsin, USA, and Ontario, Canada, to explore the platform’s usage and value. Participants valued having access to examples of silvicultural treatments and their outcomes that they could easily digest, apply, and share. They gained new knowledge from management across administrative boundaries. They also appreciated the consistent, relatable case study format. However, participants noted that limited time was the primary barrier to wider authorship and readership. The Library enables information exchange across agencies and disciplines within natural resources, giving greater voice to practicing foresters and supplementing other sources of forestry knowledge. Study Implications In our experience, foresters have always valued opportunities to exchange ideas and anecdotes about silvicultural treatments. Case studies represent one way for foresters to communicate with each other and continue to learn by seeing a variety of silvicultural prescriptions implemented on the landscape. Documenting treatments and the supporting reasoning allows foresters to share lessons learned over the course of their career with others across administrative boundaries. Normalizing this documentation can create a positive feedback loop for a case study platform in which further case study submissions lead to increased visibility, use, and perceived value of the platform. As the case study platform becomes more relevant to foresters, the forestry profession as a whole benefits from the long-term documentation of an increasingly diverse array of treatments.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Tappeiner ◽  
Darius Adams ◽  
Claire Montgomery ◽  
Douglas Maguire

Abstract The most recent remeasurement of growth (at approximate total stand age 100 years) from the Black Rock Thinning Trial in western Oregon provides useful information for forest owners interested in accelerating restoration of older forest characteristics in Douglas-fir stands of the Pacific Northwest. Thinnings at several intensities at total stand age of roughly 50 years effectively reset stand growth patterns. With quadratic mean diameters in thinned plots up to 40% higher than those of unthinned controls, thinned plot mean annual increments (MAIs) and periodic annual increments continue to rise 55 years after thinning, with the peak in board foot and cubic foot MAI apparently still decades in the future. Assuming repeatable future thinning responses similar to the Black Rock Trial, financial analysis of the opportunity costs of extending rotations to 100 years indicates that some thinning treatments can reduce opportunity costs by up to half at a 6% discount rate. Study Implications Active management through thinning may be a useful tool for public and private landowners interested in rapid development of stands with older forest characteristics to enhance output of some ecosystem services. Heavy thinning regimes, of the type described here, are compatible with growing trees with large diameter stems, large branches, and large crowns. They also reduce fuel accumulation by lowering mortality rates of stems less than 60 years old and slowing the rate of crown recession, branch mortality, and branch litterfall. Midrotation thinning revenues reduce opportunity costs of holding more rapidly growing stems to older ages, which may be a consideration for some owners.


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