Pacific Southwest

Title: The maintenance of key biodiversity attributes through ecosystem restoration operations

Author: Gray, Robert W.; Blackwell, Bruce A.

Date: 2008

Source: In: Narog, Marcia G., tech. coord. 2008. Proceedings of the 2002 Fire Conference: Managing fire and fuels in the remaining wildlands and open spaces of the Southwestern United States. Gen. Tech. Rep. PSW-GTR-189. Albany, CA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Research Station. p. 49-56

Station ID: GTR-PSW-189

Description: The requirement to manage for key biodiversity attributes in dry forest ecosystems is mandated in the Forest Practices Code Act of British Columbia. These attributes include snags, large old trees, and large organic debris. In the Squamish Forest District dry forest restoration activities center on the use of thinning operations followed by prescribed fire to restore stand structure and species composition to conditions closer to the historic range of variability. Various strategies have been tested to retain or create key biodiversity attributes. These strategies include wrapping fire-scarred trees with fire shelter material, digging firebreaks around attributes, using “avoidance firing” ignition techniques, and setting prescription limits around fuel moisture content. Some strategies have proven to more successful than others. We present our findings on cost effectiveness and retention success for several attributes and treatment strategies plus a discussion of recommended policy changes to make expectations of retention more in line with operational realities.

Keywords: 

View and Print this Publication (172.32 KB)

Publication Notes: 

• We recommend that you also print this page and attach it to the printout of the article, to retain the full citation information.
• This article was written and prepared by U.S. Government employees on official time, and is therefore in the public domain.
• You may send email to rschneider@fs.fed.us to request a hard copy of this publication. (Please specify exactly which publication you are requesting and your mailing address.)

 Get the latest version of the Adobe Acrobat reader or Acrobat Reader for Windows with Search and Accessibility

Citation

Gray, Robert W.; Blackwell, Bruce A.  2008.  The maintenance of key biodiversity attributes through ecosystem restoration operations.   In: Narog, Marcia G., tech. coord. 2008. Proceedings of the 2002 Fire Conference: Managing fire and fuels in the remaining wildlands and open spaces of the Southwestern United States. Gen. Tech. Rep. PSW-GTR-189. Albany, CA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Research Station. p. 49-56 .