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About Us
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 Our
mission is to integrate knowledge about forest ecology and silvicultural
practices into management guidelines needed to sustain ecosystem integrity,
improve forest health, and enhance social values in landscapes of
the central and northern Rocky Mountains, including Montana, east-central
Idaho, northwest Wyoming, and northern Utah. The lower and mid-elevations
in this region are composed of ponderosa, western larch, and Douglas-fir
forest types are found. The higher elevations in this region are composed
of lodgepole pine, Engelmann spruce, subalpine fir, and whitebark
pine forests types. Due to the fact that fire is such an important
process in these forests, much of our work involves research on prescribed
burning and wildfire. |
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RESEARCH PROBLEMS
Under our charter, we are addressing the following research problems:
- Integrate knowledge of ecological processes, management practices,
and their interactions with landscape patterns.
- Determine the type, distribution, and timing of management practices
to sustain healthy productive forest ecosystems.
- Study regeneration, composition, growth, and development of
forest vegetation.
- Determine ecologically acceptable methods of managing introduced
noxious weeds.
Our field studies are performed on Experimental and Demonstration
Forests, other National Forest lands, State forest lands, and on
private timberlands. Modeling studies are conducted in front of
computers, in Missoula.
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HISTORY
RM-4151 has been in existence in several forms since 1947, but work has always focused on the ecology and silviculture of northern Rocky Mountain forests. We are stewards of studies - some more than 50 years old - providing valuable long-term information about the consequences of management actions such as prescribed burning, thinning and other cultural treatments, harvest cutting practices, and salvage cutting.
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ORGANIZATIONAL OVERVIEW
The Forest Service is organized into several branches. The largest and best known branch is the National Forest System. Other branches include State and Private Forestry, International Forestry, Administration, and our branch, Research and Development.
We are part of the Rocky Mountain Research Station, headquartered in Ft. Collins, Colorado. Our unit, RM-4151, is co-located in Missoula and Bozeman, Montana.
At the Forestry Sciences Laboratory in Missoula, on the campus of the University of Montana, we work on the first three research problems; the fourth problem (weeds management) occurs in Bozeman, at the Forestry Sciences Laboratory on the campus of Montana State University.
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PARTNERS & COLLABORATORS
We work with many partners
and collaborators in management and research. Our management
partners in many state and federal land management agencies
express their information needs, which we address by developing
researchable questions, designing and conducting the research
(in collaboration with other scientists), and reporting the
results in publications, professional meetings, workshops,
tours, brochures, demonstration
areas, and of course, this website.
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STAFF
RM-4151 is led by a scientist Project Leader with research administrative duties. There are six other scientists and thirteen science staff employees and four part-time administrative staff employees. During the summer of 2002, we added fourteen seasonal employees to assist with fieldwork. Many are students. We also employ other student assistants year-round.
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