Pacific Northwest Research Station

Title: Boreal blending: timber and moose in Alaska's interior.

Author: Duncan, Sally.

Date: 2001

Source: Science Findings. Portland, OR: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station. December (40):1-5

Description: Only a small boby of research addresses the impacts of timber harvesting in the boreal forest of Alaska. The two projects described here began in 1970 and 1980 to develop more reliable methods of regenerating white spruce—the main commercial species in interior Alaska—from seed, and quantifying vegetation and soil responses.

A "by-product" of timber harvest is increased moose browse and cover provided by deciduous saplings (birch, popular, and aspen) and brush species such as willow. The importance of moose in the economy of interior Alaska guarantees a major role in the values behind forest management decisions.

Recent reevaluations of both projects has significant implications for the management of white spruce but also extend to other present-day forest management issues, including aesthetics, biodiversity, wildlife management, and coarse woody debris budgets.

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Citation

Duncan, Sally.  2001.  Boreal blending: timber and moose in Alaska's interior..   Science Findings. Portland, OR: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station. December (40):1-5