Pacific Northwest Research Station

The Pacific Northwest Research Station (PNW) searches for answers. Questions may include the relation of timber harvesting to diseases and insects, the alternatives to clearcutting, or how beaver ponds support salmon.

Forest Service research employs hundreds of scientists and technical and support people nationwide. They work to discover, develop and disseminate science-based ecological knowledge and technology. Their published findings fill an essential role in protecting the health, productivity and biodiversity of the nation’s forests and grasslands.

PNW is one of seven research facilities in the Forest Service. The station is headquartered in Portland, Ore., with laboratories in Alaska, Oregon and Washington. Labs in Alaska are in Juneau, Anchorage, and Sitka. Fairbanks has a limited research program through a cooperative agreement with the University of Alaska.

Unlimited Opportunities
A vast undeveloped land base with resource development potential provides researchers with an opportunity to learn how to protect the resources of Alaska. The role of research is to ensure that sound scientific information about land management is made available to citizens, managers and policy makers.

For example, in 1998 forest ecologists completed a paper on wind disturbance in the forests of Southeast Alaska where windstorms create clearings. The study suggested that some forests on wind-exposed southern slopes never reach an old growth stage, since the wind disturbances create specific structural patterns during stages of a forest’s growth. This information is now used to design timber sales that will mimic these wind patterns.

Research and Planning
The collaboration of research and management is significant in forest planning in Alaska. PNW worked closely with forest planners to address high-priority information needs during the development of the revision for the Tongass Land Management Plan. Issues addressed by PNW ensured the creation of a forest plan that was scientifically credible, and able to support resource sustainability.

Anchorage Lab
The forest inventory and analysis program conducts an inventory of renewable natural resources on the forest lands throughout Alaska. Systematic sampling of forested lands allows managers to understand trends in vegetation change, for example, the increase in invasive species. The lab also has a managing natural disturbance regimes program that examines ways to sustain forest health, such as developing approaches to reduce adverse impacts of the spruce bark beetle that has killed massive numbers of trees in Southcentral Alaska.

Ecosystem process scientists examine the effect of different tree harvesting approaches on wildlife. In rural Alaska, a large portion of the protein consumed by people is obtained from deer. Deer are dependent on the understory for their survival. Clearcutting results in a closed-canopy forest that excludes food for deer, reducing the size of the deer population. Alternatives to clearcutting are being evaluated as to their effect on wildlife.

The Human and Natural Resource program is looking at bear viewing opportunities and capacity in Alaska as the demand to view bears continues to increase. Community values are important to understand. Scientists are using unique approaches to document the importance and value of places to citizens for use by managers. What is the value of a forest beyond trees? This question is important to users of the forest such as guides and outfitters that take clients to unaltered landscapes.

Fairbanks Boreal Ecology Cooperative Research Unit
Scientists who study ecosystem processes look at the climate, disturbance such as fire, and the vast area of discontinuous permafrost in the forests of Interior Alaska. They also look at invasive species impact on ecosystems. They investigate the value of other forest products, such as morel mushrooms, to the community. Managing natural disturbances to sustain forest health: experiments are carried out in the boreal forest to understand the major changes caused by natural disturbance from fires and subtle changes in atmospheric conditions.
 

Sitka Wood Utilization Research and Development Center
Forests have traditionally been viewed as a source of lumber to build homes and businesses. Scientists at this lab are looking at the value of forest products for other markets. Using the wood from different species of Alaskan trees, the scientists are comparing products made from other countries with those made of Alaskan wood and determining if people would buy products manufactured in Alaska. In America’s past, wood has traditionally been used to make bridges. Scientists are looking at using wood for utility bridges and railroad ties for the Alaska Railroad.