Pacific Northwest Research Station

Title: Alternatives to clearcutting in the old-growth forests of southeast Alaska: study plan and establishment report.

Author: McClellan, Michael H.; Swanston, Douglas N.; Hennon, Paul E.; Deal, Robert L.; de Santo, Toni L.; Wipfli, Mark S.

Date: 2000

Source: Gen. Tech. Rep. PNW-GTR-494. Portland, OR: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station. 40 p

Station ID: GTR-PNW-494

Description: Much is known about the ecological effects, economics, and social impacts of clearcutting, but little documented experience with other silvicultural systems exists in southeast Alaska. The Pacific Northwest Research Station and the Alaska Region of the USDA Forest Service have cooperatively established an interdisciplinary study of ecosystem and social responses to alternative silvicultural systems to evaluate their ability to provide for sustainable wood production and protection of other forest values. This information is needed to select appropriate systems for managing old-growth stands on timber-producing lands in southeast Alaska. We present the study plan and establishment report because of the large-scale and long-term nature of this study, and in response to significant interest from resource managers, researchers, and the public.

A short-term retrospective study and a longer term, operational-scale, experimental study are planned. Ecosystem and social responses to be evaluated include tree regeneration, growth, and mortality; plant diversity and abundance; tree damage agents, deer habitat quality; bird diversity and abundance; headwater stream ecology; ground-water changes; slope stability; visual quality; and social acceptability. The extensive pretreatment site assessments will add significant new knowledge of old-growth forests and associated aquatic ecosystems.

Keywords: Ecosystem management, clearcutting, alternative silviculture, silvicultural systems, wildlife habitat, fish habitat, visual quality, slope stability, forest ecology

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Citation

McClellan, Michael H.; Swanston, Douglas N.; Hennon, Paul E.; Deal, Robert L.; de Santo, Toni L.; Wipfli, Mark S.  2000.  Alternatives to clearcutting in the old-growth forests of southeast Alaska: study plan and establishment report..   Gen. Tech. Rep. PNW-GTR-494. Portland, OR: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station. 40 p