Land Use and Land Cover Dynamics

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Land Use and Land Cover Dynamics Team

Case studies identify factors leading to development on private forests

A new housing development adjacent to private forest land near Damascus, Oregon. Credit: Rhonda Mazza

Approximately 1 million acres of forest are converted to more developed uses annually. Recent research found that 44 million acres of private forest are projected to be affected by residential development in the coming decades. In a followup study, station scientists examined commonalities and differences in land development patterns in northwest Washington, southern Maine, and northern Georgia.

Commonalities in conditions and trends across the three regions include a changing forest ownership, proximity to large metropolitan areas, and the influence of historical settlement patterns and transportation networks on residential development. Differences in factors influencing residential development among the study areas include the influence of seasonal home development, the land use planning systems in place, and the effect of topography.

Partners: USDA Forest Service State and Private Forestry, Cooperative Forestry

To learn more, contact Eric White at emwhite@fs.fed.us.

Different timber harvest scenarios lead to significant differences in future carbon sequestration on U.S. public timberlands

Terrestrial carbon sequestration can mitigate global climate change and could help offset greenhouse gas emissions from all sectors of the U.S. economy. Public forests in the United States represent approximately 20 percent of the U.S. timberland area and 30 percent of the U.S. timber volume. With such a large standing timber inventory, management of this resource affects the amount of carbon sequestered by public forests. To help decisionmakers understand the carbon implications of potential changes in public timberland management, researchers compared a baseline timber harvest scenario with two alternative harvest scenarios and estimated annual carbon stock changes associated with each.

A scenario that eliminated timber harvests on public lands increased the amount of carbon sequestered annually by 17 to 29 million metric tons (MMT) of carbon between 2010 and 2050-as much as a 43-percent increase over current sequestration levels on public timberlands. This scenario also offset up to 1.5 percent of total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. In contrast, a more intense harvest scenario similar to harvest levels that prevailed in the 1980s resulted in annual carbon losses of 27 to 35 MMT. These losses represented a 50- to 80-percent decline in anticipated carbon sequestration associated with the existing timber harvest policies.

Partners: Environmental Protection Agency, Duke University, Oregon State University, Texas A&M University

To learn more, contact Ralph Alig at ralig@fs.fed.us.

Method improved for estimating recreation-visitor spending

Estimates of national forest recreation-visitor spending are used with estimates of recreation visits and economic models to identify the contribution of national forest recreation to the economies of local forest communities. Traditionally, visitor spending estimates were classified by various recreation activities (camping, hiking, fishing, etc.). Using visitor spending data collected as part of the National Visitor Use Monitoring program from more than 20,000 national forest recreation visitors, PNW researchers showed that the type of recreation trip (i.e., day or overnight trip, local or nonlocal trip) better explained variation in the spending of recreation visitors than did recreational activity. Although the visitor's recreation activity has some influence on visitor spending, ultimately a trip-type approach to visitor classification yields visitor spending estimates that are more reliable and more easily transferred across national forests.

The spending averages estimated using this approach have been used in forest planning activities in the Forest Service's Northern, Eastern, and Rocky Mountain Regions; by the Bureau of Land Management in Montana; and in national Forest Service recreation reports. These spending averages have been incorporated in Natural Resource Information System computer applications, and in the TMECA computer application for use in National Forest System Travel Management analyses.

Outcome: Multiple forest planning activities and analyses at the regional and national levels use improved visitor-spending estimates.

Partners: Michigan State University, USDA Forest Service Planning Analysis Group

To learn more, contact Eric White at emwhite@fs.fed.us.

Visitors differ in their preference for managing postfire recreation

The 2003 B&B Fire burned much of the Mount Jefferson, Mount Washington, and Three Sisters Wilderness areas in the Deschutes and Willamette National Forests. Forest managers wanted to know how best to manage for recreation after fire. Research focused on the Eight Lakes Basin within the Mount Jefferson Wilderness, where day hiking, backpacking, climbing, and horse camping are traditional uses. Visitors were asked about their past use, changes in use after the fire, and preferences for managing postfire recreation. Use declined slightly in burned areas 1 to 2 years later; however, these declines appeared less than those caused by the fee demonstration program implemented in 1998.

Visitors differed in their preferences for managing postfire recreation, with some visitors preferring little or no management, some preferring access and use restrictions coupled with site development, and some preferring either access and use restrictions or site development alone. The Willamette National Forest used these findings to develop a recreation monitoring plan for the B&B Fire area.

Outcome: Willamette National Forest uses findings to develop a postfire recreation monitoring plan.

Partners: Oregon State University, University of Idaho, USDA Forest Service Willamette National Forest

To learn more, contact Jeff Kline at jkline@fs.fed.us.