Maintenance and Development of Forest Resiliency Introduction

Across the landscape the Ashland Watershed has missed 3 to 9 fire cycles as a result of fire exclusion. The effects are varied according to aspect, slope position and elevation.

In the drier sites, vegetation has changed from more open conditions, composed of fire-adapted species, to dense overstocked forest stands with an increase in shade-tolerant and fire-intolerant species. Riparian areas have changed the least but can be problematic especially in uplands. Continuous horizontal and vertical vegetation in dense stands can act as fuel ladders allowing wildfire to spread from the forest floor to the canopies of trees. Inter-tree competition for moisture and nutrients causes forested stands to self-thin leading to an increase in dead and down fuel loads. The chance for a large-scale high severity wildfire has increased dramatically since effective fire suppression began as structure and composition of watershed vegetation has changed from more open to very dense forest conditions.

The Ashland Forest Resiliency Community Alternative outlines management strategies for reducing fire hazard in Upper Bear Creek and reducing the threat of large-scale high severity wildfire for the purpose of safeguarding the quality and quantity of water delivered from Ashland’s Municipal Watershed, as well as for managing long-term late-successional and old-growth forest environments.

The goal of the AFRCA project is to return the forest to a more resilient state where the re-introduction of fire as an ecosystem process is possible through restoration of

landscape-scale fuel discontinuity according to ecological site conditions. The

discontinuity of understory fuels and overstory density are seen as a way to control fire intensity and spread as well as provide logistical opportunities for fire use.

It is strategic to maintain the presence of fire-adapted species throughout the watershed.

The management of forest composition to maintain higher proportions of fire adapted Page 125

and/or fire resistant species such as ponderosa pine, sugar pine, incense cedar, Pacific madrone, black oak and Douglas-fir would contribute to a forest that would be relatively resilient to fire. The maintenance of species that quickly take over a site after fire is important as well. These species tend to hold the soil and stabilize the site, and inhibit the colonization of non-native species.

Another important factor in management of vegetation for creating and maintaining a fire safe/fire resilient forest is the extent and arrangement of fuels in the Watershed on a landscape basis. It is important to manage vegetation in areas that would provide the greatest protection given the high fire risk (high values and high probability of fire ignition).

Evaluation Questions

1) Have Ashland Forest Resiliency Community Alternative fire hazard reduction activities reduced the potential large-scale, high-intensity disturbance?

Were surface fuels reduced, as measured by change in tons per acre of downed woody debris by diameter class (0 to 2.9 inch, and 3 inches plus)?

Were ladder fuels reduced and crown base heights increased, as measured by change in percent cover of understory vegetation (small conifers and shrubs), and change in crown base height—the distance from ground level to the lower branches of the trees forming the main canopy of the forest stand?

(change in crown base height measured for permanent plots only).

2) Have Ashland Forest Resiliency Community Alternative fire hazard reduction activities reduced the potential for crown fire spread?

Were crown fuels reduced as measured by change in basal area and percent cover of trees forming the main forest canopy?

Are forest stand conditions composed of fire-adapted and fire resistant species being maintained or encouraged as a result of Ashland Forest Resiliency Community Alternative project activities?

What is the change in proportions of fire adapted/resistant tree species in forest stands treated, specifically ponderosa pine, sugar pine, incense cedar, and Douglas-fir, Pacific madrone and black oak?

What is the change in proportions of fire adapted shrub and herbaceous species, specifically native species characterized as rapid colonizers

following disturbance, species that dampen fire effects (higher moisture content and lower volatile oils)?

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o Some of the resilient species that are fire adapted and quickly sprout, seed, or germinate in response to fire are: Pinus ponderosa, Pinus lambertiana, Ceanothus integerrimus, Ceanothus prostrates, Arbutus menziesii, Quercus kelloggi,

Calocedrus decurrens, Arctostaphylos patula, Arctostaphylos nevadensis, Rhus diversiloba, Ceanothus velutinus , Arctostaphylos viscida.

Are fire hazard reduction treatments maintaining or improving tree vigor within forest stands treated, as measured by increase in diameter growth and maintenance or increase in crown ratios (portion of the tree with live crown).

At the landscape scale, is fire hazard being reduced in the highest risk areas and areas that would provide the greatest protection for high value resources?

How many acres and what proportion of moderate, high, and extreme fire risk areas were treated?

Approach

The Natural Resources Information System Field Sampled Vegetation (FSVeg) Module is a database, data collection system, and set of reporting tools. It is designed to

implement corporate data standards and promote effective sharing of Field Sampled Vegetation information, which includes data about cover, fuels, trees, and understory layers. Vegetation examinations using the Common Stand Exam (CSE) protocols and field procedures described in the Common Stand Exam Field Guide for Region 6, version 1.4.1 will be used to populate the database and conduct baseline and effectiveness

monitoring. These protocols are consistent with the FSVeg database attribute standards.

Delineate (or stratify) forest stands within units so that stands sampled have fairly uniform stand characteristics. Select stands representative of the various stand types, elevations, and aspect for establishing permanent plots, to allow long-term (10 to 20 years) monitoring from the same vantage point. For all stands collect data pre and posttreatment.

Use a nested plot sample design to collect variable plot data for trees 5 inches diameter and larger (intensive plot exam design); collect fixed plot (1/100^th acre) data for trees less than 5 inches diameter and at least 6 inches in height; and collect data for 1/5^th acre fixed plot estimating percent cover by species, life form (woody tree, woody shrub, forbs, grasses), and vegetation layer (lowest, mid, or highest level). Use Forest Simulator Model for analyzing data collected.

Conduct photo monitoring as a minimum for permanent plots. Protocol to be further developed based on Draft Photo Point Monitoring Handbook (Hall 2000), and Draft Ground Based Photographic Monitoring (Hall 1999).

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At each stand exam plot location, install one or two 50-foot transects according to protocol outlined in Handbook for Inventorying Downed Woody Material, USDA Forest Service General Technical Report INT-16 (Brown 1974). An average of 10 to 12 transects are needed for each stand.

Data Analysis and Storage

Vegetation data will be stored in the Natural Resources Information System Field Sampled Vegetation (FSVeg) is a database. Data will be analyzed using the vegetation simulation module. Coarse woody material (fuels) data will be stored and analyzed using an Excel spreadsheet program developed for use with Brown’s Protocol and/or using the Common Stand Exam Program.

B. Soil Conditions