Background Reading: Department of Agriculture, 2013 Budget Overview

57 pages. Fiscal Year 2013 Budget Overview February 2012 Background Reading The Future of Natural Resources Policy: This forum will provide a post-election perspective on some of the challenges and opportunities that natural resources, public lands, and energy policymakers in Washington are likely to face in the next four years. An expert panel will discuss the dynamics in the Department of the Interior, the Department of Agriculture, and Congress, and how their evolving policies are likely to affect Colorado in the coming years

Background Reading: Department of Agriculture, 2013 Budget Overview

57 pages. Fiscal Year 2013 Budget Overview February 2012 Background Reading The Future of Natural Resources Policy: This forum will provide a post-election perspective on some of the challenges and opportunities that natural resources, public lands, and energy policymakers in Washington are likely to face in the next four years. An expert panel will discuss the dynamics in the Department of the Interior, the Department of Agriculture, and Congress, and how their evolving policies are likely to affect Colorado in the coming years

Quaking Aspen - Seed Germination and Early Seedling Growth

The suckering of aspen (Populus tremuliodes Michx.) as a highly effective means of vegetative propagation is well known and has been widely studied (Baker 1918; Day 1944; Maini 1967; Schier 1974). Less is known about seed propagation, sometimes viewed as having only minor importance because early research (Baker 1918) had indicated that rare seedling establishment was due to low or nonexistent germinability

Prehistory of Long Valley, Idaho

This thesis deals with a group of artifact collections gathered by local amateurs from a series of sites along the western shoreline of Cascade Reservoir. This study uses these artifacts as a basis to put together a preliminary view of Long Valley prehistory. Outlines of the basic artifact types are formulated and placed into a chronology based upon typological comparisons and obsidian hydration. Previous archaeological work, the ethnohistory, and local geology of the valley are discussed and related ot the sites, used in this study, in order to determine their patterns and characteristics. From these efforts directions for further research and questions concerning the valley\u27s prehistory will be fostered

Soluble Sugar Concentrations in Needles and Bark of Western White Pine in Response to Season and Blister Rust

Amounts of soluble sugars in certain tissues of 12- to 16-year-old western white pine (Pinus monticola Dougl.) trees, each with a blister rust canker girdling about 50 percent of the bole circumference, were compared with rust-free trees. Fructose, glucose, sucrose, raffinose, and stachyose extracted from needles and healthy and diseased bark were identified with thin-layer chromatography and quantified with a densitometer. The host\u27s seasonal growth cycle induced changes in sugar concentrations in current, 1- and 2-year needles, but the bole cankers did not. Amounts of bark sugars characterized the activities of the rust fungus (Cronartium ribicola J.C. Fisch.) as well as the fall, winter, and summer seasons. The amounts of sugars in the bark decreased toward the cankers\u27 centers except for raffinose and stachyose. The greatest differences in amounts of sugars in rusted and nonrusted bark tissues were found in February

Predicting Regeneration Establishment with the Prognosis Model

Conifer establishment following regeneration timber harvests is predicted by version 2 of the Regeneration Establishment Model, a submodel of the Prognosis Model. The regeneration model covers 10 species for forests in Montana, central Idaho, and northern Idaho. Most harvest and site preparation methods can be simulated so that alternative treatments can be evaluated. Also included in the model is the influence of western spruce budworm (Choristoneura accidentalis) on regeneration success. The model predicts the probability of stocking, seedling density, species composition, and seedling heights 2 to 20 years after harvest. This paper describes the study design, equation development, model formulation, and model behavior for the Regeneration Establishment Model

Evaluating Nonindustrial Private Landowners for Forestry Assistance Programs: A Logistic Regression Approach

As budgets in forest management agencies become more restrictive, cost-effective programs become more important. This paper describes a quantitative tool for setting priorities for the forestry assistance program administered by the Montana Division of Forestry. Logistic regression was used to better identify the type of forest owners to which assistance should be directed. (In logistic regression, the dependent variable is a probability that a certain event or activity will occur.) Data supporting model development were obtained from a questionnaire survey of forest landowners in the western portion of Montana. Four models were developed that pertain to past use of technical assistance, intention to harvest timber, and timber benefits as motivation for forest ownership. The most consistently useful independent variables were geographic region and past timber harvest activity. The author discusses procedures for interpreting results and for rating land ownerships for assistance. One model is discussed in detail, but the discussion is applicable to the other three models. Supporting data are presented for all models

Soil Water and Temperature in Harvested and Nonharvested Pinyon-Juniper Stands

Tree harvesting increased soil water content, but the effect diminished over 4 years. The mean increase in soil water content was 2 to 4 percent the first year following harvest and 0 to 3 percent after 4 years. Although tree harvesting released soil water previously used by tree species, other biotic and abiotic demands increased. We speculate postharvest increases in wind and solar energy at the ground surface and increased understory transpiration in part explain the decline in soil water content differences between harvested and nonharvested plots over time

Production and Product Recovery for Complete Tree Utilization in the Northern Rockies

In this study, a whole-tree harvesting system designed to produce logs and chips was evaluated on four sites, each with a different silvicultural prescription. The system consisted of: feller-bunchers, grapple-equipped rubber-tired skidders, a tree processor, a whole-tree chipper, and a hydraulic log loader. Production rates for the overall system and for its various components were developed with time-motion study techniques. Variation in productivity between study areas was analyzed with respect to stand and site characteristics

The Delphi Method: Application to Elk Habitat Quality

This paper reports on the results of a study designed both to gather important information through Delphi and to evaluate several key features of the Delphi process. We intend to present information developed, and also describe and discuss Delphi so as to make resource managers more comfortable with it, aware of its potential, and willling to consider it along with other information gathering tools