Other Earth Sciences Commons^™

Attaining Visual Quality Objectives In Timber Harvest Areas - Landscape Architects' Evaluation, United States Department Of Agriculture, Forest Service

Forestry

When management activities such as timber harvest are undertaken on National Forest lands, landscape architects establish plans and guidelines so the project will meet a desired level of visual quality. This visual quality objective (VQO) for a given project is based on forest conditions, topography, and the type of viewing that is anticipated (viewing distance, number and type of visitors, etc.). Although landscape architects provide criteria and guidelines to achieve these visual objectives, there is no direct feedback mechanism with which to monitor the public's reaction or ascertain the extent to which visual objectives are met.

Response Of Grass Species To Tree Harvesting In Singleleaf Pinyon-Utah Juniper Stands, United States Department Of Agriculture, Forest Service

Forestry

Cover, yield, and nutrient concentrations of grasses were sampled on tree-harvested and nonharvested plots on north, west, and south aspects of a singleleaf pinyon (Pinus monophylla)-Utah juniper (Juniperus osteosperma) stand. Grass cover increased rapidly the first 2 years following tree harvest, but the rate of increase declined over the next 2 years. Grass yield varied among aspects and soil microsites on tree-harvested plots but not on the nonharvested plots where tree competition masked aspect and microsite effects. All grass species had greater yield and greater percentage nitrogen and phosphorus on harvested than on nonharvested plots. Low digestibility of some species …

Predicting Duff And Woody Fuel Consumed By Prescribed Fire In The Northern Rocky Mountains, United States Department Of Agriculture, Forest Service

Forestry

This paper presents numerical relationships of known precision for predicting duff consumption. They were established by assembling and analyzing data from three previous prescribed fire investigations and then testing them against other published data. Fuel loadings by diameter classes that differed among the studies were converted to a common set of diameter classes. The purpose of assimilating data from several studies was to develop predictive models that could be easily used by practitioners and that would apply over a wide range of conditions.

Woodland Tree Volume Estimation: A Visual Segmentation Technique, United States Department Of Agriculture, Forest Service

Forestry

Visual segmentation, a technique for estimating cubic foot volume of woodland tree species, was compared with actual volume measurement. Comparison was made during a forest inventory of pinyon-juniper woodlands in Nevada and Utah. The visual technique's accuracy, its usefulness in developing volume equations, and applicability to volume inventory were studied. This study indicated visual segmentation is not reliable for estimating volume for a single tree. However, a sample of visually estimated volumes proved adequate for developing volume equations. In an application, a bias of 0 to -9 percent of the mean cubic foot volume per acre resulted from summary of …

Measurement Of Field Resistance, Rust Hazard, And Deployment Of Blister Rust-Resistant Western White Pine, United States Department Of Agriculture, Forest Service

Forestry

Three white pine plantations, composed of materials of several levels of resistance from early generations of the blister rust resistance breeding program, were compared on the basis of annual infection and mortality rates. The sites varied in blister rust hazard; resistant materials were consistent in their performance, and the infection data behaved as one would expect if the genetic and environmental assumptions of the simple interest disease progress model were violated. Presumably, the resistant populations violate the genetic assumptions to the extent of their resistance, and any assessment of resistance performance must take into account both environmental as well as …

Release Of A Thinned Budworm-Infested Douglas-Fir/Ponderosa Pine Stand, United States Department Of Agriculture, Forest Service

Forestry

Current and past defoliation by western spruce budworm (Choristoneura occidentalis Freeman) in an 80-year-old predominantly Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii var. glauca [Beissn.] Franco) stand thinned to 14 by 14 feet was significantly lower than in a nearby untreated stand of similar age, species, and site conditions. Analysis of periodic radial growth ratios indicated that prior to thinning, Douglas-fir had been heavily defoliated by budworm and growth was seriously depressed. Following thinning, the host leave trees developed dense crowns and 10-year radial growth increased an average of 57 percent: meanwhile, radial growth of nonhost ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa Dougl.) increased 38 percent. …

Costs Of Managing Nontimber Resources When Harvesting Timber In The Northern Rockies, United States Department Of Agriculture, Forest Service

Forestry

When National Forest Timber is sold, land managers are required to protect other forest resources such as wildlife, soil and water, and scenic qualities. Measures taken to protect nontimber resources can raise administrative costs, lower the quantity of timber sold, and can reduce stumpage receipts. The costs of sale administration and the reduction in timber harvested can be readily derived from accounting and planning records. But little information is available on how much nontimber resources cost in terms of stumpage receipts. To provide such information, some 187 timber sales were studied on seven National Forests in the Northern Region between …

Applying Height Growth And Site Index Curves For Inland Douglas-Fir, United States Department Of Agriculture, Forest Service

Forestry

Methods for estimating both site index and dominant height growth for inland Douglas-fir in the Northern Rocky Mountains are presented and discussed. The methods should be applicable over a wide range of stand conditions because no restrictions were placed on species composition, stand density, spacing, or age structure in the original stem analysis sample. Increased accuracy can be obtained if habitat type is considered, because the shape of the site index curves varied with respect to three major habitat series groupings. Results are summarized in the form of equations, tables, and graphs. Precision curves are used to illustrate the relationship …

Effects Of Bifenox, Dcpa, And Napropamide On Ectomycorrhizal Development Of Conifer Seedlings In Central And Northern Rocky Mountain Nurseries, United States Department Of Agriculture, Forest Service

Forestry

Postseeding and postgermination treatments with three weed control herbicides (Bifenox, DCPA, Napropamide) at two rates of application caused little reduction of ectomycorrhizal development on 1- and 2-year-old conifer seedlings in Central or Northern Rocky Mountain nurseries. In many cases, herbicide treatment increased ectomycorrhizal development, particularly with DCPA. In general, herbicide treatment effects on ectomycorrhizal development were species and nursery specific.

Pinyon-Juniper Volume Equations For The Central Rocky Mountain States, United States Department Of Agriculture, Forest Service

Forestry

Gross cubic foot volume equations are now available for pinyon-juniper and several other woodland species in Nevada, Idaho, Utah, Colorado, Wyoming, and South Dakota. The volume equations are based on data collected as a subsample of woodland inventories conducted by Federal and State land management agencies. In these inventories, volumes of 4,705 trees were estimated by a visual sampling method.

The Delphi Method: Application To Elk Habitat Quality, United States Department Of Agriculture, Forest Service

Wildlife Conservation and Management

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.

Chemical Composition Of Ground Water In The Yucca Mountain Area, Nevada, 1971-84, Larry Benson, P. W. Mckinley

United States Geological Survey: Publications

Fifteen test wells in the Yucca Mountain area of southern Nevada have been sampled for chemical analysis at least once during 1971-84. Samples were obtained by pumping water from the entire well bore (composite sample), and, in three instances, by pumping from one or more isolated intervals within a well bore. Sodium was the most abundant cation, and bicarbonate was the most abundant anion in all water samples. Samples from the deep carbonate aquifer penetrated by well UE-25p#l contained higher relative concentrations of calcium and magnesium than did samples from overlying volcanic tuffs. Concentrations of the stable isotopes of oxygen …

Soils And The Location Of Cacao Orchards At A Maya Site In Western Belize, Daniel R. Muhs, Robert R. Kautz, J. Jefferson Mackinnon

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Cacao was one of the most important crops of the lowland Maya. Ethnohistoric sources document that the Postclassic-Colonial Period Maya settlement of Tipu in western Belize was an important cacao-growing center, yet evidence of where the cacao was grown is not apparent. We analysed the suitability of floodplain, terrace, and bedrock soils for cacao cultivation. Our results indicate that the soils most likely to have been used for cacao growth were those on the modem floodplain of the Macal River, based on their suitable physical and chemical properties. In addition, buried stone walls of Late Classic or Postclassic age that …

An Evaluation Of Uranium-Series Dating Of Fossil Echinoids From Southern California Pleistocene Marine Terraces, Daniel R. Muhs, Los Angeles County Museum Of Natural History, Los Angeles, Ca

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Fossil sea urchins (Strongylocentrotus) from Pleistocene marine terraces on the southern California Channel Islands have been dated by the uranium-series method in order to test the suitability of echinoids for dating marine terraces. Results indicate that urchin plates and spines do not behave as closed systems with respect to both uranium and thorium. Calculated ages based on these data do not agree with uranium-series ages (120,000 and 127,000 yrs) obtained previously from corals from the same localities. Thus, fossil sea urchins (Strongylocentrotus) are not considered suitable for uranium-series dating of Pleistocene marine terrace deposits.

Peat Resources Of Maine - Volume 4: Southern And Western Maine, Cornelia C. Cameron, Michael K. Mullen, Carolyn A. Lepage

Maine Collection

Peat Resources of Maine - Volume 4: Southern and Western Maine

by Cornelia C. Cameron, Michael K. Mullen, Carolyn A. Lepage & Walter A. Anderson

Bulletin 31 - Maine Geological Survey, Department of Conservation, Augusta, Maine (1984).

Preparation of this report was supported by funds furnished by the U.S. Department of Energy, Grant No. DE-FG18-79ET14690, the Maine Office of Energy Resources, the Maine Geological Survey, and the U.S. Geological Survey.

Contents: Introduction / The Maine Peat Resource Evaluation Program / Geologic Setting of Maine Peat Deposits / Formation of Peat Deposits in Maine / Methods of Investigation / Identification of …

Flood Insurance Study, City Of Logan, Utah, Cache County, Federal Emergency Management Agency

All U.S. Government Documents (Utah Regional Depository)

This Flood Insurance Study investigates the existence and severity of flood hazards in the City of Logan, Cache County, Utah, and aids in the administration of the National Flood Insurance act of 1968 and the Flood Disaster Protection Act of 1973. This study will be used to convert Logan to the regular program of flood insurance by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Local and regional planners will use this study in their efforts to promote sound flood plain management.

Prehistory Of Long Valley, Idaho, United States Department Of Agriculture, Forest Service

Archaeology/Anthropology

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 …

Field Tests Of Elk/Timber Coordination Guidelines, United States Department Of Agriculture, Forest Service

Forestry

During the summers of 1980 and 1981, field validation tests were conducted in 11 different areas in Montana and northern Idaho. The objectives of this research were (1) to evaluate several common methods of determining cover/forage ratios, (2) to evaluate several different road-influence models, and (3) to determine the combination of cover/forage function and road model that best describes actual elk selection among different available habitats.

Crop-Tree Thinning A 50-Year-Old Western Larch Stand: 25-Year Results, United States Department Of Agriculture, Forest Service

Forestry

This paper describes study results after 25 years of crop-tree thinning in a western larch (Larix occidentalis Nutt.) pole stand in western Montana. Five 1/2-acre plots were established in the Petty Creek drainage, Lolo National Forest, at an elevation of 4,200 feet above sea level. Western larch site index of the study area was 52 feet at 50 years. The stand was 50 years old when the study began in 1949. Two plots were thinned by the D+4 Rule, two by the Crown Rule, and one was left unthinned as a control. After 25 years, periodic diameter, basal area, and …

The Sleeping Child Burn - 21 Years Of Postfire Change, United States Department Of Agriculture, Forest Service

Forestry

In early August 1961, more than 26,000 acres (10,500 ha) of upper montane and subalpine forest on the Bitterroot National Forest burned in a lightning-caused wildfire. At the time, the Sleeping Child Burn represented the single largest forest fire in the Northern Rocky Mountains in more than 20 years. Historically, large wildfires have not been uncommon in this region: but after two decades of successful forest fire suppression, the Sleeping Child was treated as an event almost without precedent. Not only was reseeding and rehabilitation an immediate concern, a substantial effort was invested in attempting to return the burned area …

Tree Diameter Measurements At English And Metric Standard Heights: A Comparison, United States Department Of Agriculture, Forest Service

Forestry

The impact of measuring trees at 1.3 m versus 1.37 m heights above ground line was analyzed. The results indicate that the difference in diameter measurement taken at the two points averages around 1 percent. An equation for converting from English diameter at breast height to the metric equivalent of 1.3 m is presented.

Effect Of Small Aspen Clearcuts On Water Yield And Water Quality, United States Department Of Agriculture, Forest Service

Forestry

Streamflow and water quality were monitored in a paired watershed study involving the removal of 20 percent of the aspen (on 13 percent of the area) in five small clearcuts from a 217-acre (88-ha) catchment. There were no significant changes in peak flow, timing, or annual yield during the 4 years of posttreatment monitoring. Significant changes in pH, calcium, magnesium, and nitrates in the snowmelt streamflow from ephemeral subdrainages occurred the second year after cutting. At least some of the differences were attributed to the chemistry of the 1976-77 snowfall, which was also significantly different from snow sampled in the …

Geohydrology Of The High Plains Aquifer In Parts Of Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, And Wyoming, Edwin D. Gutentag, Frederick J. Heimes, United States Geological Survey, Richard R. Luckey, John B. Weeks

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

The High Plains aquifer, which underlies about 174,000 square miles in parts of eight states, is the principal source of water in one of the Nation's major agricultural areas. About 170,000 wells pump water from the aquifer to irrigate about 13 million acres in the High Plains. In 1978, the United States Geological Survey began a regional study of the High Plains aquifer to provide geohydrologic data and computer models of the aquifer needed to evaluate the effects of ground-water development. This report describes the geohydrology of the High Plains aquifer. The High Plains aquifer consists mainly of hydraulically connected …

The Geology Of Maine's Coastline : A Handbook For Resource Planners, Developers, And Managers, Maine State Planning Office

Maine Collection

The Geology of Maine's Coastline : A Handbook for Resource Planners, Developers, and Managers

Executive Department, Maine State Planning Office, Augusta, Maine, June 1983.

Contents: List of Figures / Introduction: The Geological Connection / Chapter 1: Using the Marine Environments Maps / Chapter 2: Perspectives of the Maine Coast / Chapter 3: The Building Blocks of Maine's Coast / Chapter 4: The Disappearing Shoreline / Where to Go for Help / Some Planning Considerations for Development in Coastal Geologic Environments / Land Use Laws of Special Interest to Individual Coastal Property Owners

Understory Vegetation Inventory: An Efficient Procedure, United States Department Of Agriculture, Forest Service

Forestry

The Understory Vegetation Inventory Procedure used on Forest Survey plots provides some basic information about the plant community that, when combined with other information, can be used for wildlife habitat and forage evaluation, grazing use potential, potential climax and seral stage of vegetation, and estimation of land productivity in terms of biomass.

Evaluating Nonindustrial Private Landowners For Forestry Assistance Programs: A Logistic Regression Approach, United States Department Of Agriculture, Forest Service

Forestry

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 …

Histological Differentiation Among Abiotic Causes Of Conifer Needle Necrosis, United States Department Of Agriculture, Forest Service

Forestry

Symptoms induced by phytotoxic gases within conifer needles can be differentiated histologically from those caused by other abiotic agents including winter drying, drought, and salt. However, it is not possible to differentiate among symptoms caused by hydrogen fluoride, sulfur dioxide, ethyl mercaptan, and hydrogen sulfide. Phytotoxic gases cause hypertrophy and hyperplasia of vascular parenchyma, endodermis collapse, and intense vascular staining. The other abiotic agents induce mesophyll collapse with little or no observable effects on vascular tissues. Histological analyses should be useful in diagnosis of air pollution-induced injury and damage in coniferous forests.

Production And Product Recovery For Complete Tree Utilization In The Northern Rockies, United States Department Of Agriculture, Forest Service

Forestry

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.

Winter Injury Of Sagebrush And Other Wildland Shrubs In The Western United States, United States Department Of Agriculture, Forest Service

Forestry

The objective of this paper is to briefly review winter injury of plants and shrubs in particular, document the observed winter injury of 1976-77, and correlate the occurrence with weather records.

Estimating The Rate And Amount Of Tree Loss From Mountain Pine Beetle Infestations, United States Department Of Agriculture, Forest Service

Forestry

Because of recurrent depredations by the mountain pine beetle in lodgepole pine, managers have less than a 50 percent chance of growing lodgepole pine to 16-inch diameters in most stands. This paper describes a Rate of Loss Model that estimates the amount of tree and volume loss per year and the longevity of the infestation, and shows how the model can be incorporated into forest planning. The model assumes optimum conditions for the life of an epidemic. However, actual field conditions can cause beetle populations to deviate from predictions causing a bit of overestimation, which is not considered serious in …