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A controlled burn in south-central Oregon was part of a thinning project designed to decrease stress on larger trees and reduce the chance of catastrophic wildfire
© The Nature Conservancy / Craig Bienz |
The Northwest’s ponderosa pine forests are unhealthy: they are suffering unnaturally severe wildfires, insect outbreaks, reduced biodiversity and wildlife habitat and lowered aesthetic and recreational values. They are stressed and vulnerable to drought, leading to higher mortality in old-growth trees than has occurred in the past.
At the root of many of these problems is a history of decades of fire exclusion, which has led to overcrowding and heavy fuel loads. The intense fires that burn as a result pose threats to communities and to the forest themselves. Millions of acres require treatment so that they can burn in a way that is safer for communities and restorative to the forests. The Conservancy has calculated that about 160,000 acres need to be treated annually in order to reach all the area that requires it over the next 25 years; to do this, the scale of annual treatments will have to triple.
Landscape-scale planning provides a framework for evaluating the problem at its full scale and for prioritizing treatments to protect values that are at greatest risk. The strategic placement of treatments can also protect untreated acres and increase the available options in the management of naturally occurring fires. Such landscape-level plans require the joint efforts of diverse stakeholders. Through the Northwest FLN, communities, scientists and agencies develop collaborative desired outcomes and management plans for ponderosa pine ecosystems across a broad swath of the northwestern United States.
Vision
The Northwest FLN consists of landscapes that share the overarching goal of
accelerating forest restoration through collaborative landscape visioning and management.
Demonstration Landscapes
Resources
- Central Oregon Restoration Principles (January 2009; 52 kb, .doc)
- Upper Deschutes Basin Fire Learning Network Letter of Agreement (January 2009 DRAFT; 44 kb, .doc)
- "How climate change impacts ponderosa pine management at Sycan Marsh, Oregon" (WebEx presentation by Craig Bienz, 9 October 2008; 8,314 kb, .wrf)
- "A spirited collaborative effort" (article in Community Vitality, fall 2008; 179 kb, .pdf)
- Tieton (Tapash) Forest Collaborative MOU between the US Forest Service, Washington DNR, Washington DFW and the Conservancy (126 kb, .doc)
- Upper Deschutes Basin FLN FAQs (43 kb, .pdf)
- Upper Deschutes Basin FLN informational flyer (232 kb, .pdf)
Leader: Diane Vosick
Fall Workshop / Bend, OR / 19-20 November 2008
This workshop will focus on:
(1) forest restoration treatment design and review;
(2) products that are needed from ecoregional and landscape assessments that can inform action on the ground; and
(3) the integration of conservation goals and other stakeholder values and attributes to inform the prioritization and strategic placement of management.
Downloads
Stewardship Contracting Workshop / Bend, OR / 18 June 2008
Participants in this meeting learned:
(1) how stewardship contracting can be used to meet local ecologic, economic and community goals;
(2) the authorities, guidelines, opportunities and limitations involved;
(3) how other communities have used stewardship to meet multiple goals; and
(4) the initial steps needed to foster successful stewardship.
Downloads
Successful Collaboratives Workshop / Bend, OR / 13-15 November 2007
The objectives of this meeting were to:
(1) Learn about collaborative operating guidelines, and examples of successful collaborations that include federal partners and land management planning.
(2) Develop a list of successful strategies collaboratives have used to develop key operating principles.
(3) Determine the appropriate scale for principles of restoration and whether statewide principles should be pursued.
(4) Assess the effectiveness of new techniques in collaborative planning.
Downloads
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