Alternatives to Clearcutting of Old Growth in Southeast Alaska

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PNW Pacific Northwest INSIDE Research Station Rapid Answers From History ...... 2 Food Webs and Habitat Quality ...... 3 Reviewing the Alternatives ...... 4 While We Were Waiting ...... 4 Lessons From the Process...... 5 FINDINGS issue nineteen / october 1999

“Science affects the way we think together.” Lewis Thomas ALTERNATIVES TO CLEARCUTTING OF OLD GROWTH IN SOUTHEAST ALASKA

IN SUMMARY

This issue of Science Findings examines the results of a study designed to provide a broad array of silvicultural options for land managers. Pacific Northwest Research Station scientist Mike McClellan is leading the study and has found that timber harvesting by using alternatives to clearcutting

Forests in southeast Alaska support a good population of wildlife. is viable in the current marketplace ➢ and technically feasible across a “The vigorous, the healthy, Station in Juneau, “but there is little docu- wide range of cutting intensity. mented experience with other silvicultural and the happy survive systems in southeast Alaska. Alternative Other findings have shown that and multiply.” systems hold the promise of sustained moderate, partial cutting encour- Charles Darwin, 1809-82 timber production with superior protection of other forest values, but this promise ages diverse understory vegetation, s Alaska and the destiny of its forests needs rigorous testing.” have come under increasing critical similar to vegetation found in Clearcutting is economically efficient, and in scrutiny from every quarter, local to A southeast Alaska’s temperate rain forests, it adjacent uncut old-growth stands. international, forest management options has been the harvest method of choice for other than clearcutting are being sought by The effectiveness of a wide range most of the 20th century. Furthermore, land managers. clearcutting is a highly effective terminator of alternatives to clearcutting will “The immediate problem we face is that of disease in young forests. As much as 30 much is known about the ecological effects, percent of timber volume in the region’s continue to be tested, developed, economics, and social impacts of clearcut- old-growth forests is defective, the trees and watched by scientists, mana- ting,” says McClellan, a research forest ecol- victims of heart-rot, with some mistletoe ogist with the Pacific Northwest Research causing growth reduction or death. gers, and the public. So go the chief arguments in support of continued clearcutting, and no doubt KEY FINDINGS management objectives will ensure its continued use as a silvicultural tool into the • Low or partial cutting has affected tree species composition of future stands. In future. But the talk about alternatives has most cases, low-intensity cutting will not cause stands to become dominated translated into action on the ground: in a by western hemlock and devoid of Sitka spruce. joint effort, the Pacific Northwest Research • Moderate, partial cutting seems to maintain diverse and abundant understory Station and the Alaska Region of the USDA vegetation, comparable to adjacent uncut old-growth stands. Understory plant Forest Service have established an interdis- diversity and abundance, however, does decline at higher levels of partial ciplinary study of ecosystem and social cutting. responses to alternative silvicultural systems. • Timber harvesting by using alternatives to clearcutting is viable in the current The study of alternatives to clearcutting marketplace and technically feasible across a wide range of cutting intensity. (ATC) in the old-growth forests of south- Where group selection is used, gaps should be greater than 100 feet in dia- east Alaska was set up in 1994. It took meter to avoid problems during tree falling and yarding. shape as a response to the 1992 directive • Harvest related damage is greater to residual trees where fewer are left. from the Chief of the Forest Service to Where 75 percent of the trees were left, generally less than 15 percent were reduce the amount of clearcutting and damaged; when only 25 percent of the trees remained, up to 40 percent were address concerns about wildlife and fish damaged to some extent. habitat as well as visual quality. McClellan is a team leader of the ATC study, whose first · Pretreatment surveys highlighted the role of disease as an important agent of two sets of treatments were completed small-scale disturbance in these forests.Wind-caused uprooting and breakage this summer. of trees were less important than commonly thought. The natural disturbance pattern in southeast Alaska is mostly small scale and rarely also suggests that the practice of “zoning” “The use of silvicultural systems other than includes fire, unlike other parts of the the forest for distinct and apparently even-age management with clearcutting Western United States. Windthrow, competitive uses, such as timber, tourism, could take advantage of this adaptation to disease, and landslides are the chief agents wildlife, and subsistence, may be overlook- small-scale disturbance to provide a of change. What the natural history of the ing a greater compatibility among these sustainable supply of timber—along with a area suggests is that it is well adapted to values than is commonly recognized. host of other important values,” says effects similar to those of partial cutting. It McClellan. RAPID ANSWERS FROM HISTORY s always, when a politically charged “While results from the experimental study issue gathers momentum and its will be defensible and reliable, they will not Purpose of Asupporters begin asking for scientific yield any quick answers,” says McClellan. PNW Science Findings backup, the timeframe shifts radically. The “The strategy of extending the experimen- To provide scientific information years needed to gather and analyze data tal study with retrospective and pretreat- to people who make and influence disappear in the smoke of demands for ment studies has gotten some answers decisions about managing land. answers. Researchers sought to address this onto the table in less than 2 years. These problem by designing the ATC study in two data will provide interim guidance to land PNW Science Findings is published parts: a short-term retrospective study, and managers by quantifying how forest ecosys- monthly by: a longer term, operational-scale experi- tems responded to both natural and Pacific Northwest Research Station mental study, including pretreatment studies human-caused disturbances in the past.” USDA Forest Service of selected harvest areas. P.O. Box 3890 The retrospective study has identified over Portland, Oregon 97208 Even before the experimental results 270 stands partially harvested from the (503) 808-2137 started coming in, the retrospective and early 1900s to the present, of which 22 pretreatment studies had produced a have been closely studied to determine the Sherri Richardson, Editor wealth of historical data that did not previ- effects of harvest intensity and pattern. srichardson/[email protected] ously exist, which are of interest in their own right.

Check out our web site at: http://www.fs.fed.us/pnw United States Forest Service Department of Agriculture

2 Results from this short-term portion of the study are helping to answer questions MANAGEMENT IMPLICATIONS about how well residual stands resist wind damage; how well conifers regenerate and • Low- to moderate-intensity partial cutting of old-growth hemlock-spruce grow, particularly Sitka spruce; the potential forests seem to be an effective means of maintaining many values, including for spread of dwarf mistletoe, a disease that wood production, wildlife and fish habitat, and visual quality. Systems that infects hemlock; and how well partial enhance the compatibility of these values reduce the need to “zone” the forest cutting maintains understory vegetation, for a narrow range of uses. especially winter forage for deer. • Existing forests offer lessons about the effects of disturbance on trees, stands, One of the concerns of the timber industry and landscapes—lessons that can shape our use of partial cutting and other about alternatives to clearcutting is that management options.“Ecologically informed” partial cutting can produce high- low-intensity cutting will cause stands to quality timber and retain the forest structure essential for wildlife and fish. become dominated by western hemlock and devoid of Sitka spruce. • The effectiveness of a wide range of alternatives to clearcutting will be tested by experimental studies.Application and further development of these methods “Our studies of historical partial cutting will require a mix of caution, creativity, and collaboration among scientists, show quite clearly that the current propor- managers, and the public. tions of Sitka spruce and western hemlock depend more on initial stand compositions than cutting intensity,” notes Bob Deal, Sitka black-tailed deer. One of the reasons stand better the causes of tree mortality. silviculturist at Juneau Forest Sciences for this healthy understory, Deal posits, is Specifically, they no longer assume wind- Laboratory (FSL), and lead investigator for that partial cutting stops the excessive throw to be a consistent primary cause. the retrospective part of the study.“In addi- growth of understory conifers that typically “Our preliminary results indicate that many tion, it appears to be the small- and occurs after clearcutting. Shrubs, herbs, and or most canopy level trees die standing,” medium-sized residual trees that dominate forbs are able to thrive in varied light condi- Hennon says. “Clearly, we need to learn current stands, not the new germinants. In tions and under less extreme competitive more about the mortality factors that lead other words, cutting intensity has little effect conditions. to trees dying standing if we hope to on the proportions of more- and less- Another key concern about partial cutting thoroughly understand the mechanisms of desired tree species in future stands. Our has focused on logging damage during small-scale disturbance.” He adds that the evidence indicates that partial cutting will harvest and excessive windthrow and dwarf study of tree mortality in these forests will not be converting stands to pure hemlock.” mistletoe spread after harvest. To grapple yield an interesting perspective on what Retrospective studies also have revealed with these issues, McClellan and Paul levels and types of tree death may be desir- that partial cutting seems to maintain Hennon, research pathologist at the Juneau able in managed forests. diverse and abundant understory vegeta- FSL, are trying to document natural levels tion, most important for winter forage for of wounding and decay and also to under-

FOOD WEBS AND HABITAT QUALITY eath and decay on a smaller scale, litter, other detritus, invertebrates, and affect the reproductive ecology of this of course, are also tightly integrated sunlight reaching the stream. It may thus understory bird. Wren populations were Dinto the ecosystem. One pretreat- cause shifts in headwater stream function higher, with increased nesting density and ment study investigated energy transport and productivity. more mates per territory, in forests that from forested headwaters to downstream provided such understory features as moss, Given that clearcutting in southeast Alaska aquatic habitats, seeking to clarify the downed wood, and intact streambanks. has been quite extensive in many water- dynamics of the forest-stream food web. sheds, it has had significant and lasting Wrens nesting in even-aged stands had The stream study showed that headwater impacts on the ecosystem, including on lower nest success, fewer mates, and larger habitats can be important source areas of small headwater streams, according to territories than birds living in partially invertebrates, both terrestrial and aquatic, Wipfli. The more reason, perhaps, to exam- harvested stands. In addition, the study and detritus.Thus the small streams draining ine harvesting alternatives that more closely showed that several measures of reproduc- forested uplands serve as energy conduits resemble natural disturbance patterns. tive fitness actually differed in habitats that that subsidize downstream food webs. were superficially similar. De Santo suggests Other habitat effects point in a similar According to Mark Wipfli, research aquatic that if this can be the case, then reproduc- direction. A pretreatment study of winter ecologist at Juneau FSL, past, existing, and tive traits could differ even more in habitats wrens by Station research ecologist Toni De proposed timber harvesting that alters that differ structurally from mature conifer- Santo and Mary Willson, a former research riparian forest canopies above these high- ous forest, such as clearcuts. ecologist at Juneau FSL, suggests that alter- gradient streams will affect levels of leaf ing the understory and forest structure will

3 REVIEWING THE ALTERNATIVES hile retrospective studies were of total trees in small gaps with no other The objectives of this part of the study are underway, the ATC team was harvest; harvest 25 percent of total trees, to investigate effects of these treatments W structurally designing the long- leaving small unharvested groups and on several resources, including damage to term experimental portion of the study: removing one-third of the remaining trees the residual trees, amount of soil disturb- nine silvicultural systems ranging from even- evenly spaced. ance, effects on soil stability, ground water, age management with clearcutting to stream sedimentation, wildlife, birds, The particular ATC treatments chosen uneven-age systems using single-tree or economics of harvesting, spread of insects emulate stand structures that occur in group selection. Three blocks have been and diseases, and the public’s perception of native forests in southeast Alaska whose located across the Tongass National the different harvest methods, according to patterns result from various disturbance Forest–at Hanus Bay, Portage Bay, and McClellan. events, ranging from the death of a single Lancaster Cove, a block being one replicate tree from fungal attack to large-scale blow- “Of great concern is the damage to the of the nine systems being studied. down during violent windstorms, McClellan residual trees because the trees in south- The treatments are no-harvest control; says. east Alaska are thin barked and easily clearcut; leave 5 percent of trees evenly damaged by logging activities.These residual “These nine systems do not represent the spaced; leave 25 percent evenly spaced; trees are the ones we are counting on to only systems that could be considered for leave 75 percent evenly spaced; leave provide specific conditions or structure in use in southeast Alaska,” he points out. 25 percent in clumps with clearcut the future. If they get damaged or diseased, “Rather, they will create a broad range between; harvest all trees in small groups of they may not live as long as we hoped, of conditions that could occur after harvest half to 2 acres, leaving one third of remain- either as habitat, or as future crop trees.” or any other disturbance event.” ing trees evenly spaced; harvest 25 percent

WHILE WE WERE WAITING he nature of the experimental operational and technical difficulties, and portion of the study means that how accurately prescriptions could be T preliminary results will not become implemented. More of these data are due definitively available until several years after in from Portage Bay summer 1999, and harvest and will continue being developed some early posttreatment data on wildlife for many years into the future. Some data, are being analyzed. however, are starting to point to future “Most importantly, we have established that trends. For example, preliminary ground- ATC systems are viable in the current water studies by Bob Erhardt, research timber marketplace, and that the treat- hydrologist with the Juneau FSL, have ments are feasible from technical and safety suggested that rainwater moves through standpoints,” McClellan says. “These were harvested systems at the same rapid rate key concerns from the timber industry as is typical of uncut areas, but that the going in, particularly with respect to response is likely to be “flashier,” with harvesting in some treatments where higher and more frequent peaks on the expensive helicopter logging was the only hydrographs. choice, such as the 25-percent single-tree Prior research has established that “natural” selection treatments.” Loggers cutting a small group selection ➢ landslides in uncut areas are larger, because treatment of old growth at Hanus Bay in Ironically, because of the peculiarities of southeast Alaska. they move larger masses of material, but southeast Alaska’s timber industry, partial about 5 to 7 years after cutting in south- cutting may offer some real advantages to east Alaska, landslides are likely to be more the bottom line that also play well for “The good news is that defective, poor- frequent, although smaller. This change is wildlife. In a region with such a high level of quality trees are best left for wildlife habi- most likely caused by altered drainage defect, much of the harvest used to end up tat. Some foresters are concerned that the patterns, less coarse material available to at the pulp mill. But the last two pulp mills descendants of these poor-quality trees will transport, and decreased soil stability as in the region have closed in recent years, dominate future stands and lower quality, root systems decay after cutting. Answers and the cost of transport from this isolated but Bob Deal’s retrospective work showed on specific effects from different levels of area has made harvesting of low-quality, that future stand growth will be dominated partial cutting are expected from the ATC defective timber highly unattractive, by the advanced regeneration—small trees research. McClellan explains. An economically viable that are already growing in the understory But the first harvest, at Hanus Bay, has timber industry may have to focus on high- prior to partial cutting.” already offered crucial lessons on the levels quality products to survive. of damage from the different treatments,

4 LESSONS FROM THE PROCESS uch learning has occurred along the way, outside of the actual M data collection and analysis, McClellan says. First, he encountered the inherent conflict between experiment and reality. For credibility among the scientific community, treatments must be randomly assigned. But the result can mean assigning certain treatments that may be unsuited to a particular area. For example, some treatments leaving exposed clumps of trees could be placed in areas known to be vulnerable to windthrow, or a clearcut could be placed along a ferry route, with predictable results. “We were caught in the middle between the operational and experimental aspects of the study,” McClellan notes ruefully,“torn A unit at Hanus Bay after treatment (25 percent of the trees remain). between the rules for doing science and ➢ the practical concerns that managers must face every day.” There has been steady interaction with tives, environmentalists, and the public. As The very nature of the dialogue, however, interested parties other than the Forest the results come in and are presented has meant that far broader mutual under- Service, including meetings with private publicly, there is strong regional support for standing of the scientific and management timber owners, timber consultants, state the research, McClellan says. processes now exists, he says. “These and Native American forestry representa- discussions take a lot of time and energy, but the study benefited from mutual learning about experiment and treatment design, FOR FURTHER READING what was impractical, and things like writing Deal, Robert L. 1999. The effects of partial cutting on stand structure and growth, and tree-marking guidelines. In fact, the latter forest plant communities of western hemlock-Sitka spruce stands in southeast Alaska. was an especially revealing learning experi- Ph.D. dissertation; Oregon State University. ence, focusing around the question, What’s valuable and to whom?” De Santo,Toni L.;Willson, Mary F. [In press]. Predation of artificial nests and predator abundance in natural and artificial coniferous forest edges in southeast Alaska. Journal of Field Several social and economic studies are Ornithology. planned or underway, guided by Bob Schroeder, research social scientist at the De Santo,Toni L. [and others]. [In prep]. Reproductive success of winter wrens (Troglodytes Juneau FSL. These include structured inter- troglodytes) in north-temperate coniferous forests. views looking at the expectations and social Hennon, Paul; McClellan, Michael. 1999. Heart rot and other causes of small-scale disturb- acceptance of the various treatments, and a ance in the temperate rain forest of southeast Alaska. In:Trummer, L., comp. Proceedings of regionwide survey that will cover ATC the 46th Western international forest disease work conference; 1998; Reno, NV.Anchorage, acceptability issues.These will be addressed AK: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service: 97-105. to such groups as timber fallers, owners, tour boat operators, and environmentalists. Wipfli, Mark S.; Gregovich, D. [In press]. Headwaters subsidize downstream food webs with The National Forest System also is doing prey and detritus. Freshwater Biology. cost and production studies.

WRITER’S PROFILE Sally Duncan is a science communications planner and writer specializing in forest resource issues. She lives in Corvallis, Oregon.

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SCIENTIST PROFILE MICHAEL H. MCCLELLAN is a research LEAD SCIENTISTS(all with Juneau FSL) ecologist and team leader for the Michael McClellan, ATC study co-coordinator, forest ecologist Silviculture of Southeast Alaska Research Robert Deal, forester Team, Resource Management and Toni De Santo, ecologist Productivity Research Program, Pacific Paul Hennon, plant pathologist Northwest Research Station. He received Robert Schroeder, social scientist his B.S. in biology from the University of Mark Wipfli, aquatic ecologist Oregon, and his M.S. and Ph.D. in forest Richard Woodsmith, hydrologist ecology from Oregon State University. He has studied soils, silviculture, and forest ecology in southeast COLLABORATORS Alaska since 1985. Before that, he worked with the National Richard Zaborske, ATC study co-coordinator, regional silviculturist, Forest System for 10 years in Oregon. USDA Forest Service Alaska Region McCLELLAN can be reached at: John Tappeiner III, Oregon State University Forestry Sciences Laboratory Kermit Cromack, Oregon State University 2770 Sherwood Lane, Suite 2A William Sise, Humboldt State University Juneau, Alaska 99801-8545 James Burchfield, University of Montana Phone: (907) 586-8811 ext. 246 E-mail: mcclellan/[email protected]

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