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Draft Northeastern California Plateaus Bioregion Science Synthesis

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Draft Northeastern California Plateaus Bioregion Science Synthesis Public Review Draft 15 Dec 2018. “This information is distributed solely for the purpose of garnering public feedback under applicable information quality guidelines. It does not represent and should not be construed to represent any agency determination or policy.” Northeastern California Plateaus Bioregion Science Synthesis to Support Forest Plan Development by the Lassen National Forest and the Modoc National Forest Washington, DC: USDA Forest Service. General Technical Report WO-XXX. 1 1 Public Review Draft 15 Dec 2018. “This information is distributed solely for the purpose of garnering public feedback under applicable information quality guidelines. It does not represent and should not be construed to represent any agency determination or policy.” 2 Authors 3 R. Kasten Dumroese is a research plant physiologist, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, 4 Rocky Mountain Research Station and director, Western Center for Native Plant Conservation and 5 Restoration Science, Moscow, Idaho; David Flores is a research social scientist, Forest Service, Rocky 6 Mountain Research Station, Fort Collins, Colorado; Emily R. Haire is a PhD candidate, Department of 7 Sociology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado; Bryce B. Hanberry is a research ecologist, 8 Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Rapid City, South Dakota; W. Keith Moser is a 9 research forester, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Flagstaff, Arizona; Pamela E. 10 Padgett is a research plant physiologist, Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Research Station, Riverside, 11 California; Gregory Russell is a PhD candidate, Department of Journalism and Media Communications, 12 Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado; Leah Stone is a researcher, Department of Journalism 13 and Media Communications, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado; Steven D. Warren is a 14 disturbance ecologist, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Provo, Utah; and Jessica W. 15 Wright is a research geneticist, Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Research Station, Davis, California. 16 Acknowledgements 17 We thank the numerous citizens and employees of the U.S. Forest Service who participated in the public 18 workshop that served to outline this synthesis, and provided input into this document. We gratefully 19 acknowledge technical peer-reviews by Stephen C. Bunting, University of Idaho, professor emeritus; 20 Susan Charnley, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station; Dawn M. Davis, U.S. Fish & Wildlife 21 Service; Peter J. Figura, California Department of Fish and Wildlife; Russell T. Graham, Forest Service, 22 Rocky Mountain Research Station; Kathleen E. Halvorsen, Michigan Technological University; Constance 23 I. Millar, Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Research Station; David R. Patton, Northern Arizona 24 University, professor emeritus; Kerry P. Reese, University of Idaho, professor emeritus; Matt C. Reeves, 25 Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station; Mary M. Rowland, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest 26 Research Station. We thank the staffs of the Lassen and Modoc National Forests for their input during 27 the process, and Dana Roth, Southwest Region, for policy review. We also thank the many Forest Service 28 employees and private citizens for sharing photographs, and Jim Marin Graphics for visualizations. 29 Abstract 30 The Northeastern California Plateaus Bioregion Science Synthesis reviewed literature relevant 31 to the ecology and management of the Great Basin ecosystems of the Lassen and Modoc 32 National Forests. This work identified factors that made this portion of these national forests 33 unique. Among these factors are reduced water availability – expected to become more 34 challenging as levels and patterns of precipitation and temperature change under climate 35 variability – and the high proportion of rangeland and open woodland and the concomitant 36 influence of livestock and wild animal population grazing on the vegetation community. Past 37 fire suppression has resulted in conifer encroachment of rangelands and the densification of 38 woodlands, impacting wildlife communities that rely on woodlands and other low-overstory- 39 density habitats. Sagebrush habitat, in particular, is threatened by fragmentation and 40 conversion. Social-economic changes in the region include a change in the economic base from 41 extraction to consumption of amenity values, and the resulting fragmentation of 2 Public Review Draft 15 Dec 2018. “This information is distributed solely for the purpose of garnering public feedback under applicable information quality guidelines. It does not represent and should not be construed to represent any agency determination or policy.” 42 landownership. The local population has declined, but increased pressure from recreationists 43 from nearby expanding urban areas is forcing land managers to consider increasingly complex 44 situations integrating social, ecological, and economic factors. Indigenous peoples are assuming 45 a greater role in the management of their lands. Finally, disturbance patterns, such as non- 46 historical fire levels, novel combinations of climate patterns, and the pervasive pressure of 47 nonnative invasive species present additional managerial challenges. Managers face future 48 ecosystems that are likely to differ from anything that has gone before. This synthesis is 49 intended to serve as a science-based foundation that supports management of Northeastern 50 California forests, woodlands, and rangelands. 51 Executive Summary 52 The Northeastern California Plateaus Bioregion Science Synthesis is organized into six sections (each 53 with one or more chapters) corresponding to five major topic areas identified by the staffs of the Lassen 54 National Forest and Modoc National Forest (hereafter the Lassen and Modoc) and refined through a 55 facilitated public workshop held in Susanville, California, in December 2016. The overall objective of this 56 synthesis is to address the unique habitats of the Lassen and Modoc not addressed, or fully addressed, 57 by other science syntheses that have relevance to the Lassen and the Modoc, and, together with those 58 other syntheses, provide a science-based foundation for preparation of revised, independent forest 59 plans for these two forests. 60 Section One: Introduction 61 Chapter 1.1, The Northeastern California Plateaus Bioregion Science Synthesis: Background, Rationale, 62 and Scope briefly discusses the forest plan process and why a science synthesis is the first step. This 63 chapter also describes two other science syntheses that are relavent to the Lassen and Modoc and 64 details the coverage afforded by all three science syntheses. 65 • In addition to this Northeast California Plateaus Bioregion Science Synthesis, the Science 66 Synthesis to Support Socioecological Resilience in the Sierra Nevada and Southern Cascade 67 Range and the Synthesis of Science to Inform Land Management within the Northwest Forest 68 Plan Area provide a science-based foundation for developing forest plans for the Lassen and 69 Modoc. 70 • Forest staffs and the public agreed that this synthesis should focus on dry-site ponderosa pine 71 (Pinus ponderosa), western juniper (Juniperus occidentalis), and sagebrush (Artemisia species) 72 ecosystems to augment science synthesized in the other two syntheses. 73 Section Two: Forestland 74 Chapter 2.1, Understanding and Managing the Dry, Conifer Forests of Northeastern California is devoted 75 to understanding and managing the dry, conifer forests of the Lassen and Modoc. This chapter begins 76 with a broad discussion about the potential impacts of drought on western forestlands, and then 77 focuses in more depth on different forest management tenets. The chapter discusses ponderosa and 78 Jeffrey (Pinus jeffreyi) pine ecology, history, and how those forests can benefit from silviculture, and 79 concludes with discussion about the ecology and management of juniper-dominated forestlands. 3 Public Review Draft 15 Dec 2018. “This information is distributed solely for the purpose of garnering public feedback under applicable information quality guidelines. It does not represent and should not be construed to represent any agency determination or policy.” 80 • Water supply, or the lack of it, is the major driver in defining ecosystems in the Interior West 81 and, specifically, northeastern California. 82 • Western juniper, the only Juniperus species in northeastern California, displays many 83 characteristics of other juniper species in the Great Basin and research on these species is 84 applicable to this synthesis. 85 • Restoration guided by pre-European settlement structure and composition can create forests 86 better able to withstand fluctuations in climate. 87 • There may be novel combinations of climate and past management history combinations, but 88 historical evidence can still guide managers as they seek to manage such sites. 89 Section Three: Rangeland 90 Chapter 3.1, Perceptions and History of Rangeland describes how rangeland management has been 91 perceived in the Western United States. 92 • Government policy promoted grazing on rangeland throughout the West. 93 • Grazing has been an important factor in the historical economic and social development of the 94 Interior West and the Lassen and Modoc in particular. 95 Chapter 3.2 Rangeland in Northeastern California focuses on the interactions of climate, grazing, and 96 carbon storage on rangelands; the response of
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