United States Department The Bitterroot Ecosystem of Agriculture Forest Service Management Research Project: Rocky Mountain Research Station What We Have Learned General Technical Report RMRS-GTR-17 September 2000 Symposium Proceedings Missoula, Montana May 18-20, 1999 Abstract Smith, Helen Y., ed. 2000. The Bitterroot Ecosystem Management Research Project: What we have learned: symposium proceedings; 1999 May 18-20; Missoula, MT. Gen. Tech. Rep. RMRS-GTR-17. Ogden, UT: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. 154 p. The varied topics presented in these symposium proceedings represent the diverse nature of the Bitterroot Ecosystem Management Research Project (BEMRP). Separated into six sections, the papers cover the different themes researched by BEMRP collaborators as well as brief overviews of five other ecosystem management projects. The sections are: Understanding the Ecosystem, Its Parts and Processes; Understanding the People and Their Relationship to the Ecosystem; Implemen- tation for Specific Landscape Areas; Overviews of Other Ecosystem Management Research Projects in the West; Fieldtrip Abstracts; and Poster Session Abstracts. The papers presented here are from a symposium held in order to summarize research conducted under the first five-year charter for BEMRP. The symposium was held 1999 May 18-20 in Missoula, Montana for interested public, land managers, and researchers. Keywords: ecosystem management, forest succession, social sciences, landscape-scale modeling Editor Helen Y. Smith is an Ecologist with the Fire Effects Research Work Unit at the Rocky Mountain Research Station, Missoula Fire Sciences Laboratory in Missoula, Montana. She received a B.S. degree in wildlife biology and an M.S. degree in resource conservation, both from the School of Forestry at The University of Montana. Her research interests include ecological restoration, and relationships between fire and invasive plant species. Acknowledgments I would like to express my gratitude to Janie Canton-Thompson for reading through the document and finding several editorial errors that I had overlooked. You may order additional copies of this publication by sending your mailing information in label form through one of the following media. Please specify the publication title and number. Telephone (970) 498-1392 FAX (970) 498-1396 E-mail [email protected] Web site http://www.fs.fed.us/rm Mailing Address Publications Distribution Rocky Mountain Research Station 240 West Prospect Road Fort Collins, CO 80526 The Bitterroot Ecosystem Management Research Project: What We Have Learned Symposium Proceedings Missoula, Montana May 18-20, 1999 Editor Helen Y. Smith Table of Conversions Parameter Multiply this unit By this factor To obtain this unit Length feet (ft) 0.305 meters (m) meters (m) 3.281 feet (ft) inches (in) 2.54 centimeters (cm) centimeters (cm) 0.394 inches (in) miles (mi) 1.609 kilometers (km) kilometers (km) 0.622 miles (mi) Area acres (ac) 0.405 hectares (ha) hectares (ha) 2.471 acres (ac) square kilometers (km2)0.386 square mile (mi2) square mile (mi2)2.590 square kilometers (km2) Basal area square feet per acre 0.222 square meters per hectare (ft2/ac) (m2/ha) square meters per hectare 4.496 square feet per acre (m2/ha) (ft2/ac) Flow cubic feet per second 0.028 cubic meters per second (ft3/s) (m3/s) cubic meters per second 35.32 cubic feet per second (m3/s) (ft3/s) Application rate pints per acre (pt/ac) 1.164 liters per hectare (l/ha) liters per hectare (l/ha) 0.859 pints per acre (pt/ac) Pesticide Precautionary Statement This publication reports research involving pesticides. It does not contain recommendations for their use, nor does it imply that the uses discussed here have been registered. All uses of pesticides must be registered by appropriate State and/or Federal agencies before they can be recommended. CAUTION: Pesticides can be injurious to humans, domestic animals, desirable plants, and fish or other wildlife—if they are not handled or applied properly. Use all pesticides selectively and carefully. Follow recommended practices for the disposal of surplus pesticides and pesticide containers. CAUTION: PESTICIDES The use of trade or firm names in this publication is for reader information and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Department of Agriculture of any product or service. The USDA Forest Service is not responsible for statements and opinions advanced in this publication. Authors are responsible for the content and quality of their papers. ii Contents Page 1. Introduction ............................................................................................................................................... 1 Clinton E. Carlson The Bitterroot Ecosystem Management Research Project: Leslie Weldon How Did It Happen? ................................................................................... 3 Perry Brown Keynote Address: Sustaining People and Ecosystems in the 21st Century ............................................................................................... 6 2. Understanding the Ecosystem: Its Parts and Processes...................................................................... 9 Michael G. Hartwell Comparing Historic and Modern Forests on the Bitterroot Front ................... 11 Paul Alaback Stephen F. Arno Stephen F. Arno Ecosystem-Based Management at Lower Elevations ................................... 17 Carl E. Fiedler Silvicultural Treatments ................................................................................. 19 Michael G. Harrington Fire Applications in Ecosystem Management................................................ 21 Thomas H. DeLuca Soils and Nutrient Considerations ................................................................. 23 Helen Y. Smith Wildlife Habitat Considerations ...................................................................... 26 Colin C. Hardy Associated Riparian Communities................................................................. 28 Robert E. Keane Michael G. Harrington Peter Rice Restoration of Native Plant Communities Infested by Invasive Weeds—Sawmill Creek Research Natural Area........................ 29 Colin C. Hardy Ecosystem-Based Management in the Lodgepole Pine Zone....................... 31 Robert E. Keane Catherine A. Stewart Robert E. Keane Ecosystem-Based Management in the Whitebark Pine Zone ....................... 36 Stephen F. Arno Catherine A. Stewart Len Ruggiero Presence/Absence as a Metric for Monitoring Vertebrate Populations ......... 41 Dean Pearson Dean E. Pearson Small Mammals of the Bitterroot National Forest: Ecological Significance and Guidelines for Management.......................................... 45 Sallie J. Hejl The Effect of Time Period on Point Count Methodology for Thomas G. Thompson Monitoring Breeding Birds ........................................................................ 48 Kerry R. Foresman Overview of Forest Carnivore Survey Efforts in the Bitterroot Mountains ..... 53 3. Understanding the People and Their Relationship to the Ecosystem ............................................... 57 Jane Kapler Smith Agencies Within Communities, Communities Within Ecosystems ................ 59 Kerry McMenus iii Stephen F. McCool Making “Stuff” Happen Through Public Participation and Consensus Building ................................................................................. 67 Linda R. Thomas Behavioral and Cognitive Evaluation of FireWorks Education Trunk ............ 71 James A. Walsh Jane Kapler Smith Charles E. Keegan, III Synergy Between Ecological Needs and Economic Aspects of Carl E. Fiedler Ecosystem Restoration ............................................................................ 74 Stephen F. McCool Social Science and the Bitterroot National Forest: A Synthesis .................... 77 James Burchfield Wayne Freimund 4. Implementation for Specific Landscape Areas .................................................................................... 81 J. G. Jones Stevensville West Central Study ................................................................... 83 J. D. Chew N. K. Christianson D. J. Silvieus C. A. Stewart Robert D. Pfister Developing an Ecosystem Diversity Framework for Landscape Michael D. Sweet Assessment .............................................................................................. 91 Hans R. Zuuring Sequential Use of Simulation and Optimization in Analysis Jimmie D. Chew and Planning ............................................................................................ 97 J. Greg Jones 5. Overviews of Other Ecosystem Management Research Projects in the West................................ 105 Gerald J. Gottfried Achieving Ecosystem Management in the Borderlands of the Carleton B. Edminster Southwestern United States Through Coordinated Research/ Management Partnerships ..................................................................... 107 Jeanne C. Chambers Great Basin Research and Management Project: Restoring and Maintaining Riparian Ecosystem Integrity .............................................. 110 Deborah M. Finch Research of the Rio Grande Ecosystem Management Program ................ 114 Brian Kent The Colorado Front Range Ecosystem Management Research Wayne D. Shepperd Project: Accomplishments to Date ......................................................... 119 Deborah J. Shields Lynn Starr Sustaining the Land, People, and Economy of the Blue Mountains: James McIver The