United States Departmentof Agriculture BLUEMOUNTAINS Fore6l Service Pacific FORESTHEALTH REPORT Norlhwest Region Malheur Umatillaand the Wallowa-Whitman National Forests April 1991 "NewPerspectives in ForestHealth,, (pr"i'\) ,I tl \l qg*e ,.f ':'a:'f-;":1-/'ta:' K : $,$[ dlff. \ ir+ l]] k#s*lr i- ,',,, warulf1l1oou(n U f' ltt I f ,,,*-il J*effif*= ,'f'\ rr:'u't(,t'*'#ffi I't!iI I \' WASHINGTON ffi ualheurNF t UmatillaNF OREGON ffiWullowa-WhitmanNF Malheur,Umatilla and Wallowa-Whitman NationalForestsin the Blue Mountains of N.E.Oregonand S.E. Washington BLUEMOUNTAINS FOREST HEALTH REPORT "New PerspectivesIn ForestHealth" April 1991 Project Team WilliamR. Gast,Jr., ProjectLeader Dr. DonaldW. Scott, ForestEntomologist Craig Schmitt,Forest Pathologist DavidClemens, Silviculturist StevenHowes, Watershed Specialist Dr. CharlesG. Johnson,Jr., Ecologist RobertMason, Wildlife Biologist FrancisMohr, Fire and FuelsSpecialist RobertA. Clapp,Jr., Editor ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The identificationof the need to address ForestHealth in the Blue Mountainsthrough an analysisof the current situation,and developmentof recommendationsto restore and maintain Forest Health, was the inception of the RegionalForester of the PacificNorthwest Region, John F. Butruille.Also, providingher continuingguidance and support throughoutthe Project,Mary Jo Lavin,former Deputy RegionalForester for Stateand PrivateForestry (currently, Assistant Director for Fire Planning,USFS, NationalHeadquarters) inspired and encouragedthe Team,and provideda'sounding board'for issues and ideas.We appreciatethe support and the high priorityboth these people placed on the Heahh of the National Forests in the Blue Mountains. In addition, nurQerousRegional Office Directorsand their staffs provided valuable information,in- sights,suggestions, and helpfulreviews of an earlierdraft olthis document.Theirwilling participation, close communication,and support and encouragementof the Project is appreciatedand acknowl- edged. We ertend our thanksto our many colleagueswith the PacificNorthwest Research Station and the Blue MountainsNatural Resources Institute who sharecommon concernswith us regardingForest Health.Their support for the Project, and helplul reviews and suggestions for improving the final documentare kindly acknowledged. We especiallywish to thankDr. Rose-Marie Muzika, Forestry and RangeSciences Laboratory (PNW Research Station), La Grande,Oregon, for her professionalreview and summarizationof the scientificliterature in support of severalof the Chapters of this Report;to Dr.Jack Ward Thomas, we aregratefulfor his initial guidance and councilas the Projectwas initiated; to Dr.Thomas Quigley, we appreciatehis supportand promiseof continuedcooperation; and to Dr. J. MichaelGeist, our thanksfor assistancein preparingthe Chapteron WatershedHealth. Our specialthanksgo to Mark Boche,Forest Supervisor of the MalheurNational Forest, Jeff Black- wood,Forest Supervisor of the UmatillaNational Forest, and RobertRichmond, Forest Supervisor of the Wallowa-WhitmanNational Forest for their concern about Forest Health in the BlueMountains and their unitedand full supportfor the Project. We would like to thank Alan Guttridge,North Fork of John Day RangerDistrict, Umatilla National Forest,and Bill McArthurand Dave Powell,Malheur National Forest headquarters, for servingas ForestHealth Coordinators and Forestcontacts with the Project.They were instrumentalin facilitating the informationexchange between the Team and the Ranger Districtsand Forests, especially in regard to the Forest Health Questionnaire,and in reviewsof the early draft of the Report, Numerousindividuals have providedhelp to the Team in many differentways. We would like to recognizecertain of them for their contributions.We thank TimothyBliss for helpingto preparethe Chapteron WatershedHealth; Cathy Chocholakfor many hours of enteringthe data lrom 15 very largequestionnaires into the database;Norm Cimonfor designingthe databaseand queries,and for providing a summary of ways to analyze data and move data summaries between various spreadsheet,database, wordprocessing, and presentationgraphics programs; Mary EllenDaugh- erty who coordinatedtravel lor the Team and cheerfullyrevised travel schedulesand arrangements when plans changed at the last minute;Bov Eav for providinginformation and a summaryon the developmentand use of pest modelswith the PROGNOSISGrowth and YieldModel; Vicky Erickson for her thoughtful review of the early draft and for providing a summary on the use of acephate implantsin tree improvementprograms in the Blue Mountains;John Gaub for duplicatingand assemblingthe draft and finalcopies of the Report;Don Goheenfor providinga shon perspective on insects and diseasesin relationto unevenagemanagement; Robert Harvey,Jr., for preparing a short perspectiveon diseasesin developedrecreation sites; Patricia Hinton for providingexcellent artworkand cover design, and for her expertiseand help in graphics layout; Kevin Hosmanfor computer-generationof the graphs that appear in the Report; Jan Abeita for his help in map generation;Anne Kramerfor producing the colored maps contained in the Report using the Geo- graphicInformation System (GlS);Jay Millsfor help in preparingthe Questionnairedatabase, and making queries to the database; Dale Pekar for help in preparing a shon perspectiveon potential economic and social impacts; Garry Peters who so. expertly piloted the Team safely around the Regionduring the Project;Robin Rosefor preparinga short perspectiveon ForestHealth and visual resource management; Susan Skalski for expert meetings coordination and facilitation,and for putting up with the Team for a week; Paul Smith for providingexpert writing and editing of the initial draft of the Report;Zoe Anne Sprietfor managingthe many phone callsto the Team regardingForest Health, and for efficientlymaintaining files of meeting notes, correspondence,appointment sched- ules, and the many other tasks that crossed her desk; and to Marc Wiitalafor consultationregarding economic aspects of Forest Health and lor help in preparing a short perspective on potential economicand social impacts. We particularlywish to thank Kathy Hottleand Paula McBroom,for sharingtheir knowledgeand expertiseon OfficePublisher with the Team.They spent many hours,including some eveningsand weekends,wordprocessing of drafts and the final Report. Contactswith numerousState Agencies,government leaders, industry groups, and outside interest groups, representinga broad spectrum of viewpoints,were informallymaintained throughout the Project.We appreciatetheir contacts,interest, ideas, and suggestionsto the Team regardingForest Health. We regret that we are unable to personallyacknowledge many other who have made contributions small and large, largelybehind the scenes,to this effort.However, we hope they may be assured of our gratitude and recognitionof their efforts in helping to bring this Projectto completion. Finally,we wishto thankour friendsand familiesfor theirpatience, perseverance, and understanding during the Project. TABLE OF CONTENTS INTROOUCTION PAGE CHAPTERI . FORESTHEALTH ISSUES lssue 1 - Planning t-1 lssue 2 - Public Involvement l-'l lssue3 - ResourceManagement l-2 lssue 4 - Pest Preventionand Suppression t-3 lssue5 - EnvironmentalAnalysis l-3 lssue 6 - Pesticides t-3 lssue 7 - Pest SuppressionTechnology l-4 lssue 8 - Forest Health Monitoring l-4 lssue9 - Coordination l-4 lssue 10 - The Role of Fire l-5 lssue 11 - Biodiversity l-5 lssue 12 - Long-termSite Productivity t-6 CHAPTERII . FORESTPESTS IMPORTANTFOREST INSECTS IN THE BLUEMOUNTAINS il-1 Introductlon il-1 GeneralDiscussion of Forest lnsects il-3 Western Spruce Budworm il-B Hosts and Community lt-B Biology il-8 History il-9 Stand Conditions ll-10 Occurrence ll-12 Suppression ll-14 Effects It-15 Hazard Rating ll-1 6 Models il-16 Management ll-17 LiteratureCited Douglas-firTussock Moth il-1I Hosts and Community il-.t9 Biology ll-19 History |-20 Stand Conditions ll-23 Occurrence ll-24 Suppression ll-24 Effects ll-26 Hazard Rating il-28 Models |-28 Management ll-29 LiteratureCited Douglas-firBeetle ll-3'l Hosts and Community il-31 Chapter ll (contlnued) Page Biology il-31 History il-32 Stand Conditions ll-34 Occurrence ll-36 Suppression ll-36 Effeas il-38 Hazard Rating ll-39 Models il-39 Management il-39 LiteratureCited Mountaln Plne Beetle lt-42 Hosts and Community ll-42 Biology ll-42 History ll-43 Stand Conditions ll-46 Occurrence ll-46 Suppression ll-47 Effects il-s0 Hazard Rating il-s1 Models il-s2 Management ll-52 LiteratureCited Spruce Beetle tt-55 Hosts and Community il-ss Biology ll-55 History ll-57 Stand Conditions ll-59 Occurrence ll-60 Suppression il-61 Effects il-63 Hazard Rating ll-6s Models il-66 Management ll-66 LiteratureCited Flr Engraver il-68 Hostsand Community ll-68 Biology lt-68 History ll-70 Stand Conditions ll-72 Occurrence il-73 Suppression tt-75 Effects il-76 Hazard Rating u-77 Models ll-78 Management ll-79 LiteratureCited Chapter ll (contlnued) Page Western Plne Beetle il-80 Hosts and Community il-80 Biology ll-80 History il-82 Stand Conditions il-84 Occurrence ll-85 Suppression il-85 Effects ll-88 Hazard Rating il-88 Models ll-89 Management il-89 LiteratureCited Pine Engraver ll-91 IMPORTANTFOREST TREE DISEASES IN THE BLUE MOUNTAINS lt-92 Introductlon ll-92 LaminatedRoot Rot ll-102 Hostsand Communities ll-102 DiseaseSpread il-102 Stand Conditions il-102 History il-103 ManagementOptions il-103 Risk Rating il-104 Occurrence ll-104 Effects ll-104 ArmillarlaRoot Dlsease ll-107 Hostsand