United States Department of Agriculture Riparian Adaptive Forest Service Pacific Northwest Management Symposium: Research Station General Technical Report A Conversation between PNW-GTR-830 December 2010 Scientists and Management The Forest Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture is dedicated to the principle of multiple use management of the Nation’s forest resources for sustained yields of wood, water, forage, wildlife, and recreation. Through forestry research, cooperation with the States and private forest owners, and management of the national forests and national grasslands, it strives—as directed by Congress—to provide increasingly greater service to a growing Nation. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in all its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, and where applicable, sex, marital status, familial status, parental status, religion, sexual orientation, genetic information, political beliefs, reprisal, or because all or part of an individual’s income is derived from any public assistance program. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.) Persons with disabilities who require alternative means for communication of program information (Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.) should contact USDA’s TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TDD). To file a complaint of discrimination, write USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, Room 1400 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20250-9410 or call (800) 795-3272 (voice) or (202) 720-6382 (TDD). USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer. Technical Editors Douglas F. Ryan is an ecologist and decision support specialist, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station, Focused Science Delivery Program, 3625 93rd Ave. SW, Olympia, WA 98512. John M. Calhoun is Director of the Olympic Natural Resources Center, School of Forest Resources, College of the Environment, University of Washington, 1455 S. Forks Avenue, Forks, WA 98331. Papers were provided by the authors in camera-ready form for printing. Authors are responsible for the content and accuracy. Opinions expressed may not necessarily reflect the position of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. 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. Cover Gordon H. Reeves, USDA Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station (red salmon, upper left photo). Jason Walters, USDA Forest Service, Shasta-Trinty National Forest (debris flow, upper right photo). Brian Fransen, Weyerhaeuser Co. (Schultz Creek, lower photo). Riparian Adaptive Management Symposium: A Conversation between Scientists and Management Forks, Washington November 3–4, 2008 Douglas F. Ryan and John M. Calhoun Technical Editors U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service Pacific Northwest Research Station Portland, Oregon General Technical Report PNW-GTR-830 December 2010 Published in cooperation with: U.S. Department of Agriculture Symposium Sponsors University of Washington Olympic Natural Resources Center www.onrc.washington.edu/ USDA Forest Service Pacific Northwest Research Station www.fs.fed.us/pnw Washington State Department of Natural Resources www.wa.gov/dnr Abstract Ryan, Douglas F.; Calhoun, John M., tech. eds. 2010. Riparian adaptive manage- ment symposium: a conversation between scientists and management. Gen. Tech. Rep. PNW-GTR-830. Portland, OR: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station. 135 p. Scientists, land managers and policy makers discussed whether riparian (stream side) forest management and policy for state, federal and private lands in western Washington are consistent with current science. Answers were mixed: some aspects of riparian policy and management have a strong basis in current science, while other aspects may not. Participants agreed that the same body of science, originally synthe- sized by the Forest Ecosystem Management Team (FEMAT) report in 1993, underlies most current federal, state and private land policy and management of riparian areas. With some exceptions, that underlying science base has been supported by most recent research. However, some riparian forest policy and management in western Washington have been implemented in ways that may drive riparian areas toward static and uniform conditions over large areas, an outcome that may not be consistent with current science consensus. Current thinking in the scientific community is that sustaining high aquatic productivity at the scale of large landscapes or river basins probably depends on maintaining dynamic and heterogeneous riparian conditions driven by disturbance processes that operate over large spatial and temporal scales. Recognition of this inconsistency of policy and management with current science appeared to be new, especially for the management and policy communities. Partici- pants suggested steps to address the identified science-policy gap, including analyses to identify specifically what policies are and are not consistent with current science and landscape-scale experiments to test the effectiveness of management alternatives that apply current science. Keywords: riparian forest management, riparian policy, aquatic productivity, riparian disturbance, and science-policy gap. Riparian Adaptive Mangement Symposium: A Conversation between Scientists and Managers Douglas F. Ryan, US Forest Service PNW Research Station Executive Summary and Synthesis The goal of this symposium was to ask whether northern CA as well. The State of Washington sub- riparian forest policy and management in western sequently adopted the same science basis to develop Washington is consistent with the current science its guidelines for riparian management of State and consensus on riparian processes. This is a cogent ques- private forest lands for the Cascade Mountains and tion because, although they are related to one another, westward. Specific policy and management guidelines changes in science, policy and management do not themselves are different for federal, State and private necessarily occur at the same pace. The mechanisms lands, primarily because their legal, economic and that align them (e.g. technology transfer, legislation, political environments are not alike, but their underly- legal actions, public opinion etc,) sometimes act only ing science basis is essentially the same. after long delays. Further complicating this question, Two parts of the FEMAT science base that were policies guiding management of forested riparian areas adopted into policy and management, were the focus of are significantly different on federal, State and private much discussion: the first was a series of relationships lands. Answers that came out of our two-day sympo- that described how various ecological functions of sium were mixed: some aspects of riparian policy and the riparian zone change with distance away from the management are consistent with current science, but stream bank (often called the “FEMAT curves”), and in other areas there appear to be gaps between policy the second was the hypothesis that the most productive and management and current science. Recognition of aquatic conditions occurred in “old growth” forests. some gaps seems to be new, especially for the manage- Gordon H. Reeves, who had been a member of the ment and policy communities. Participants could only FEMAT team, related that both of these components of outline implications of the gaps because detailed analy- the FEMAT report represented a synthesis of the scien- ses have not yet been done. I review what gaps were tific literature available in 1993 and the professional identified, touch on some of their potential implications opinion of the FEMAT scientists. and suggest some actions that scientists, forest manag- Most of the studies at that time had been done at ers and environmental policy makers might consider to the scale of individual stream reaches and most of the mend these gaps. reaches that were studied were in old-growth forests There was general agreement among scientists, representing a relatively narrow range of riparian con- policy makers and managers at the symposium that the ditions. The team also assumed that because aquatic same body of science underlies the current policy and productivity of stream reaches increased with time management guidelines for riparian areas on federal, after severe disturbance, that productivity of native State and private forest lands in Western WA. Much fishes would be maximized in “old growth” conditions of that body of science was originally synthesized by because they assumed that “old growth” riparian areas the Forest Ecosystem Management Team (FEMAT) would have had the longest time to develop. report (FEMAT 1993), which was developed for use in Since the FEMAT report, scientific studies of formulating the Northwest Forest Plan for managing the relationship between stream habitat and riparian federal lands in western WA, and in western OR, and conditions have added to both the depth and range of available knowledge. Riparian processes are now vii GENERAL TECHNICAL REPORT PNW-GTR-830 better understood at both the reach scale and at larger channel transitions). These spatially limited patches spatial and temporal scales. This broader knowledge of favorable physical habitat for salmon and trout base indicates that the productivity of fish populations are associated