Past timber harvesting practices and a century of very successful
wildfire suppression tactics have provided the impetus for our forest
habitat management. Lacking on the Refuge and generally throughout
the surrounding area is a significant component of old mature forest.
Most of the large trees were removed for lumber in the early 1900’s.
Coupled with this is many, many years of forest fuels accumulation
including unnaturally dense stands of younger trees as a result of
the interruption of wildfires, a naturally occurring process that
helped to maintain a healthy forest. These clues have guided us
in our forest management strategies.
In order to revert natural processes and restore our forests, we
have begun to pre-condition them for a return of fire. In order
to accomplish this we have instituted a multifaceted approach consisting
of pre-commercial thinning, commercial logging and prescribed burning
operations. Our goal is to treat 1000 acres per year so that natural
processes, particularly fire, will be reintroduced as a tool for
creating and maintaining quality wildlife habitat and reduced potential
for catastrophic wildfire.
Habitat assessments, marking, cruising, Cultural Resource Surveys,
timber sale advertisements and permits are completed for commercial
treatments of our Wildlife Habitat Management Units. Commercial
logging operations use mechanical harvesters and forwarders. This
method of logging is well suited to our desire for completing operations
on a relatively short time frame, mid-fall through late winter, and
has a low impact to the site as compared to other ground based timber
harvesting methods. In addition to generating funds for the U.S.
Treasury, which may be used to benefit a variety of federal programs,
the Refuge receives direct benefits in the form of improvements to
roads and noxious weed control as stipulated in the permit. These
enhancements are a direct benefit of the commercial logging program.
About one quarter of the Refuge forest consists of dry ponderosa
pine and Douglas-fir. About one-half to two-thirds of Refuge forests
are mixed moist forest comprised of Douglas-fir, grand fir, western
larch and lodgepole pine. Most stands will be thinned with careful
attention paid to both the horizontal and vertical structure of the
existing stand with the objective being to allow for the development
of mature and old growth forest types. While it is basically a “low
thin,” that is removing suppressed and co-dominant stems which are
below the general level of the existing canopy, it also respects
wildlife needs regarding canopy structure, tree groups and age classes.
At least one research project has lately described a similar approach
as “variable density thinning” which is a convenient way of describing
our technique that endeavors to retain a natural distribution of
various age classes and structure. Our management plan regards irregularities
in tree conformation, and most mechanical damage as attributes rather
than “defects” as with typical commercial and economic wood fiber
producing forestry practices. A simpler way to describe our approach
may be managing for decadence. In forests where natural
processes are permitted to occur there tends to be a wide range of
variability from areas where old large trees have given way to new
young seedlings, to mid-successional stands to old growth with various
degrees of rot, breakage and decay. From a wood fiber producers vantage
this old growth would be termed decadent, but to a producer and manager
of wildlife habitat this decadence translate to diversity and diversity
is the penultimate of forest habitat management. Implementing this
brand of habitat creating and enhancing, forestry is challenging
and perhaps unique to the LPO NWR.
Past timber harvesting practices and a century of very successful
wildfire suppression tactics have provided the impetus for our forest
habitat management. Lacking on the Refuge and generally throughout
the surrounding area is a significant component of old mature forest.
Most of the large trees were removed for lumber in the early 1900’s.
Coupled with this is many, many years of forest fuels accumulation
including unnaturally dense stands of younger trees as a result of
the interruption of wildfires, a naturally occurring process that
helped to maintain a healthy forest. These clues have guided us
in our forest management strategies. 
Habitat assessments, marking, cruising, Cultural Resource Surveys,
timber sale advertisements and permits are completed for commercial
treatments of our Wildlife Habitat Management Units. Commercial
logging operations use mechanical harvesters and forwarders. This
method of logging is well suited to our desire for completing operations
on a relatively short time frame, mid-fall through late winter, and
has a low impact to the site as compared to other ground based timber
harvesting methods. In addition to generating funds for the U.S.
Treasury, which may be used to benefit a variety of federal programs,
the Refuge receives direct benefits in the form of improvements to
roads and noxious weed control as stipulated in the permit. These
enhancements are a direct benefit of the commercial logging program.
About one quarter of the Refuge forest consists of dry ponderosa
pine and Douglas-fir. About one-half to two-thirds of Refuge forests
are mixed moist forest comprised of Douglas-fir, grand fir, western
larch and lodgepole pine. Most stands will be thinned with careful
attention paid to both the horizontal and vertical structure of the
existing stand with the objective being to allow for the development
of mature and old growth forest types. While it is basically a “low
thin,” that is removing suppressed and co-dominant stems which are
below the general level of the existing canopy, it also respects
wildlife needs regarding canopy structure, tree groups and age classes.
At least one research project has lately described a similar approach
as “variable density thinning” which is a convenient way of describing
our technique that endeavors to retain a natural distribution of
various age classes and structure. Our management plan regards irregularities
in tree conformation, and most mechanical damage as attributes rather
than “defects” as with typical commercial and economic wood fiber
producing forestry practices. A simpler way to describe our approach
may be managing for decadence. In forests where natural
processes are permitted to occur there tends to be a wide range of
variability from areas where old large trees have given way to new
young seedlings, to mid-successional stands to old growth with various
degrees of rot, breakage and decay. From a wood fiber producers vantage
this old growth would be termed decadent, but to a producer and manager
of wildlife habitat this decadence translate to diversity and diversity
is the penultimate of forest habitat management. Implementing this
brand of habitat creating and enhancing, forestry is challenging
and perhaps unique to the LPO NWR.
