The Density Management Studies of Western Oregon

Charley Thompson, BLM, Salem, OR – Dede Olson & Sam Chan, USDA Forest Service, PNW Research Station, Corvallis, OR – John Tappeiner, OSU, Corvallis, OR

A collaborative long-term research and monitoring project in western Oregon is examining whether “density management” thinning prescriptions can be used in 40-70 year-old Douglas-fir forests to accelerate the development of late-successional habitat characteristics, while producing significant wood volume. These kinds of silvicultural prescriptions were called for in the federal Northwest Forest Plan, and were developed by the Bureau of Land Management with their cooperators. They are designed to reserve and maintain all stand structural features that are thought to contribute to biodiversity. These studies include thinning treatments, with patch openings and leave islands up to one acre in size. The associated riparian buffer study is assessing the effects of thinning in federal interim Riparian Reserves on aquatic vertebrate diversity and associated microhabitats and microclimate gradients.