Forest Mangagement - Planning

Project: Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) Outreach and Certification Assessments
Client: Northwest Natural Resources Group (NNRG)
Date: 2009 Services Provided: IRM provided outreach services in support of NNRG's program development in Oregon. Our work included site visits, scoping and certification assessments with landowners throughout Oregon.

Forest Management Plans

Project: Elk City Reforestation Design
Client: Coast Range Landowner
Date: 2009 Services Provided: IRM developed a site plan for the site preparation and reforestation of 40 acres of cutover forestland.

Project: Swamp Lake Forest Stewardship Plan
Client: Trust for Public Land
Date: 2009
Services Provided: Services Provided: IRM developed a forest stewardship plan for the Swamp Lake Forest, a 70-acre private ownership in the Central Cascades of Washington. Stewardship planning for this ownership focused on recovery plans for Federally-listed wildlife.

Project: Forest Stewardship Plan
Client: United States Fish and Wildlife
Date: 2007-2009
Services Provided: IRM developed a forest management plan for the Little White Salmon National Fish Hatchery, a 4,000 acre private ownership in the Columbia Gorge, Skamania County in Washington. The property contains both mature Douglas-fir forests and oak woodlands and is within the Columbia Gorge National Scenic Area. Stewardship planning for this ownership including thinning prescriptions to accelerate late successional forest conditions, removal of noxious weeds and restoration of oak habitats while meeting requirements of scenic area rules.

Project: Glaze Meadow Restoration Planning
Client: USDA Forest Service, Deschutes National Forest
Dates: Winter/Spring 2008
Services Provided: IRM was contracted to develop silvicultural prescriptions to restore structural conditions in old growth ponderosa pine stands and accelerate development of mature forest characteristics in young ponderosa pine stands on 1,000 acres of USFS land, adjacent to Black Butte, east of Sisters, Oregon. An approach termed, “mosaic thinning” was devised by IRM and will be applied on these lands. Forest Service marking crews were trained by IRM staff to layout these complex prescriptions.

Project: Forest Stewardship Plan
Client: Jim and Karyn Fairchild
Date: Spring-Summer 2006
Services Provided: In 2006, IRM was hired by a small landowner near Corvallis, Or, to conduct and inventory and write a management plan for a 80 acre tract of second growth Douglas fir. IRM designed the inventory, collected the data, and used Assisi Forest Inventory to compile and grow the stand data. IRM wrote a fully integrated stewardship plan to guide the management of the tract for the next 30 years. The plan met the requirement of FSC® certification and allowed the tract to be included in IRM pool of FSC® Certified Lands.

Project: Forest Stewardship Plan
Client: Chenowith Farm and Forest Conservancy
Date: 2005
Services Provided: IRM developed a forest management plan for the Little White Salmon Biodiversity Reserve, a 200-acre private ownership in the Columbia Gorge, Skamania County in Washington. The property contains both mature Douglas-fir forests, and oak woodlands as is within the Columbia Gorge National Scenic Area. Stewardship planning for this ownership included thinning prescriptions to accelerate late successional forest conditions, removal of noxious weeds, and restoration of oak habitats while meeting requirements of scenic area rules.

Project: Gill Oak Restoration Plan
Client: McKenzie River Trust
Date: 2005
Services Provided: The Gill property consists of 200 acres of remnant oak woodland and savanna near Oakland, Oregon. The land has high habitat potential due to remnant native grass populations and large oaks, yet years of neglect, overgrazing and tree harvest by the previous owner had left the property choked with noxious weeds and overstocked with young oaks. IRM worked closely with the landowner to develop a management plan that stresses restoration of remnant high value oak habitats while allowing limited grazing and future tree cutting. Funding was secured through USFW grants to cover costs of much of this work. A host of experimental treatments are being implemented on the tract to reduce English hawthorne in oak savannas, expand native grasslands, restore habitat for a number of at-risk species including the Columbia white-tailed deer, white breasted nuthatch, and western pond turtle.

Project: Carnine Oak Restoration Plan
Client: Doug and Linda Carnine
Date: 2005
Services Provided: The Carnine family are deeply committed to sustaining biological diversity on private lands. They have recently taken a very active role in this movement by purchasing over 600 acres of cutover lands in the Southern Willamette Valley and are restoring them in a mosaic of multi-species forests (land that will be available in the future to generate modest timber harvest under strict FSC management guidelines) and open native prairies and oak and pine savannas (for the benefit of many “open habitat” species at risk). IRM worked on stewardship plans for these three properties and pursuing funding to aid in restoration with help from the Forest Restoration Partnership. 2004 was a busy year on the Carnine’s properties. LightfootTM was used to control major blackberry populations. These areas were sprayed and planted with western redcedar and valley pine. Old slash piles were burned, roads brushed to improve access for fire control restoration activities. In 2005 botanical surveys were be completed to identify remnant and rare plant populations. A major oak and pine savanna restoration effort is planned for 2005-06 using thinning, noxious weed control and re-establishment of native grasses and forbs. Funding for harvest of Douglas-fir trees that are choking the savanna will help subsidizes other treatments.

Project: Metolius Preserve Forest Stewardship Plan
Client: Deschutes Basin Land Trust
Dates: Spring-Summer 2004
Services Provided: Integrated Resource Management completed a comprehensive forest stewardship plan for the 1,200-acre Metolius Preserve, a diverse landscape of ponderosa pine and riparian forest at the base of Black Butte. The plan integrates a forest restoration strategy with concurrent objectives of viewshed protection, and providing year-round recreation opportunities for residents of Central Oregon. The property was acquired by the Deschutes Basin Land Trust as a centerpiece ownership supporting their ambitious plan to restore sockeye salmon and steelhead runs to Lake Creek and Suttle Lake. IRM analyzed historic and current forest conditions and using wildlife, forest health, and fire risk/behavior models developed a desired future condition, and silvicultural pathways to achieve these restoration targets. Fuel and snag sampling were completed to augment the pre-existing forest inventory.

Project: Forest Management Plan Assistance
Client: Nelson Family
Dates: Fall-Winter 2004
Services Provided: Integrated Resource Management is assisting the Nelson family in developing a forest management plan on their 500-acre property overlooking the town of Lowell. This ownership contains abundant oak and pine woodlands including some of the largest valley pine in the state. These old growth remnants date back 400 years when the foothill landscape around Lowell was cloaked in oak and pine savanna. The trees are in decline due to overstocking from encroaching fir trees. It is also a prominent landmark for the town. Therefore, maintaining a visually appealing landscape is a big concern and will guide future forest management activities on the property. IRM is helping the Nelson’s decide how to manage the forest resource, by analyzing an optimum mosaic of prairie, savanna, and woodland habitats to benefit remnant old growth trees, life cycles needs of wildlife species associated with each of these conditions, and visual concerns. Specific restorative prescriptions will be developed to guide the Nelson family, who will be carrying out most of the restoration work. A fascinating aspect of this property is that the Nelson’s are experimenting with using goats to reduce noxious weeds and maintain desired species composition, cover and condition. IRM will be working closely with the family to determine how these “biological brush mowers” can be utilized in an integrated weed management system that includes limited herbicide use, mechanical brush mowing, and fire.

Project: Integrated Stewardship Plan Client: Trolin Family
Dates: March 2003
Services Provided: Integrated Resource Management prepared an integrated forest stewardship plan for a 30-acre family property in eastern Lane County.

Project: Bandon Watershed Forest Stewardship Plan
Client: City of Bandon, OR
Dates: February 2003
Services Provided: IRM prepared a stewardship plan for the City of Bandon to develop a forest management strategy to maintain/improve water quality on public lands contained in the municipal watershed.

Project: Lagunas Bonitas Forest Stewardship and Integrated Fuels Reduction Plan Client: Forest Restoration Partnership, Trust for Public Land, New Mexico State Forestry
Dates: March 2001 - February 2003
Services Provided: Integrated Resource Management developed a forest stewardship plan for the Lagunas Bonitas Ranch in Northern New Mexico. The ranch is the state of New Mexico’s pilot partnership with the USFS’s Forest Legacy Program. The plan focused on restoration of range and forest ecosystems and development of compatible grazing and forest harvest systems. A key element of the plan was to devise silvicultural prescriptions for restoration of ponderosa pine and mixed conifer forests. Forests across the ranch have been highly degraded due to fire suppression and past timber harvest.

Project: Stump Springs Environmental Assessment, Dixie National Forest, Escalante Utah
Client: Sub-contractor to David Evans and Associates, per Region 4 Professional Services Contract.
Dates: November 2001 – February 2002
Services provided: IRM Prepared an EA for a prescribed burn on a 7000-acre watershed on the Escalante ranger district of the Dixie National Forest. As part of this project IRM conducted stand exams and noxious weed surveys of the project area. Our analysis synthesized historic and current vegetation data, historic range of variability analyses, fuel and fire severity models, threatened and endangered species recovery plans, and other keystone indicator species management mandates into a comprehensive forest restoration plan. Recommendations included specific burn prescriptions designed to restore key ecosystem processes and functions at both stand and landscape levels.

Project: Pistol River Watershed Assessment, Siskiyou National Forest
Client: Sub-contractor to David Evans and Associates, per Region 6 Professional Services
Contract
Dates: November 2001 – February 2002
Services provided: IRM Prepared the Vegetation Analysis Section of the Pistol River Watershed Assessment. Our analysis synthesized historic and current vegetation data, historic range of variability analyses, fuel and fire severity models, threatened and endangered species recovery plans, and other keystone indicator species management mandates into a comprehensive forest restoration plan. Recommendations included silvicultural prescriptions designed to restore key ecosystem processes and functions at both stand and landscape levels. IRM used the Stand Visualization System (SVS) to project stand development pathways under different management scenarios for illustrative purposes in the document.

Project: Forest Management Planning and Thinning, Pedee, OR Client: Potter Family
Dates: June 2001
Services Provided: The Potter Family Forest is a 40-acre parcel 20 miles Northwest of Corvallis, Oregon composed of early-seral to mature stands of Douglas-fir, grand fir, bigleaf maple and Oregon white oak. The tract had been subject to heavy high-grade cutting up until the early 1970’s when the Potter’s purchased the property. Over the last 25 years they have been planting trees and nurturing a new forest. In 2000, Integrated Resource Management developed a stewardship plan for the tract and conducted a first thinning as part of a long-term strategy to manage the tract using uneven-age methods. This harvest included snag and downed wood creation, release of mature oaks, along with thinning and creation of small (<1 acre) group selection openings. Minimal impact logging was accomplished using a bobcat-sized skidder that offers the advantage of very low ground pressure; low soil disturbance and residual stand damage.

Project: Natural Resource Management Plan Scoping, Grande Ronde, OR
Client: Confederated Tribes of Grande Ronde,
Dates: April 2001
Services Provided: IRM assisted the CTGR with the preparation of a Ten-Year Management Plan and Environmental Assessment for 10,000 acres of tribal land near Salem, Oregon. IRM used the Landscape Management System (LMS) during the scoping phase of the project with the tribal members, as well as the regulatory agencies, to project the landscape according to different management scenarios. The Forest Projection System (FPS) was used for forest inventory management and growth projection.

Project: Integrated Forest Stewardship Plan Client: EENW Portland Oregon, William Emery
Dates: January 2001 - March 2001
Services Provided: Integrated Resource Management developed a forest management plan for a 3,000-acre private ownership south of Newport Oregon. The plan analyzed management trajectories to restore Swiss Needle Cast infected stands, manage multi-species stands focusing on re-introduction of western redcedar.

Project: Integrated Stewardship Plan
Client: Groen Ranch, John Day Oregon,
Dates: 1996
Services provided: IRM developed a management plan for an 865-acre private ranch in Eastern Oregon. This project involved the data collection and analysis on vegetation, fisheries, soils, roads, and wildlife. Detailed prescriptions for all resource were integrated into a concise management plan, which addresses the objectives of the landowner and provides direction for the sound management of his resources for the next thirty years. Mitigation measures used include fencing of riparian areas, salvage thinning for forest health, snag creation, and in stream fish habitat structures.

Project: Family Forest Management
Client: Mrs. Helen Berg, Mayor, Corvallis, Oregon
Dates: 1995-1996
Services provided: IRM prepared an integrated stewardship plan for a 120-acre woodlot in Western Oregon. The project involved biological and timber inventory collection, analysis, the formulation of a working management plan, and overseeing of management activities. Detailed prescriptions for all resources was integrated into a concise management plan with the goals of both promoting mature forest habitat while producing timber revenues through thinning. Management activities completed on the property include variable retention thinning, group selection harvests with retention, riparian cedar underplanting, snag and downed wood creation, and an adaptive plan to slowly convert portions of the property to multi-cohort and species condition. Cost sharing for the reforestation project was secure the State of Oregon’s Forest Resources Trust Program.

Project: Integrated Stewardship Plan
Client: J - L Ranch, John Day Oregon
Dates: 1995
Services provided: IRM prepared an integrated stewardship plan for a 120-acre resort ranch in Eastern Oregon. The project involved data collecting, analysis, and the writing of a management plan. The project involved the data collection and analysis on vegetation, fisheries, soils, roads, recreation and wildlife. Detailed prescriptions for all resources was integrated into a concise management plan which addressed the objectives of the landowner and provided direction for the sound management of his resources for the next thirty years. Some of the mitigation measures used were: fencing of riparian areas, salvage thinning for forest health, snag creation, and in stream fish habitat structures. A detailed interpretive and recreation plan was created for the landowner.

Project: Integrated Stewardship Plan
Client: Carter Kerns, Pendleton, Oregon
Dates: 1994
Services provided: IRM prepared an integrated stewardship plan/riparian restoration plan for a 600 acre forested parcel along one of the major tributaries of the North Fork of the John Day River in Eastern Oregon. The project involved data collecting, analysis, and the writing of a management plan. The project involved the data collection and analysis on vegetation, fisheries, soils, roads, recreation and wildlife. Detailed prescriptions for all resources was integrated into a concise management plan which addressed the objectives of the landowner and provided direction for the sound management of his resources for the next thirty years. Some of the mitigation measures used were: fencing of riparian areas, salvage thinning for forest health, snag creation, and in stream fish habitat structures. A detailed interpretive and recreation plan was created for the landowner. Federal Funding through the Bonneville Power Administration was secured for the restoration of the riparian area.