Wood Production from Ecosystem Management Activities in the Western United States: Contributions from the USDA Forest Service PNW Research Station, 1999 Environmental Conference Proceedings

R. James Barbour

USDA Forest Service

Managing forests for non-timber objectives such as habitat for threatened or endangered species, water quality, recreational opportunities, aesthetic features, and other outputs need not preclude production of wood products. In fact, removal of some trees is often necessary to accomplish these non-timber objectives. In the Western United States, Federal, State and private land managers often consider management strategies that help maintain healthy ecosystems and restore damaged ones. Management strategies for federal land are now developed at the landscape level and stand level actions are linked to the landscape strategy. Development of proposed actions often includes input from a host of interest groups and requires balancing management objectives with political realities. Much of the wood removed during the resulting treatments is from small-diameter trees (10 to 18 cm dbh). Although the costs of removing it are high, the wood quality (suitability for an intended use) is often good and pilot studies suggest this resource is suitable for many traditional and non-traditional products. This paper summarizes results of multidisciplinary work coordinated by the Ecologically Sustainable Production of Forest Resources team at the USDA Forest Service, PNW Research Station. The ESP team’s focus is to investigate the technical and economic feasibility of utilizing wood removals to help finance ecosystem management activities. This work helps federal and other land managers understand forest management effects on wood quality and the importance of marketing timber in ways that most effectively capture its economic value while accomplishing desired ecological objectives by its removal.