restoration

Continued conflict around natural resource management and dwindled public confidence in land management agencies has necessitated the development of a new collaborative social contract for land management in the West. However, even within the sphere of collaboration, restoring the key characteristics of landscape resilience to landscapes has been a challenge. Science has a golden opportunity to help inform a sound socio-ecological approach to restorative management, which can be understood by all land ownership and partners. To help guide these landscape planning efforts, researchers have created a framework of seven core principles and their implications for management of fire-prone interior forest landscapes.

In this study, researchers investigated the extent of forest restoration needed to move present day forests towards a NRV across fire-adapted landscapes in eastern Washington, eastern Oregon, and southwestern Oregon. They assessed forest vegetation restoration needs for over 28 million acres of forest based on the distribution of different forest types (e.g., Dry Mixed Conifer vs. Moist Mixed Conifer) and the current relative abundance of structural classes (see below) compared to NRV reference conditions. Using this approach, researchers determined which structural classes were overrepresented and underrepresented in each landscape unit. They then evaluated which of several different treatment or restoration categories (‘Disturbance Only’, ‘Disturbance then Succession’, and ‘Succession Only’) could transition acres to structural classesthat would restore a distribution of classes to within the NRV reference conditions.