This publication provides estimates of total softwood harvest by owner for Alaska for 1910-2006. This information is a mix of reported and estimated data. These data are being used to develop assumptions needed in forest planning by both public and private forest managers.

Wood has become an important energy alternative in Alaska, particularly in rural areas where liquid fuel costs can be substantial. In some cases, wood fuel is readily available to communities, increasing the attractiveness of wood energy. Wood energy systems in rural Alaska can also lead to employment gains as well as benefits to local cash economies. Many Alaska villages are now considering wood as a fuel source for community heating, several have completed feasibility studies, and others are moving forward with design and construction activities. Cordwood is readily available in many regions of Alaska, although not always in commercial quantities. However, for many small-scale applications, efficient cordwood systems could be a viable energy option. In this paper, we provide a qualitative review of factors such as wood fuel availability, cordwood system size, wood fuel cost, wood quality, labor, fuel drying, and underground piping. Other general observations are noted, based on case studies of operating cordwood systems in Alaska.

In spring 2006 and 2007, sawmill capacity and wood utilization information was collected for selected mills in southeast Alaska. The collected information is required to prepare information for compliance with Section 705(a) of the Tongass Timber Reform Act. The total estimated design capacity in the region (active and inactive mills) was 289,850 thousand board feet (mbf) Scribner log scale in calendar year (CY) 2005 and 284,350 mbf in CY 2006. The estimated design capacity of active mills was 259,850 mbf for CY 2005 and 247,850 mbf for CY 2006. This is a 2.9-percent decrease in active design capacity from CY 2004 (255,350 mbf) to CY 2006. The estimated volume of material processed during CY 2006 was 32,141 mbf Scribner log scale. This is a 3.6-percent increase over CY 2004 (31,027 mbf Scribner log scale).

The Fire and Fire Surrogate (FFS) project is a large long-term metastudy established to assess the effectiveness and ecological impacts of burning and fire "surrogates" such as cuttings and mechanical fuel treatments that are used instead of fire, or in combination with fire, to restore dry forests. One of the 13 national FFS sites is the Northeastern Cascades site at Mission Creek on the Okanogan- Wenatchee National Forest. The study area includes 12 forested stands that encompass a representative range of dry forest conditions in the northeastern Cascade Range. We describe site histories and environmental settings, experimental design, field methods, and quantify the pretreatment composition and structure of vegetation, fuels, soils and soil biota, entomology and pathology, birds, and small mammals that occurred during the 2000 and 2001 field seasons. We also describe the implementation of thinning treatments completed during 2003 and spring burning treatments done during 2004 and 2006.

Many stands in southeast Alaska harvested since 1950, especially where there has been a high degree of disturbance of mineral soil, have regenerated to red alder (Alnus rubra Bong.) and are now approaching maturity. The availability of red alder raises questions addressed in this study about the recovery of lumber from this resource. Information in this study was obtained from trees estimated to be 46 years old on a site outside of Ketchikan. Rates of recovery using a thin-kerf portable band mill were higher than those reported by larger production mills in Washington and Oregon. Grade yields of the Alaska material are comparable to those attained in other regions. This study determined that there were no significant differences in material characteristics that would set this Alaska log resource apart from red alder in the other regions of North America. The potential value of the products is sufficient to allow production in Alaska for use in the manufacturing of value-added products within the state or shipment of finished lumber to domestic or export markets.

Based on an in-grade testing program, the Ketchikan Wood Technology Center has registered three proprietary grademarks for Alaska species of hemlock (Tsuga heteraphylla (Raf.) Sarg.), yellow-cedar (Chamaecyparis nootkatensis (D. Don) Spach), and spruce (combined Sitka spruce [Picea sitchensis (Bong.) Carr.] and white spruce [Picea glauca (Moench) Voss]). The Ketchikan Wood Technology Center conducted tests to establish glulam beam manufacturing specifications. In conjunction with this program, there is a need to measure the market for glulam beams in Alaska. The purpose of this research was to compare Alaska residential builder adoption rates of glulam beams and other engineered wood products to those of the continental United States. The results showed that a higher percentage of Alaska builders use glulam beams compared with builders in the rest of the United States.

Population growth in Oregon, Washington, and Alaska is expected to increase demand for outdoor recreation on public land. This trend will be tempered by changes in the sociodemographic composition of the population. Among sociodemographic characteristics, different ages and incomes correspond to different participation rates. Although older Americans are participating more, participation is still lower among this group for active pursuits. Hence, as the population ages, demand for passive activities may increase. Low-income people participate at a much lower rate than higher income people in outdoor recreation, and the growing disparity between the wealthy and poor may create inequities in opportunities for participation. State recreation planning documents for Oregon, Washington, and Alaska have identified this issue as a significant concern for recreation providers. Another important factor in recreation trends in the region is ethnicity: different ethnic groups participate in outdoor recreation at different rates, exhibit some different preferences for specific activities, and use recreation sites in different ways. In Alaska, the number of Asian/Pacific Islanders is expected to quadruple by 2025; in Oregon, the Hispanic population may triple by 2025; and in Washington, both these segments of the population may double.

The Cooperative Alaska Forest Inventory (CAFI) is a comprehensive database of boreal forest conditions and dynamics in Alaska. The CAFI consists of fieldgathered information from numerous permanent sample plots distributed across interior and south-central Alaska including the Kenai Peninsula. The CAFI currently has 570 permanent sample plots on 190 sites representing a wide variety of growing conditions. New plots are being added to the inventory annually. To date, over 60 percent of the permanent sample plots have been remeasured and approximately 20 percent have been remeasured three times. Repeated periodic inventories on CAFI permanent sample plots provide valuable long-term information for modeling of forest dynamics such as growth and yield. Periodic remeasurements can also be used to test and monitor large-scale environmental and climate change.

This report traces the flow of timber harvested in Alaska during calendar year 2005, describes the composition and operations of the state's primary forest products industry, and quantifies volumes and uses of wood fiber. Historical wood products industry changes are discussed, as well as trends in timber harvest, production, and sales of primary wood products.

Over half (56 percent) of America's forests are privately owned and managed and provide a vast array of public goods and services, such as clean water, timber, wildlife habitat, and recreational opportunities. These important public benefits are being affected by increased housing density in urban as well as rural areas across the country.

This paper analyzes patterns of forest products trade between Asia and Alaska.

Aerial counts, in-person interviews, and mail-in questionnaires were used to survey sport fish use during the coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch Walbaum) season on the Copper River Delta, Alaska from 2002 through 2006. Angler counts provided an index of use on individual streams and were used to develop a spatial database exhibiting patterns of use. In-person interviews and mail-in questionnaires were used to determine the effort, catch, and harvest of coho salmon by both local residents of Cordova and nonresident anglers.

Quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides Michx.) is a valuable species that is declining in the Blue Mountains of northeastern Oregon. This publication is a compilation of over 20 years of aspen management experience by USDA Forest Service workers in the Blue Mountains.

Timber availability, aboveground tree biomass, and changes in aboveground carbon pools are important consequences of landscape management.

This study considered three aspects of residential wood energy use in Alaska: current conditions and fuel consumption, knowledge and attitudes, and future use and conditions. We found that heating oil was the primary fuel for home heating in southeast and interior Alaska, whereas natural gas was used most often in south-central Alaska (Anchorage). Firewood heating played a much more important role as a secondary (vs. primary) heating source in all regions of Alaska. In interior Alaska, there was a somewhat greater interest in the use of wood energy compared to other regions. Likewise, consumption of fossil fuels was considerably greater in interior Alaska.

This study's objective was to document and describe the current seedling bank of Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis (Bong.) Carr.) and western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla (Raf.) Sarg.) stands in southeast Alaska that were partially cut between 1900 and 1984.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 aimed to create jobs and jumpstart the economy while addressing the Nation's social and environmental needs. The U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, received $1.15 billion in recovery funding to support projects in wildland fire management, capital improvement and maintenance, and biomass utilization. This volume contains eight individual case-study reports that describe how Forest Service economic recovery projects from around the United States are contributing to socioeconomic well-being in rural communities and investigates how forest restoration, conservation, and rural community development goals can be linked to promote healthy forests and healthy communities.

This report highlights key findings from the most recent (2004–2008) data collected by the Forest Inventory and Analysis program across all ownerships in southeast and south-central Alaska. We present basic resource information such as forest area, ownership, volume, biomass, carbon sequestration, growth, and mortality; structure and function topics such as vegetation and lichen diversity and forest age distribution; disturbance topics such as insects and diseases, yellow-cedar decline, fire, and invasive plants; and information about the forest products industry in Alaska, the potential of young growth for timber supply, biofuels, and nontimber forest products. The appendixes describe inventory methods and design in detail and provide summary tables of data and statistical error for the forest characteristics sampled.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has formally declared that greenhouse gases (GHG) pose a threat to public health and the environment. This is significant because it gives the executive branch the authority to impose carbon regulations on carbon-emitting entities. United States GHG emissions have increased by approximately 17 percent between 1990 and 2007, and the EPA now has the authority to design regulation to reverse this trend.

Traditionally, there has been a strong forest products trade between Alaska and Asia. This trade relationship has developed owing to Alaska's proximity to Asia and, in the past, an abundance of high-quality timber. Although forest products markets in North America remain soft, markets in Asia are growing. However, to benefit from Asia's growing forest products market, it is important to understand the concepts of global shipping including containerization, intermodal transport, non vessel operating common carriers, and freight forwarders. One key development that could have a major impact on Alaska's forest products trade is the opening of the Port of Prince Rupert (British Columbia) in 2007. The Port of Prince Rupert ships lumber, logs, and wood pellets to Asia and is much closer to southeast Alaska than are the ports of Seattle and Tacoma. The Prince Rupert port is also 1 day closer to Asia. Despite Prince Rupert's proximity to Alaska, however, there is still no regularly scheduled barge service between the Port of Prince Rupert and southeast Alaska. Potential connections that may develop are examined in this paper. This paper also examines the changing concepts of global shipping and how they affect Alaska's forest products industry.

Conservation of biodiversity serves a number of human needs, including maintenance of ecosystem services that are critical to the sustainability of all life. Effective biodiversity conservation will require better landowner incentives for restoration and protection of ecosystems. Many services produced from healthy, functioning landscapes are not well recognized in current conservation incentive structures, including sequestering or storing carbon in trees and soil, providing fish and wildlife habitat, filtering water, and reducing damages from natural disasters. Most existing incentive programs pay landowners to protect and restore a specific service rather than the suite of services produced from well-functioning ecosystems.

This guidebook describes Camas Swale Research Natural Area, a 127-ha (314-ac) area that supports dry site, old-growth Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) forest. Major plant associations present within the area include the Douglas-fir/salal/western swordfern (Pseudotsuga menziesii/Gaultheria shallon/Polystichummunitum) plant association, Douglas-fir/Oregongrape (Pseudotsuga menziesii/Berberis nervosa) plant association, Douglas-fir/poison oak (Pseudotsuga menziesii/Toxicodendron diversilobum) plant association, and Douglas-fir/hazelnut-trailing snowberry/western swordfern (Pseudotsuga menziesii/Corylus cornutavar. californica-Symphoricarpos mollis/Polystichum munitum) plant association.

Greenhouse pot studies were conducted to quantify the competitive abilities of three native perennial grass species to inhibit development of Scotch broom (Cytisus scoparius (L.) Link ) seedlings: spike bentgrass (Agrostis exarata Trin. ), blue wildrye (Elymus glaucus Buckley), and western fescue (Festuca occidentalis Hook. ). In single-species stands (1) soil water content decreased with increasing grass density, (2) soil water depletion per plant differed among species as ratios of 2.4:1.3:1 for bentgrass, fescue, and wildrye, respectively, and (3) average percentage of ground cover per plant was ranked by species as bentgrass (14 percent), wildrye (8 percent), broom (8 percent), and fescue (5 percent). Regression models predicted 90, 85, and 72 percent reductions in average biomass per plant of broom when grown with approximately 250 plants/m2 of bentgrass, wildrye, and fescue, respectively. Bentgrass and wildrye were more competitive than fescue because of their early-season depletion of soil water and rapid development of cover.

Rehabilitation and timber-salvage activities after wildfire require rapid planning and rational decisions. Identifying areas with high risk for erosion and soil productivity losses is important. Moreover, allocation of corrective and mitigative efforts must be rational and prioritized. Our logic-based analysis of forested soil polygons on the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest was designed and implemented with the Ecosystem Management Decision Support (EMDS) system to evaluate risks to soil properties and productivity associated with moderate to severe wildfire and unmitigated use of ground-based logging equipment. Soil and related data are from standard National Cooperative Soil Surveys. We present results from one national forest management unit, encompassing 6,889 soil polygons and 69 438 ha. In the example area, 36.1 percent and 46.0 percent of the area were classified as sensitive to impacts from severe wildfire and unmitigated use of logging equipment, respectively, and there was a high degree of correspondence between the map of units sensitive to wildfire and the map of units sensitive to heavy equipment. We discuss options for extending the current model and considerations for validating key model components.

The United States, in partnership with 11 other countries, participates in the Montreal Process. Each country assesses national progress toward the sustainable management of forest resources by using a set of criteria and indicators agreed on by all member countries. Several indicators focus on nontimber forest products (NTFPs). In the United States, permit and contract data from the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management, in addition to several other data sources, were used as a benchmark to assess harvest, value, employment, exports and imports, per capita consumption, and subsistence uses for many NTFPs. The retail value of commercial harvests of NTFPs from U.S. forest lands is estimated at $1.4 billion annually. Nontimber forest products in the United States are important to many people throughout the country for personal, cultural, and commercial uses, providing food security, beauty, connection to culture and tradition, and income.

The concept of ecosystem services has emerged as a way of framing and describing the comprehensive set of benefits that people receive from nature. These include commonly recognized goods like timber and fresh water, as well as processes like climate regulation and water purification, and aesthetic, spiritual, and cultural benefits. The USDA Forest Service has been exploring use of the framework of ecosystem services as a way to describe goods and services provided by federal lands and attract and build partnerships with stakeholders and nongovernmental organizations. More recently, the agency has sought place-based example applications of the ecosystem service framework to explore its possible use as a tool to guide forest management, and better illustrate the concept for policymakers, managers, and potential national forest partners.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (the Recovery Act) aimed to create jobs and promote economic growth while addressing the Nation's social and environmental needs. The USDA Forest Service received $1.15 billion in economic recovery funding. This report contains key findings and lessons learned from a socioeconomic assessment of Forest Service Recovery Act projects. The assessment examines how Forest Service economic recovery projects at eight case-study locations around the United States are contributing to socioeconomic well-being in rural counties affected by the economic recession of 2007-2009. It also investigates how Forest Service mission-related work can be accomplished in a manner that creates local community development opportunities. This report is a companion to general technical report PNW-GTR-831, which contains the full case-study reports.

None of several types of chemotherapeutants applied before inoculation (antibiotics, metallic salts, systemic fungicides) prevented infection of sugar pine seedlings by white pine blister rust. DMSO (dimethyl sulfoxide) did not enhance the action of any material with which it was applied.

Mule deer populations in central Oregon are in decline, largely because of habitat loss. Several factors are likely contributors. Encroaching juniper and invasive cheatgrass are replacing deer forage with high nutritional value, such as bitterbrush and sagebrush. Fire suppression and reduced timber harvests mean fewer acres of early successional forest, which also offer forage opportunities. Human development, including homes and roads, is another factor. It is this one that scientists with the Pacific Northwest Research Station and their collaborators investigated in a recent study.

This study examines the three major wood pellet markets in Asia: China, Japan, and South Korea. In contrast to the United States, where most wood pellets are used for residential heating with pellet stoves, a majority of the wood pellets in Asia are used for co-firing at coal-fired power plants. Our analysis indicated that Japan is the largest importer of wood pellets in Asia and that most of the pellets it consumes are used for co-firing at power plants. South Korean wood pellet imports are fairly small; however, South Korea is striving to increase its percentage of renewable energy, which could benefit the wood pellets industry. We found that China, the largest energy consumer in Asia, has an established wood pellet market. However, a majority of these wood pellets are manufactured in China, thus imports are minimal. A consistent factor in these nations is that their governments are promoting renewable energy, leading to policies that are driving demand for wood pellets. As these countries strive to meet their renewable energy targets, their wood pellet consumption is projected to grow.

Concerns about forest health and the threat of wildfire across the Western United States increasingly provide the impetus for communities to find land management solutions that serve multiple interests. Funding and procedural changes over the past decade have positioned federal agencies to put greater emphasis on multistakeholder partnerships and public outreach efforts. Partnerships build slowly over time, but can result in a healthier resource, reduced fire risk, greater stability for agency planning processes, and more resilient communities. Drawing on interviews with stakeholders representing broad interests in a partnership between the Northeast Washington Forestry Coalition and the Colville National Forest, we examine some of the critical factors leading to the partnership's success and identify challenges along the way. We illustrate how the citizens of Colville, Washington, overcame conflicts by learning to communicate their interests and use existing resources to advance a variety of goals, ranging from fuels reduction and active forest management to roadless area and wilderness management. We highlight a set of important organizational themes that have emerged from Colville to provide managers and other stakeholders with ideas for similar efforts.

Nationally, there is growing public interest in and policy pressure for developing alternative and renewable sources of energy. Wind energy facilities in the Pacific Northwest expanded rapidly over the past decade, as a result of state policies that encourage wind energy development. While much of the development thus far has occurred on private lands, there is interest in expanding onto federal land. However, there are concerns about the impacts of wind energy on wildlife. Wind energy facilities have the potential to harm wildlife both directly through collisions with turbines and transmission lines, and indirectly by modifying habitat. This report synthesizes the available scientific literature on potential wind energy facility impacts to wildlife, with a focus on the Pacific Northwest (Oregon and Washington), and summarizes the current best management practices recommended in federal and state guidelines for wind energy development. Research gaps in our understanding of wind energy impacts on wildlife remain. Future research needs include long-term, multisite, experimental studies of wind energy impacts on wildlife, improved ability to estimate population-level and cumulative impacts of wind energy facilities on wildlife, and better knowledge of key wildlife species' migration and demography.

In spring and summer of 2010 and 2011, sawmill production capacity and wood utilization information was collected from major wood manufacturers in southeast Alaska. The estimated mill capacity in southeast Alaska for calendar year (CY) 2009 was 249,350 thousand board feet (mbf) (log scale), and for CY 2010 was 155,850 mbf (log scale), including idle sawmills. Mill consumption in CY 2009 was estimated at 13,422 mbf (log scale), and for CY 2010 was 15,807 mbf (log scale). Wood products manufacturing employment in southeast Alaska increased from 57.5 full-time equivalent positions in 2009 to 63.5 in 2010 despite the loss of 23,500 mbf of capacity in two sawmills owing to fires, the decommissioning of one large sawmill (65,000 mbf), and equipment sales at two small mills (5,000 mbf).

Cofiring of biomass and coal at electrical generation facilities is gaining in importance as a means of reducing fossil fuel consumption, and more than 40 facilities in the United States have conducted test burns. Given the large size of many coal plants, cofiring at even low rates has the potential to utilize relatively large volumes of biomass. This could have important forest management implications if harvest residues or salvage timber are supplied to coal plants. Other feedstocks suitable for cofiring include wood products manufacturing residues, woody municipal wastes, agricultural residues, short-rotation intensive culture forests, or hazard fuel removals. Cofiring at low rates can often be done with minimal changes to plant handling and processing equipment, requiring little capital investment. Cofiring at higher rates can involve repowering entire burners to burn biomass in place of coal, or in some cases, repowering entire powerplants. Our research evaluates the current status of biomass cofiring in North America, identifying current trends and success stories, types of biomass used, coal plant sizes, and primary cofiring regions. We also identify potential barriers to cofiring. Results are presented for more than a dozen plants that are currently cofiring or have recently announced plans to cofire.

We monitored coarse woody debris dynamics and natural tree regeneration over a 14-year period after the 1991 Warner Creek Fire, a 3631-ha (8,972-ac) mixed severity fire in the western Cascade Range of Oregon. Rates for tree mortality in the fire, postfire mortality, snag fall, and snag fragmentation all showed distinct patterns by tree diameter and species, with Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco) more likely to survive a fire, and to remain standing as a snag, than other common tree species. Natural seedling regeneration was abundant, rapid, and highly variable in space. Densities of seedlings >10 cm height at 14 years postfire ranged from 1,530 to 392,000 per ha. Seedling establishment was not concentrated in a single year, and did not appear to be limited by the abundant growth of shrubs. The simultaneous processes of mortality, snag fall, and tree regeneration increased the variety of many measures of forest structure. The singular event of the fire has increased the structural diversity of the landscape.

This report documents the results from the first “5-year” round of understory responses to the Tongass-Wide Young-Growth Studies (TWYGS) treatments, especially in relation to their effects on food resources for black-tailed deer (Odocoileus hemionus sitkensis). Responses of understory vegetation to precommercial silviculture experiments after their first 4 to 8 years posttreatment were analyzed with the Forage Resource Evaluation System for Habitat (FRESH)-Deer model. The studies were conducted in western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla)-Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis) young-growth forests in southeast Alaska. All four TWYGS experiments were studied: (I) planting of red alder (Alnus rubra) within 1- to 5-year-old stands; (II) precommercial thinning at narrow and wide spacings (549 and 331 trees per hectare, respectively) in 15- to 25-year-old stands; (III) precommercial thinning at medium spacing (420 trees per hectare) with and without pruning in 25- to 35-yearold stands; and (IV) precommercial thinning at wide spacing (203 trees per hectare) with and without slash treatment versus thinning by girdling in >35-year-old stands. All experiments also included untreated control stands of identical age. FRESHDeer was used to evaluate the implications for deer habitat in terms of forage resources (species-specific biomass, digestible protein, and digestible dry matter) relative to deer metabolic requirements in summer (at two levels of requirements—maintenance only vs. lactation) and in winter (at six levels of snow depth).

Interactions between forests, climatic change and the Earths carbon cycle are complex and represent a challenge for forest managers - they are integral to the sustainable management of forests. In this volume, a number of papers are presented that describe some of the complex relationships between climate, the global carbon cycle and forests.

Existing models and predictions project serious changes to worldwide hydrologic processes as a result of global climate change. Projections indicate that significant change may threaten National Forest System watersheds that are an important source of water used to support people, economies, and ecosystems. Wildland managers are expected to anticipate and respond to these threats, adjusting management priorities and actions. Because watersheds differ greatly in: (1) the values they support, (2) their exposure to climatic changes, and (3) their sensitivity to climatic changes, understanding these differences will help inform the setting of priorities and selection of management approaches. Drawing distinctions in climate change vulnerability among watersheds on a national forest or grassland allows more efficient and effective allocation of resources and better land and watershed stewardship. Eleven national forests from throughout the United States, representing each of the nine Forest Service regions, conducted assessments of potential hydrologic change resulting from ongoing and expected climate warming. A pilot assessment approach was developed and implemented. Each national forest identified water resources important in that area, assessed climate change exposure and watershed sensitivity, and evaluated the relative vulnerabilities of watersheds to climate change. The assessments provided management recommendations to anticipate and respond to projected climate-hydrologic changes. Completed assessments differed in level of detail, but all assessments identified priority areas and management actions to maintain or improve watershed resilience in response to a changing climate. The pilot efforts also identified key principles important to conducting future vulnerability assessments.

The U.S. Forest Service's Pacific Northwest Research Station today released a new report that outlines a climate adaptation strategy for yellow-cedar in Alaska.

The latest data summarizing West coast log and lumber exports in the fourth quarter of 2015 were released today by the U.S. Forest Service's Pacific Northwest Research Station. The data-covering exports during October, November, and December 2015-were compiled and analyzed by Xiaoping Zhou, a research economist with the station.

The latest data summarizing West Coast log and lumber exports in the first quarter of 2016 were released today by the U.S. Forest Service's Pacific Northwest Research Station. The data-covering exports during January, February, and March 2016—were compiled and analyzed by Xiaoping Zhou, a research economist with the station.

Information can be used to investigate air pollution in the city.

The U.S. Forest Service’s Pacific Northwest (PNW) Research Station today welcomed Dr. Felipe Sanchez as its acting Station Director. Sanchez replaces Robert Mangold, who retired last month after three years with the station.

The U.S. Forest Service’s Pacific Northwest (PNW) Research Station is pleased to announce the arrival of Matt Rollins as the Threat Characterization and Management (TCM) Program Manager.

OWASHINGTON, D.C., JUNE 11, 2018—The USDA Forest Service today released a report that will serve as the scientific foundation for land management planning in western Washington, western Oregon, and northern California.

Carbon storage and flux estimates for the two national forests in Alaska are provided using inventory data from permanent plots established in 1995–2003 and remeasured in 2004–2010. Estimates of change are reported separately for growth, sapling recruitment, harvest, mortality, snag recruitment, salvage, snag falldown, and decay. Although overall aboveground carbon mass in live trees did not change in the Tongass National Forest, the Chugach National Forest showed a 4.5 percent increase. For the Tongass National Forest, results differed substantially for managed and unmanaged forest: managed lands had higher per-acre rates of sequestration through growth and recruitment, and carbon stores per acre that were higher for decomposing downed wood, and lower for live trees and snags. The species composition of carbon stores is changing on managed lands, with a carbon mass loss for yellow-cedar but increases for red alder and Sitka spruce. On unmanaged lands, the Chugach National forest had carbon mass increases in Sitka spruce and white spruce, and the Tongass National Forest had increases in western redcedar and red alder.

Stem decays of living trees, known also as heart rots, are essential elements of wildlife habitat, especially for cavity-nesting birds and mammals. Stem decays are common features of old-growth forests of coastal Alaska, but are generally absent in young, managed forests. We offer several strategies for maintaining or restoring fungal stem decay in these managed forests that can be used to enhance specific types of wildlife habitat.

This handbook and financial app is a guide to help communities quickly determine if biomass energy projects might work for them so that this option is not overlooked. Its purpose is as a screening tool designed to save significant time, resources, and investment by weeding out those wood energy projects that may never come to fruition from those that have a chance of success. It establishes technical, financial, and social criteria and indicators to evaluate proposed biomass investment options. Through showcasing of successful projects using text, photos, video interviews, and diagrams, it facilitates virtual project planning and interaction with experts. The interactive wood energy financial app allows estimation of capital investment costs to facilitate project design and screening across a variety of wood energy options. The calculator can be accessed from the eBook or from the Web.

The North Cascadia Adaptation Partnership (NCAP) is a science-management partnership consisting of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service Mount Baker-Snoqualmie and Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forests and Pacific Northwest Research Station; North Cascades National Park Complex; Mount Rainier National Park; and University of Washington Climate Impacts Group.

This report traces the flow of timber harvested in Alaska during calendar year 2011, describes the composition and operations of the state’s primary forest products industry, and quantifies volumes and uses of wood fiber.