Stream temperature change detection for state and private forests in the Oregon Coast Range

Abstract

Oregon’s forested coastal watersheds support important cold-water fisheries of salmon and steelhead (Oncorhynchus spp.) as well as forestry-dependent local economies. Riparian timber harvest restrictions in Oregon and elsewhere are designed to protect stream habitat characteristics while enabling upland timber harvest. We present an assessment of riparian leave tree rule effectiveness at protecting streams from temperature increases in the Oregon Coast Range. We evaluated temperature responses to timber harvest at 33 privately owned and state forest sites with Oregon’s water quality temperature antidegradation standard, the Protecting Cold Water (PCW) criterion. At each site we evaluated stream temperature patterns before and after harvest upstream, within, and downstream of harvest units. We developed a method for detecting stream temperature change between years that adhered as closely as possible to Oregon’s water quality rule language. The procedure provided an exceedance history across sites that allowed us to quantify background and treatment (timber harvest) PCW exceedance rates. For streams adjacent to harvested areas on privately owned lands, preharvest to postharvest year comparisons exhibited a 40% probability of exceedance. Sites managed according to the more stringent state forest riparian standards did not exhibit exceedance rates that differed from preharvest, control, or downstream rates (5%). These results will inform policy discussion regarding the sufficiency of Oregon’s forest practices regulation at protecting stream temperature. The analysis process itself may assist other states and countries in developing and evaluating their forest management and water quality antidegradation regulations.