The report describes the results of model calibration and validation, and evaluates the extent to which runoff response to timber harvesting and increased road densities in East Fork Lobster Creek Basin can be simulated, using Precipitation-Runoff Modeling System (PRMS), a deterministic, destributed-parameter-modeling system.
We compared the potential fire behavior and smoke production of historical and current time periods based on vegetative conditions in forty-nine 5100- to 13 500-hectare watersheds in six river basins in eastern Oregon and Washington. Vegetation composition, structure, and patterns were attributed and mapped from aerial photographs taken from 1932...
Throughout the Applegate watershed, dense, overstocked, immature stands of mixed
conifers and hardwoods and declining stands of mature conifers present significant
and complex silvicultural problems. Stand stagnation is common, as is loss of largediameter
conifers from insects and wildfire. Treatments designed to maintain or
encourage development of large-diameter conifers have...
A contingent valuation methodology was applied to old-growth forests and critical habitat units for the Northern Spotted Owl in Oregon to esimate the economic value to the public in knowing that rare and unique ecosystems will be protected from fire for current and future generations. Generalizing to the whole state,...
[v. 1. Text] -- [v. 2]. Summary of state agency measures -- [v. 3]. Land use designation and regulation -- [v. 4]. Watershed councils -- [v. 5]. Watershed projects -- [v. 6]. Science team information and products -- [v. 7]. Information related to habitat restoration projects -- [v. 8]. Responses...
This report reviews and summarizes available information on aquatic biological communities in the Willamette Basin through 1995. Specifically, the report describes (1) the distribution, abndance, and trends of three taxonomic groups--algae, macroinvertebrates, and fish--and, to a lesser degree, other selected semi-aquatic taxa (i.e., taxa frequenting but not living wholly in...
Based on oral interviews with tribal informants, current and former state and federal fisheries personnel, review of records and literature, and presence/absence sampling, it is apparent that Pacific lamprey were once abundant in ceded area streams of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (John Day, Umatilla, Walla Walla, Tucannon, and Grande Ronde...
This document presents information from various land managers and researchers to guide livestock management in riparian areas using their unique responsiveness to accomplish management objectives. Riparian areas, as interfaces between the aquatic and upland components of the ecosystem comprise mosaics of landforms, communities, and environments within the larger landscape. The...
The purposes of this report are to describe the quality of shallow ground water in alluvial aquifers of the Willamette Basin and to identify relationships between shallow ground-water quality and various natural and anthropogenic factors. Several natural and anthropogenic factors (soil characteristics, cumulative thickness of clay above open interval of...
Little research has been directed toward determining the status and ecological role of riparian areas in agricultural landscapes of the Willamette Valley, Oregon. A research project has been designed to contribute to the development and evaluation of alternative future scenarios and to improve the basic understanding of the role of...
Off-channel features such as alcoves and side channels can have important ecological functions for large rivers such as the Willamette River. Some species and age classes of fish may select these features instead of the main channel to feed, avoid predation by other fish, escape fast water, or seek out...
In the 1980s, resource managers were increasingly concerned about effects of timber harvest on ungulates in National Forests. Land and resource management plans incorporated restrictions on timber harvest to maintain cover for Rocky Mountain elk
(CeNus e/aphus ne/soni V. Bailey) and mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus hemionus RafinesqueJ, and habitat models...
This publication gives basic information on choosing your planting site, selecting the right species for the site, proper planting techniques, and first-year care. Although you may be buying a tree to add beauty to your home landscape, trees also serve other important functions in your landscape.
The purpose of this document is to summarize the best scientific information presently available for bull trout (Salvelimus confluentus) throughout Oregon and to review their historical and current status. What started out as a relatively simple exercise to review and update the status report by Ratliff and Howell (1992) based...
Six high-use destination areas were studied in the Alpine Lakes, Mount Jefferson, and Three Sisters Wildernesses in Washington and Oregon. Exit interviews were conducted with visitors, and recreation impacts and visitor encounter rates between groups were quantified. Encounter rates were extremely high and impacts were substantial but localized. Visitors were...
The goal of this project is to recommend a broadly-acceptale efficient and effective methodology for characterizing streamside riparian attributes in forested settings at the site grain for regional monitoring. The authors consider monitoring design in the context of three interacting constraints: ecological functions, capabilities of technologies, and user needs. The...
Metro received grant funding from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 1995 to gather digital, or computerized, geographic data for the Clackamas River watershed. This atlas was produced as one way to share the information collected with resource managers, policy makers, and people living in and interested in the Clackamas...
This book is a guide to the plant associations of the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area. It includes general descriptions of the physical and biological setting of the Recreation Area: its climate, geology, landscape; soils, wildlife, and ecological processes. Analysis of quantitative field data identified 52 plant associations occurring in...
Corvallis scientists report on a multi-organization study that looked at biodiversity as a two stage problem. The first stage is finding those places over a region of study that have the greatest combined biodiversity, and the second stage is studying those important places to see what effects changes in land...
This report presents the concentrations of major ions, nutrients, and trace elements in water and bottom sediments collected in the four-tributaries during the low-flow condition of September 9-13, 1996. Stream-water chemistry results are contrasted, and trace-element concentrations compared with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency chronic aquatic life toxicity criteria. Bottom -sediment...
The Airborne Data Acquisition and Registration (ADAR) remote sensing system captured one-meter resolution imagery of 25 different riparian sites in drift Creek Basin of coastal northwestern Oregon, USA. The multispectral, digital data characterized riparian areas with the intent to develop ecological indicators for long-term monitoring.
Seedlings were thinned to spacings of 5, 9, 12, 15, and 18 feet and measured periodically. Twenty-seven years after treatment, quadratic mean diameters increased curvilinearity (p < or = 0.05) as spacing increased, but total height did not differ significantly (p < or = 0.05) with spacing. Corresponding basal areas...
An interagency project demonstrated the feasibility of integrating Federal surveys of terrestrial natural resources and offers a vision for that integration. At locations selected from forest inventory and analysis, National forest system Region 6, and national resources inventory surveys in a six-county area in Northern Oregon, experienced teams interpreted and...
Mixed-conifer stands of grand fir (Abies grandis (Dougl. ex D. Don) Lindl., Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii var. glauca (Beissn.) Franco), and ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa Dougl. ex Laws.) were fertilized with nitrogen and combination treatments of nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, and sulfur to test their effects on trees and associated insects during...
A pandora moth (Coloradia pandora Blake) outbreak began in 1991 in a ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa Dougl. ex. Laws) spacing study area that also included scattered sugar pine (P. lambertiana Dougl). The relation of defoliation to five tree spacings (with and without understory vegetation) was examined, and stand growth reduction...
Experimental prescriptions compare agroforestry systems designed to increase financial returns from high-elevation stands in the southern Oregon Cascade Range. The prescriptions emphasize alternative approaches for joint production of North American matsutake mushrooms (also known as North American pine mushrooms; Tricholoma magnivelare) and high-quality timber. Other agroforestry byproducts from the system...
An analysis of lumber prices provided regressions for price trends during the period 1971-95 for composite lumber grades of major timber species found in the Pacific Northwest west of the crest of the Cascade Range. The analysis included data for coastal Douglas-fir and hem-fir lumber; coastal and inland Pacific Northwest...
This analysis was performed for two reasons: 1) the KWG needed a way to focus and synthesize the results of applied research on the condition and trends of natural resources, and the factors affecting those resources; and 2) a detailed watershed analysis was needed to supplement watershed assessments planned for...
The purpose of this pilot program was to determine whether or not forward looking infrared (FLIR) videography could be used to develop thermal maps of the mainstem Klamath River to access habitat limitations due to high stream temperatures for fall chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha).
Coastal cutthroat trout is one of three cutthroat subspecies found in Oregon. The coastal subspecies, which is closely related to steelhead/rainbow trout and Pacific salmon, displays the most diverse and flexible life history of any of the Oregon salmonids. Coastal cutthroat can be found in streams and rivers from the...
Anglers and naturelovers prize steelhead trout for their mystique and power. Oregon has two subspecies of steelhead (so-called because of the metallic appearance of maturing adults) or rainbow trout: a coastal form and an inland form.
This report presents results of an investigation of water and streambed-sediment quality in selected tributaries of the South Umpqua River. Concentrations of inorganic constituents in water (major and minor ions, nutrients, and trace elements) and streambed sediment (primarily trace elements), along with standard field parameters, are tabulated for samples collected...
Coho salmon have been the most important variety of salmon caught commercially in Oregon. Until recently, coho were also the most common variety in most coastal streams. Based on records from salmon canneries, coho in Oregon north of Cape Blanco (near Port Orford) numbered about 1.25 million adults annually 100...
The Lower Alsea River Watershed Analysis contains information which characterizes the processes and trends for resources of concern, and provides a context relating the function of this lower portion of the watershed to the Alsea River Basin as a whole. Critical problem areas both inside and outside federal lands are...
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has worked cooperative with the Unified Sewerage Agency of Washington County (USA) since 1990 to assess water quality in the Tualatin River Basin. The objectives of this study were to: assess the occurrence and magnitude of trace element and selected organic contaminants in streams of...
Arsenic concentrations exceeding the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) current Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) of 50 micrograms per liter are widespread in ground water in the Willamette Basin. The Oregon Water Resources Department and the U.S. Geological Survey began a cooperative study in the Willamette Basin in 1996. One goal...
Chinook salmon are the largest of any of the salmon in Oregon. Mature fish range from less than 2 pounds to more than 70 pounds. In the late 1800s, chinook salmon were almost the only species taken for canning in the Columbia River, with production peaking at 43 million pounds...
On February 11, 1998, the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) requested that a representative of NIOSH conduct a health hazard evaluation (HHE) to evaluate and compare timber marker's (also called Forestry Technicians) exposures to a new waterborne formulation of tree marking paint developed for use by the U.S. Forestry Service. NIOSH...
As the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management turn toward ecosystem and adaptive models of forest stewardship, they are being called on to develop meaningful and lasting relations with citizens. These new management styles require not only improved strategies for public involvement but also methods to examine the...
There are many parallels between the 1978 legislation to expand Redwood National Park and the Northwest Forest Plan, which together with the Northwest Economic Adjustment Initiative formed the 1993 Pacific Northwest Initiative. In both situations, the Federal Government sought to promote retraining for displaced workers, to undertake watershed assessment and...