Forest harvesting practices can expose mineral soils, decrease infiltration capacities of soils, disturb the stream bank and channel, and increase erosion and fine sediment supply to stream channels. To reduce nonpoint source sediment pollution associated with forest management activities and to maintain the high water quality typically provided from forests,...
Sediment cores were retrieved from a landslide-dammed lake, recording events back to the 5th century AD in a forested, mountainous catchment. These cores provide an opportunity to compare the impacts of known recent perturbations, including floods and timber harvesting with those of the early period of the core, flood, fire,...
Moisture content management is a key requirement to improve forest harvest residue economics for bioenergy production. This dissertation aims to contribute towards better management through these three general objectives (1) Determine average moisture content of fresh forest harvest residues and its changes over the different seasons of the year, focusing...
Forest landowners are interested in practicing alternative silviculture methods on their property without having to clearcut. This publication describes a case study on the group selection method, a management style that mimics the natural gap creation that takes place in old-growth forest stands as a result of wind throw, landslides,...
An understanding of the factors that influence surface erosion from roads is necessary to prevent and mitigate sediment production from forest roads. This study investigated the impacts of log truck traffic and road hydrology on sediment yield from ten forest road segments in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains of...
The development of bioenergy from biomass has dominated the minds of forest engineering researchers over the last decade. One of the main themes that has been generated from that research is that bioenergy from biomass has major operational hurdles to overcome before becoming economically feasible. More directly, the impact of...
Studies of the effects of forest harvest on streams and fish have a long history in the Pacific Northwest. Results of this work have prompted development of new forest harvest practices that are more protective of these resources, but the effectiveness of these new practices has not been fully evaluated....
An economic analysis and optimization of forest biomass processing and transportation at the operational level is presented. Renewable sources of energy have captured the interest of public and private institutions to develop cost-effective supply chains to reduce dependence on fossil fuels. The production of energy from forest harvest residues constitutes...
This dissertation integrates a process-based hydrological investigation with an
ongoing paired-catchment study to better understand how forest harvest impacts
catchment function at multiple scales. We do this by addressing fundamental questions
related to the stocks, flows and transit times of water. Isotope tracers are used within a
top-down catchment intercomparison...
In order to decide whether or not to develop biomass energy facilities and where to best locate them, developers and investors need accurate assessments of fuel supply. This includes information about the distribution and concentration of fuel throughout the assessment area, the quality of fuel (form, moisture content, contaminant content,...