Timber Resources

Objectives

Provide a sustainable supply of timber and other forest products.

Manage developing stands on available lands to promote tree survival and growth and to achieve a balance between wood volume production, quality of wood, and timber value at harvest.

Manage timber stands to reduce the risk of stand loss from fires, animals, insects, and diseases.

Provide for salvage harvest of timber killed or damaged by events such as wildfire, windstorms, insects, or disease, consistent with management objectives for other resources.

Land Use Allocations

The General Forest Management Areas and Connectivity/Diversity Blocks net land use allocations are interspersed with Riparian Reserves and other land use allocations which are not shown on the Roseburg District Strategy map The net land use allocation acres are the actual allocated acres for the General Forest Management Areas and Connectivity/Diversity Blocks and are the acres modeled in TRIM-PLUS as available for harvest.

Management Actions/Direction

All Land Use Allocations

Conform all management activities within the range of Port-Orford cedar to the guidelines described in the BLM Port-Orford cedar Management Policies to mitigate damage caused by Phytophthora lateralis. Site specific analyses for projects within the range of Port-Orford cedar will consider possible effects on the species.

Matrix (General Forest Management Areas and Connectivity/Diversity Blocks)

Declare an annual allowable sale quantity of 7.0 million cubic feet (45 million board feet).

The allowable sale quantity for the resource management plan is an estimate of annual average timber sale volume likely to be achieved from lands allocated to planned, sustainable harvest. This estimate, however, is surrounded by uncertainties. The actual sale levels may differ, as timber sale levels will be an effect of overall forest management rather than a target that drives that management. Harvest of this approximate volume of timber is considered sustainable over the long term. This is based on assumptions that the available land base remains fixed, and that funding is sufficient to make planned investments in timely reforestation, plantation maintenance, thinning, genetic selection, forest fertilization, timber sale planning, related forest resource protection, and monitoring.
: The allowable sale quantity represents neither a minimum level that must be met nor a maximum level that cannot be exceeded. It is an approximation because of the difficulty associated with predicting actual timber sale levels over the next decade, given the complex nature of many of the management actions/direction. It represents BLM's best assessment of the average amount of timber likely to be awarded annually in the planning are over the life of the plan, following a start-up period. The actual sustainable timber sale level attributable to the land use allocations and management direction of the resource management plan may deviate by as much as 20 percent from the identified allowable sale quantity. As inventory, watershed analysis and site-specific planning proceed in conformance with that management direction, the knowledge gained will permit refinement of the allowable sale quantity. The separable component of the allowable sale quantity attributable to lands in key watersheds carries a higher level of uncertainty, due to the greater constraints of Aquatic Conservation Strategy Objectives and the requirement to prepare watershed analyses before activities take place.
: During the first several years, the annual allowable sale quantity will not likely be offered for sale. The resource management plan represents a new forest management strategy. Time will be required to develop new timber sales that conform to the resource management plan.

Apply silvicultural systems that are planned to produce, over time, forests which have desired species composition, structural characteristics, and distribution of seral or age classes (see Appendix E).

Develop plans for the locations and specific designs of timber harvests and other silvicultural treatments within the framework of watershed analyses.

Select logging systems based on the suitability and economic efficiency of each system for the successful implementation of the silvicultural prescription, for protection of soil and water quality, and for meeting other land use objectives.

Schedule regeneration harvests to assure that, over time, harvest will occur in stands at or above the age of volume growth culmination (i.e., culmination of mean annual increment). This refers to the age range which produces maximum average annual growth over the lifetime of a timber stand. In the planning area, culmination occurs between 80 and 110 years of age. Regeneration harvests may be scheduled in stands as young as 60 years, in order to develop a desired age class distribution across the landscape.

Base silvicultural treatments and harvest designs on the functional characteristics of the ecosystem and on the characteristics of each forest stand and site. Treatments will be designed, as much as possible, to prevent the development of undesirable species composition, species dominance, or other stand characteristics. The principles of integrated pest management and integrated vegetation management will be employed to avoid the need for direct treatments. Herbicides will be used only as a last resort.

Plan harvest of marketable hardwood stands in the same manner as conifer stands, if the land is not otherwise constrained from timber management. Where hardwood trees became established following previous harvest of conifers, plan to reestablish a conifer stand on the site.

Unscheduled Harvests - see Riparian Reserves and Late-Successional Reserves sections.

Timber sale contracts, usually awarded on a competitive basis, are the means of accomplishing all timber harvest and many forest development practices. The standard and special provisions (which include mitigating measures) in a contract set forth the performance standards to be followed by the contractor in carrying out the action in accordance with applicable laws, regulations, and policies. In contract preparation, selection of special provisions is governed by the scope of the action to be undertaken and the physical characteristics of the specific site. Standard provisions of the basic timber sale contract, Bureau Form 5450-3, are applicable for all timber sales. Bureau manuals and manual supplements provide a variety of approved special provisions for use, as appropriate, in individual contracts. The combination of selected special provisions constitutes Section 41 of the timber sale contract. Maintaining or enhancing water quality and long-term soil/site productivity will be inherent in all timber harvest and production practices.

The Allowable Sale Quantity has been calculated using a computer program called TRIM-PLUS. The sustainable Allowable Sale Quantity has been calculated in cubic feet. Timber sales under the plan will be sold according to cubic foot measure.

Accomplish timber harvest by the appropriate application of aerial, cable, or ground-yarding systems. The logging systems and the degree of log suspension are design features that will be employed for yarding efficiency, watershed protection, to minimize soil damage and to minimize damage to residual trees in partial cut operations. BLM Oregon Manual Supplement H-5420-1 will guide selection of harvesting techniques for timber sale contracts.

Plan timber sales involving ground yarding systems with skid trails (including trails from previous harvest entries) to have insignificant (less than one percent) growth loss effect. Skid trails will affect less than ten percent of the land. Existing skid trails will be used as much as possible and new skid trails will be limited to slopes of less than 35 percent. Operation on these trails will minimize soil displacement and occur when soil moisture content provides the most resistance to compaction. Upon final harvest, all compacted trails, including skid trails from previous entries, will be tilled with a properly designed self-drafting subsoiler. For entries other than final harvest, skid trails will be selectively tilled.

Harvest unit size will be determined at the appropriate level given the site specific management objectives, such as watershed wildlife habitat enhancement or salvage of timber damaged by fire, disease, insects, or wind. In addition, economic, logistical, and safety considerations may influence size.

Accomplish regeneration harvests in such a way that the land can be adequately restocked within five years.

Apply commercial thinning in the matrix where practical and where research indicates increased gains in timber production are likely. The interval of treatment will range from 10 to 30 years, varying by site class, with poor sites having longer intervals.

Harvest trees from lands withdrawn from timber production under certain circumstances, only when their harvest will be consistent with other plan guidelines. Examples of circumstances under which trees may be harvested from these lands are:

To harvest inclusions of trees within a harvest unit on lands mostly classified as suitable for timber production, to allow design of more logical management units and/or reduced road construction, thereby lessening net adverse environmental impacts.
To salvage trees or stands killed or substantially damaged by fire, windthrow, or other natural disturbance.
To control the spread of insect or disease outbreaks.
To conduct experiments.
To provide for the safety of forest users (this includes hazard tree removal in camp and picnic grounds, in administrative sites, and along trails and roads open to the public).
To maintain or enhance fish and wildlife habitats.
To improve the visual resource by opening scenic vistas.
To provide guy line or tailhold trees where needed to facilitate logging on adjacent lands.
To facilitate construction and maintenance of facilities such as roads, trails, power lines, communication facilities, administrative facilities, recreation facilities, etc.
To eliminate interference with the operation of communication sites.

Design, to the extent consistent with other management direction, forest products sales to encourage complete utilization of harvestable timber including noncommercial species.

Use site preparation procedures to prepare newly harvested and inadequately stocked areas for planting new trees. Four types of site preparation treatments (prescribed burning, herbicide application, and mechanical and manual techniques) will be utilized. BLM's "Record of Decision Western Oregon Program - Management of Competing Vegetation", 1992, and BLM Oregon Manual Supplement H-5420-1 will be followed in selecting site preparation treatments, using an integrated vegetation management approach.

Use prevention as the preferred strategy in controlling competitive and unwanted vegetation. The goal is to prevent or reduce the need for future vegetation control by considering known ecological relationships on individual sites. Harvest activity will be designed to eliminate or reduce post harvest treatment. Prevention seeks to detect and ameliorate conditions that cause or favor the presence of competing or unwanted vegetation in the harvest units before it interferes with management objectives. Prevention is in contrast to treatment.

Use herbicides where considered the most appropriate treatment to control grasses, forbs, brush and noncommercial tree species, to increase seedling survival. Application and monitoring of herbicides will be done in accordance with BLM's "Record of Decision, Western Oregon Program, Management of Competing Vegetation", 1992.

Apply herbicides aerially and by several ground methods, as site specifically appropriate. The method selected will depend on costs, topography, equipment limitations, target plant species and their distribution, potential environmental impacts, and biological conditions. Most aerial herbicide applications will be accomplished by helicopters equipped with systems designed to limit herbicide application to the target areas.

Control stringently the timing of herbicide treatment in relation to specified weather conditions such as temperature, humidity, and wind. Continuous project inspection of spraying operations is required. There is full authority for ordering cessation of operations based on adverse field conditions. Both equipment and operators will be checked frequently by field project inspectors. Only registered chemicals will be used in accordance with label instructions on the container. Handling, storage, and application of chemicals will also be in accordance with the Oregon Forest Practices Rules.

Use manual site preparation consisting of brush pulling or cutting or hand piling of slash for burning.

Use mechanical site preparation consisting of piling or windrowing of slash, brush, and unmerchantable stems. Track-type equipment with a brush blade will be restricted to areas with suitable soil types and slopes less than 35 percent. Track-type tractor site preparation operations will meet the following minimum conditions:

Minimize piling of large woody material.
Avoid displacing duff layers and topsoil into piles or windrows.
Make only two machine passes (one round trip) over the same area.
Operate at soil moistures that maximize resistance to compaction. Special equipment or techniques that will achieve the same insignificant (less than one percent) growth loss result may be used instead of the preceding techniques, especially on soils considered unsuitable for tractor type operations. All compacted areas will be tilled with a properly designed self drafting subsoiler equipment.

Convert lands identified as available for timber production but currently growing primarily brush or hardwoods to appropriate conifer species unless the hardwoods will produce a higher net monetary return than conifers. Such actions will meet relevant tests of economic feasibility or justification and will be consistent with other resource and land use allocation objectives of an alternative. Conversion could include harvest of existing merchantable trees, slashing of nonmerchantable trees, and other site preparation techniques as appropriate.

Achieve adequate reforestation as promptly as practical following timber harvest. Harvested areas will be planted with indigenous commercial coniferous species (e.g., Douglas-fir, western hemlock, and western redcedar, etc.) generally within one year of the completion of harvesting and site preparation. Hardwoods will be encouraged on harvested sites where they will produce a higher net monetary return than conifers. Identified root disease centers will be planted with indigenous resistant tree species.

Use planting stock from nursery grown seed collected on sites and at elevations similar to the specific project area. Genetically selected stock will also be nursery grown and used to the extent available in accordance with BLM's Western Oregon Tree Improvement Plan. Broad selection of parent trees for such stock is used to maintain genetic diversity.

Conduct post-treatment reforestation surveys to determine the rate of survival and if replanting or interplanting will be required to meet stocking standards.

Protect plantations by using treatments including protection of seedlings from the sun by shading and protection from damage by deer, elk, mountain beaver, or other animals by placing plastic tubing or netting over the seedlings or by bud capping. Large populations of mountain beaver or pocket gophers will be reduced by several different methods when they cause significant damage to a plantation. The number of acres requiring each of these treatments will be determined annually in conjunction with normal reforestation surveys. Control within progeny test sites and other intensive study plots will also include porcupine or other animals causing significant damage. The appropriate treatments will be analyzed and determined through an interdisciplinary effort that will consider all resource objectives.

Promote the survival and establishment of coniferous seedlings through maintenance treatments. Release treatments reduce competition for light, moisture, and nutrients between surrounding vegetation and existing coniferous seedlings, and promote dominance and growth of established coniferous trees. Faster growing hardwoods, such as red alder, bigleaf maple or vine maple, overtop and suppress slower starting conifer seedlings. The degree and type of competition varies with the individual site. On dry sites, grasses, forbs and shrubs are strong competitors for water, while elsewhere shrubs and/or hardwoods grow rapidly enough to shut out essential light and compete for water during the dry summer. With reduced competition, the conifers rapidly grow beyond the point where they can be overtopped and further suppressed by surrounding vegetation. When this growth situation is achieved (approximately three to ten years after planting), there will be no further effort to control competing vegetation.

Use an integrated vegetation management approach in selection of maintenance and release treatments, in conformance with BLM's "Record of Decision, Western Oregon Program - Management of Competing Vegetation", 1992. Herbicides will be used to control competing vegetation when analysis shows their use to be the most appropriate treatment. See the previous discussion on site preparation for further discussion of herbicide use. Manual vegetation control methods (clearing around selected commercial trees using hand tools) will also be used when considered most appropriate to assure commercial tree growth.

Apply precommercial thinning to timber stands in the intensive timber production base that are overstocked. Thinning will generally be done between ten and 20 years of age. Average number of trees left will vary between 150 to 250 trees per acre depending on the alternative and individual stand prescription. Contract specifications will define desired density, spatial arrangement and selection criteria for trees to be retained.

Fertilize areas precommercially or commercially thinned and portions of areas where stocking control is achieved through plantation spacing where increased wood yields will result. The average application is expected to be 200 pounds of nitrogen per acre beginning when the stand is precommercially thinned and at 15 year intervals thereafter until 20-25 years before final harvest. In addition to acceleration of growth for up to 15 years following treatment, fertilization tends to reduce shock associated with thinning.

Manage top ranking plus trees intensively in the field to optimize cone production (thinning, fertilization, girdling, and systemic insecticide treatment). The seed orchards for Douglas-fir and sugar pine will be managed to produce increasing yields of genetically selected seed. Minor species seed production plantations will also be planted in the seed orchards to ensure a dependable supply of seed for trees native to the Roseburg District.

Apply pruning to selected young forest stands. This treatment can significantly increase the value of harvested timber. It reduces the proportion of juvenile wood in the tree and the number of knots caused by branches. The lower branches of the identified crop trees will usually be pruned to a height of approximately 18 feet.

General Forest Management Area

Retain late-successional forest patches in landscape areas where little late-successional forest persists. This management action/direction will be applied in fifth field watersheds (20 to 200 square miles) in which federal forest lands are currently comprised of 15 percent or less late-successional forest. (The assessment of 15 percent will include all federal land allocations in a watershed.) Within such an area, protect all remaining late-successional forest stands. Protection of these stands could be modified in the future when other portions of a watershed have recovered to the point where they could replace the ecological roles of these stands.

Retain snags within a timber harvest unit at levels sufficient to support species of cavity nesting birds at 40 percent of potential population levels. Meet the 40 percent minimum throughout the Matrix with per acre requirements met on average areas no larger than 40 acres.

Retain six to eight green conifer trees per acre after regeneration harvest to provide a source of snag recruitment and a legacy bridging past and future forests. Retained trees will be distributed in variable patterns (e.g., single trees, clumps, and stringers) to contribute to stand diversity.

In addition to the previous green tree retention management action/direction, retain green trees for snag recruitment in harvest units where there is an identified, near-term (less than three decades) snag deficit. These trees do not count toward green tree retention requirements.

Leave 120 linear feet of logs per acre greater than or equal to 16 inches in diameter and 16 feet long. Existing decay class 1 and 2 logs count toward this requirement. Down logs will reflect the species mix of original stands. Where this management action/direction cannot be met with existing coarse woody debris, merchantable material will be used to make up the deficit.

Plan initial spacing of seedlings, thinning and control of competing vegetation in the General Forest Management Area to maximize wood production by concentrating site resources on individual tree growth.

See Appendix E for additional detailed management direction.

Connectivity/Diversity Blocks

Maintain 25 to 30 percent of each block in late-successional forest at any point in time. The percentage of habitat will include habitat in other allocations, such as Riparian Reserves. Blocks may be comprised of contiguous or noncontiguous BLM-administered land. The size and arrangement of habitat within a block should provide effective habitat to the extent possible.

Retain 12-18 green conifer trees per acre when an area is regeneration harvested. Distribute the retained trees in variable patterns (e.g., single trees, clumps and stringers) to contribute to stand diversity. The management goal for the retained trees and subsequent density management will be the recovery of old-growth conditions in approximately 100 to 120 years.

Provide 120 linear feet of logs per acre greater than or equal to 16 inches in diameter and 16 feet long. Existing decay class 1 and 2 logs will be credited toward this total. Down logs will reflect the species mix of original stands. Where this management action/direction cannot be met with existing coarse woody debris, merchantable material will be used to make up the deficit.

See Appendix E for additional detailed management direction.