Historic, Archive Document

Do not assume content reflects current
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Forest Service

August 1995

To O'rder
Publications

A report for land managers on
recent developments in forestry
research at the four western
Experiment Stations of the Forest
Service, U S. Department of
Agriculture.

In This Issue

page

A crystal ball glance at outdoor

recreation 1

D.E.M.O.: a Research/NFS
cooperative effort 4

The changing face of wildland
recreation 8

Researchers track the

bull trout 12

Single copies of publications
referred to in this magazine are
available without charge from the
issuing station unless another
source is indicated. See page 19
for ordering cards.

Each station compiles periodic
lists of new publications. To get
on the mailing list, write to the
director at each station.

Western Forest

Experiment

Stations

Pacific Northwest Research Station
(PNW)

333 S.W. First Avenue
Portland, Oregon 97204

Pacific Southwest Research
Station (PSW)

P.O. Box 245
Berkeley, California 94701

New from research 16

Cover

The term “outdoor recreation" can
have a different meaning for
different people — from a stroll
around the block to a 10-day
whitewater rafting excursion.
Urban growth, increased aging of
the U.S. population, and changing
patterns of immigration and racial
and ethnic diversity are just some
of the factors recreation resource
managers are facing as they plan
for the future. Forest Service
scientists are researching how
best to address these changes
and meet the needs of outdoor
recreationists. This issue of
“Forestry Research West”
contains two articles on the
current and future changes of
outdoor recreation. They begin
on pages 1 and 8 .

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magazine as early as possible.
Send mailing label from this
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Permission to reprint articles is not
required, but credit should be
given to the Forest Service,
U.S.D.A.

Mention of commercial products is
for information only. No endorse¬
ment by the U.S.D.A. is implied.

Intermountain Research Station
(INT)

324 25th Street
Ogden, Utah 84401

Rocky Mountain Forest and
Range Experiment Station (RM)
240 West Prospect Street
Fort Collins, Colorado 80526-2098

A crystal ball
glance at
outdoor
recreation

by Rick Fletcher
Rocky Mountain Station
and John Dwyer
North Central Station

Outdoor recreation has been, and
continues to be, one of our
Nation’s favorite pastimes. From
backcountry wilderness treks, to
simply visiting a local city park,
we enjoy getting outdoors. Since
much recreation occurs on
National Forests, the USDA Forest
Service is involved in finding out
what people like to do, what they
look for in recreation
opportunities, and how to better
improve services to the public.
This is a complex issue, but
recreation resource planners and
managers are discovering an
emerging link between recreation
preferences and increases in
aging, racial and ethnic diversity,
and urban residence.

Forest Service Scientist John
Dwyer (North Central Experiment
Station, Chicago, IL) says “two
main demographic factors have
implications for managing
recreational resources: 1)
increased aging of the population
(accompanying slower population
growth and longer lifespans — the
age is shifting from younger to
older); and 2) an increase in
visitors from different racial and
ethnic groups. Between 1990 and
2025, the U.S. population will
increase by 50 million, of whom 17
million will be Ffispanic, 14 million
African American, and 10 million
from other groups. “Minorities will
make up over 80 percent of the
population increase,” he says.

Urban growth is also a factor. The
1980's witnessed a return to the
trend of greater increases in
metropolitan areas than in
non-metropolitan areas, with many
of the Nation's largest metro areas
seeing growth of 20 percent or
more.

Some recreationists enjoy getting away
from it all, while others prefer to relax at a
local park or lakeshore.

1

Those who study, plan for, and
manage recreation facilities and
programs are looking for
information about the implications
of population changes for the
future demands of recreation
users. Early recreation research
often focused on the connection
between recreation activities and
demographic variables. “Growing
recreation activity was tied to
increases in population, income,
mobility, and leisure time,” says
Dwyer. “That work was widely
reported and often used to
support expansion of outdoor
recreation facilities and programs.
More recently, however,
substantially lower rates of growth
in population, income, mobility
and leisure time have brought
more attention to the increasing
diversity of the population and its
implications for recreation
resource management.”

“Identifying the likely change in
recreation participation and the
associated resource demands
that might accompany
demographic changes, such as
aging, growth in racial and ethnic
minorities, and increased
urbanization, is a difficult
challenge,” says Dwyer.

“If you examine the percent of
U S. adults participating in
recreation activities at the
national, state, regional and local
levels, you find distinct patterns
that are associated with the
current distribution of population
with respect to age, race and
ethnicity, and urban or rural
residence,” he says.

For some, outdoor recreation means a
simple stroll through an attractive urban
environment

For instance, studies show
significant differences in
participation across racial and
ethnic groups, with significantly
lower participation for African
Americans in wiidland
environments, far from urban
areas, or involving water, ice or
snow. An example — African
Americans hike and backpack at
one-tenth the rate of whites, but
Hispanic Americans and other
groups report higher participation
rates than whites.

“There also are significant
differences in participation across
a rural to urban continuum, with
participation patterns reflecting
the availability of opportunities in
these areas, as well as lifestyles,”
says Dwyer. “For example, there is
a higher rate of participation in
hunting and fishing in rural areas,
and higher participation in
activities reguiring specialized
facilities in urban areas, such as
golf and tennis.”

Looking ahead

Dwyer and his associates are
using the “cohert-component”
projection model (first applied to
recreation by S. H. Murdock et al.)
to help project the implications of
demographic changes. “When
applied on a national scale, it
shows that there will be important
future changes in outdoor
recreation participation, and in the
age and racial and ethnic
structure of participants," he says.

Dwyer stresses that one thing is
certain — “expect changes.” And
what might those be? Outdoor
recreationists are likely to increase
in numbers at a slower rate than in
the past, and will be increasingly
older, urban, and from racial and
ethnic minority groups. It will also
be more difficult to predict future
outdoor recreation behavior
because of societal changes and
people’s altering preferences.

2

Dwyer also suggests that it may
be necessary to review fee
structures. “With an increasing
proportion of participants in the
‘older-age’ class, and a fairly
widespread practice of offering
reduced fees to older Americans,
we are moving toward a smaller
portion of users paying for the use
of resources. Also, the selection of
staff, and the development of
training programs, should address
the needs of increasingly diverse
customers. This includes
increased usage of minority and
older American staff. Finally,
managers and planners should
expand dialogue with their diverse
customers, both on-site and
off-site, to be certain that
management plans and programs
are in tune with their needs.

Forest Service Research
continues to develop guidelines
for plans and programs to help
meet the needs of customers who
are increasingly older, urban and
more racially and ethnically
diverse. Additional information on
these and related studies are
found in the publication Customer
Diversity and the Future Demand
for Outdoor Recreation, General
Technical Report RM-252,
available from the Rocky Mountain
Station. You can contact Research
Forester John Dwyer at the North
Central Forest Experiment Station,
845 Chicago Ave., Suite 225,
Evanston, IL 60202-2357,

(708) 866-9311.

who work with visitors,” says
Dwyer. He notes that particular
attention should be given to the
management and use of
resources in or near urban
centers. Increased concentration
of the population in these areas
(especially minority groups),
reduced long-distance travel for
all groups, and a tendency for
racial and ethnic groups to stay
close to home, should provide a
“heads-up" for those who manage
outdoor recreation areas in or
near cities.

Preferences vary, from the comfort of
developed campgrounds, to “roughing it"
in the backcountry.

“These changes will have
wide-ranging implications for
recreation resource management
programs. Consideration will need
to be given to major changes in
the design and management of
recreation settings, signing, the
focus of visitor programs,
information and marketing, and
the selection and training of those

3

D.E.M.O.: a
Research/NFS
cooperative
effort

by James D. White
Gifford Pinchot National
Forest, and
Karen Esterholdt
Pacific Northwest Station

Gary Twete, North Umpqua Ranger
District, assisting in wildlife surveys at the
Diamond Lake Ranger District, Umpqua
National Forest. Twete is holding a
golden mantled ground squirrel for

The President’s Forest Plan (the
recently completed plan for
managing National Forests in the
range of the northern spotted owl)
includes important changes in
approaches to managing forests.
One, for example, is the
component to retain some of the
original forest — either in
individual trees or in small
patches of intact forest — after a
regeneration timber harvest.
Scientists and managers have
concluded that retention of
portions of the original forest will
be essential in ecosystem
management. Yet, despite belief
in the importance of retaining
these features, there is little
information to help foresters

weighing and marking. Animals are
trapped by both ground and tree traps
(note trap on side of tree to the left at
about head height), (photo by Rick
Abbott)

determine how much to retain. Is it
better to leave individual trees, or
to leave intact patches of forest?
How many trees or patches are
best? In addition, we need to
know more about the effects of
these practices on specific
aspects of the ecosystem. Good
information is available for tree
growth and regeneration, but what
about populations of small
mammals, such as northern flying
squirrels? Or a multitude of
mushrooms, truffles, and other
fungi? Or the native plants on the
forest floor?

To answer some of these
questions, a study has begun on
National Forest System and
Washington State Department of
Natural Resources lands, in
association with the Pacific
Northwest Research Station and
their partners. The Douglas
County Project in southern Oregon
and the Ecosystems Research
Group at the University of
Washington were instrumental in
supporting the study; they have
been joined by Oregon State
University and the University of
Oregon.

The Demonstration of Ecosystem
Management Options, or
D.E.M.O., project will evaluate a
wide range of silvicultural
treatments for managing forest
ecosystems, and develop
information on a range of
management options, all of which
seem biologically and
operationally feasible, and each of
which may have its time and
place in managed forest
landscapes. The design of
D.E.M.O. provides for long-term
evaluation of treatments on
multiple resources and biological,
social, and economic values.

D.E.M.O. design

The D.E.M.O. project will focus on
regeneration harvests, and will be
installed primarily in mature forest
stands. Different methods of
regeneration harvest cutting will
be examined, all intended to
foster the health and productivity
of multiple-use forests. The project
will focus on species associated

4

with old-growth of late
successional forests (mature
forests). A primary focus will be to
evaluate green tree retention as
prescribed in the President’s
Forest Plan.

The project will evaluate six
treatments that differ primarily in
the density and arrangement of
remaining trees after an initial
regeneration harvest cut. The
treatments will create a broad
range of environments. They are
defined by how much basal area
is retained after harvest (basal
area is a measurement of the area
of a cross section at the base of
the tree):

1. 100-percent retention — Uncut,
unmanaged “control stand.

This treatment will provide a
baseline for judging how
effective other treatments are in
maintaining, re-creating, or
accelerating the development
of features of the mature forest.

2. 75-percent retention — Initial
harvest will occur in small
patch cutting of about 1
hectare (2.5 acres). Patches
will be dispersed throughout
the stand and will occupy
about 25 percent of the area.
Future regeneration cuttings
may occur in 20- to 30-year
cycles with some thinnings
possibly done at the same time.

3. 40-percent retention
(dispersed) — Residual trees
will be dispersed throughout
the harvested stand and will
consist primarily of larger trees.
The intent is to provide a test of
a moderate level of tree
retention, with retained trees
dispersed throughout the unit.

4. 40-percent retention
(aggregated) — Residual trees
will be clumped in patches of
about 1 hectare. No cutting will
occur within the patches. The
intent is to provide an
undisturbed reservoir of
biological material that may
lead to rapid recolonization and
recovery of species in the
disturbed areas. This treatment
is a moderate level of tree
retention.

5. 15-percent retention
(dispersed) — This treatment is
the same as no. 3, above, but
with fewer 1 -hectare patches
retained. This treatment not
only provides a comparison
with the 40-percent retention
treatment, but also is similar to
the retention levels called for in
the President’s Forest Plan.

6. 15-percent retention
(aggregated) — This treatment
is similar to no. 4, above.

Susan Bolton, researcher from the
University of Washington, installing
hydrologic testing equipment at the
Watson Falls D EM .0. block, Diamond
Lake Ranger District, Umpqua National
Forest, (photo by Mike Amaranthus)

Various silvicultural practices will
be used to ensure regeneration
and to foster the principal goal of
maintaining or accelerating the
development of characteristics of
the mature forest. Silvicultural
practices may be modified to
minimize the amount of additional
variation they might bring to the
study stands. Snags, coarse
woody debris, and advanced
reproduction will be retained as
much as possible.

5

Basic layout

Treatments will be established in
blocks, four in the Umpqua
National Forest, three in the
Gifford Pinchot National Forest,
and one on lands managed by the
Washington State Department of
Natural Resources. Each block
will have one of each of the six
treatments. All treatments in a
block will be in stands having
similar age and species
composition, environment, and
surrounding landscapes.

The six stands will be at least 13
hectares (32 acres); this minimum
size is necessary to assess
effects on populations of small
mammal and bird species. The
stands need to be square to
slightly rectangular and
surrounded on all sides by a
40-meter buffer. Ideally, the stands
should be at least 20 hectares (50
acres), but it is not possible to find
enough stands of that size that
also will meet other site-selection
criteria. Additional constraints
limiting available sites are roads,
existing harvest units,
management allocations, and
streamside buffer zones.

Blocks representing a diversity of
forest types and stand age
classes are being evaluated for
use in the D.E.M.O. project.

Blocks will be located in the
Western Flemlock, Western
FlemlockAA/hite Fir, and Pacific
Silver Fir Zones; age classes
represented will range from about
70 to 300 years or more.
Douglas-fir is the predominant
tree species in all blocks. The
majority of conditions faced by

resource managers in forests on
the west side of the Cascade
Range will be represented; thus,
basic findings should have broad
applicability. At the same time, the
wide range in conditions
increased the need to collect
adequate data on pretreatment
conditions and wildlife
populations. For some of the
study variables, such as wildlife, 2
years of preharvest baseline data
collection are planned. Other less
dynamic parts of the ecosystem
(vegetation, for example) will be
studied for 1 year before the
treatments begin.

Major areas of
investigation

The D.E.M.O. project provides an
opportunity to examine effects of
treatments on many ecosystem
characteristics and in relation to
other management
considerations, including public
expectations and economics.
Because of limited time and
financial or human resources,
decisions have to be made on
which subjects to study. Some
high-priority items have been
selected in six general subject
categories.

Vegetation

Vegetation assessments will
include the survival, damage, and
growth of residual trees,
advanced tree reproduction, and

other woody and herbaceous
vegetation; “survival” and
dynamics (decay) of snags and
down trees; and the establishment
and growth of tree seedling
regeneration.

Wildlife

Wildlife studies will determine
population densities and habitat
use by several species of small
mammals, birds, amphibians, and
reptiles. For the most part,
D.E.M.O. will focus on wildlife
species with home ranges at the
stand level. The size of the
sampling grid, for instance, was
driven by the home range size of
the flying squirrel. D.E.M.O. also
may provide some information
about habitat use by ungulates
and other farther ranging
mammals and birds.

Soils, fungi, and other
special forest products

Work on soils, fungi, and special
forest products will evaluate
disturbance and compaction of
the forest floor and will determine
the abundance, community
structure, and dynamics of fungi
and special forest products. The
demand for one special forest
product, mushrooms, has greatly
increased in the Pacific Northwest
during the past few years, which
is important both ecologically and
economically. Fungi also are
critically important components of
food webs for wildlife species in
mature forests. We know very
little, however, about the effect of
different management regimes on
these organisms.

6

Observing, identifying, and recording all
fungi on a plot at Watson Falls D.E.M.O.
site, Diamond Lake Ranger District,
Umpqua National Forest, (photo by Rick
Abbott)

Hydrology

Hydrologic investigations will
focus on guantity and quality of
water moving along surface and
subsurface flow paths, snow
accumulation, rain-on-snow
events, and potential impacts on
watersheds.

Social perceptions

D.E.M.O. will include
investigations of the aesthetic
value of each treatment.
Perceptions will be categorized by

attitudes and policies and in
relation to the amount of
information people have about
management objectives.

Economics

Economic investigations will focus
on financial evaluation of
harvesting costs, stumpage
values, and future stand growth;
economic values of residual trees;
and a wide range of commodity
and noncommodity values.

Supporting studies

The D.E.M.O. installations and the
data sets developed from them
will provide many opportunities for
supporting studies — for
example, (1) the relations of
original stand characteristics and

thinning and harvesting levels to
resulting canopy coverage; (2)
performance of genetically
selected stock in the diverse
environments created by different
silvicultural practices;

(3) depredation of bird nests by
corvids (ravens, crows, and jays)
and other predators in the
different treatments; and (4)
effects of treatments on insects,
disease, and lichen occurrence
and composition. Some of this
work may be conducted with
D.E.M.O. funds, if resources are
sufficient. If not, such studies can
be incorporated into an already
established network.

For more information

The D.E.M.O. study is being
coordinated by a team of
scientists and managers from the
Pacific Northwest Research
Station, the National Forest
System, and the Washington
Department of Natural Resources.
For additional information, contact
any of the following:

Mike Amaranthus, Pacific
Northwest Research Station
based at Siskiyou National Forest,
Grants Pass, OR (503) 471-6500;
Keith Aubry, Pacific Northwest
Research Station, Forestry
Sciences Laboratory, Olympia,

WA (360) 956-2345; Al Horton,
Pacific Northwest Research
Station, Portland, OR
(503) 321-5800; Brenda Woodard,
Umpqua National Forest,
Roseburg, OR (503) 672-6601;

Jim White, Gifford Pinchot
National Forest, Vancouver, WA
(206) 750-5000; and Jim Hotvedt,
Washington Department of Natural
Resources, Olympia, WA
(360) 902-1000.

7

by J. Louise Mastrantonio
for Pacific Southwest
Station

The changing
face of
wildland
recreation

Until recently, most of the people
that visited forests and outdoor
recreation areas in the United
States were of Anglo-Saxon
heritage.

That is changing, however. The
reasons? Urban growth and
changing patterns of immigration.
Urban growth brings more city
dwellers, often of diverse ethnic
backgrounds, to outdoor
recreation areas. In recent years,
large numbers of people have
come to the United States,

principally from Asia, Mexico, and
Central America. The changing
population patterns, and their
effects on wildland recreation, are
most apparent in places like
Florida, parts of the Pacific
Northwest, the Southwestern
United States, and southern
California.

California is a case in point. In the
1980’s, 25 percent of all
immigrants to the United States
came to California. In 1990,
California became the first state

so diverse that no single ethnic
group comprises 50 percent or
more of the population. By 2020,
Hispanics could become the
nation’s largest ethnic group.

Research program

At the Forest Fire Laboratory in
Riverside, California, a research
facility of the Pacific Southwest
Research Station, social scientists
are looking at various aspects of
ethnic diversity in wildland
recreation.

Research began in 1988 as a
result of concerns raised by
managers of the region's four
national forests: the Angeles,
Cleveland, Los Padres, and San
Bernardino. On these forests, all
of which are within a 1-2 hour
drive of major metropolitan areas,
managers had begun to see
dramatic changes in recreation
use: large numbers of people,
more visitors of different ethnic
backgrounds, people taking
shorter trips closer to home, larger
groups, and people using the out-
of-doors in non-traditional ways.
Sometimes, managers also saw
what they considered to be
“depreciative” behavior: littering,
vandalism, and other activities
that damaged natural resources.

Forest managers were seeing dramatic
changes in recreation use, including large
numbers of people.

8

Research goals

Such changes are not necessarily
a problem, according to Dr.

Patricia Winter, project leader for
Wildland Recreation and Urban
Culture Research at Riverside. But
they do raise many questions for
managers . . . questions that can
be addressed through research.

The principal goals of the program
are to:

• Learn more about the people
who use “urban-wildland”
areas (their cultural and ethnic
diversity, age, socio-economic
status, language, education,
activity preferences, etc.)

• Look at conflicts between user
groups (for example, bikers
and equestrians), between
visitors and resource
managers, and depreciative
behaviors (damage to natural
resources and facilities).

• Learn more about
communication channels: how
people find out about
recreation areas and how best
to communicate with them
both on and off the site.

In the natural sciences, new
information comes from data
gathered from observation in the
field or laboratory. In social
science research, new information
is also the result. But in this case,
the subject is people and the new
information is specific data about
them: where they come from, their
ethnic background,
characteristics, attitudes, and
behavior. Data is gathered
through observation, personal
interviews, and questionnaires.

Such information can be very
helpful. In southern California,
managers consider it as important
as any other kind of data. In fact,
managers have helped set the
direction for research, cooperated
in studies, and will ultimately be
the main users.

People that visit outdoor
recreation areas tend to have
many things in common. They
obviously come to the out-of-
doors because they like it and
want that experience. They often
select a “preferred" site and return
again and again. And visitors to a
given site may engage in similar
activities.

Cultural differences

But in this research, scientists
wanted to learn more about the
differences between and among
user groups. They didn't have to
look far. Almost from the
beginning, distinct differences
were identified in the way people
used the sites.

Many studies have pointed out the
differences between Hispanic and
Anglo users. Hispanics tend to
rate certain site characteristics
more important than do Anglos:
picnic areas, parking, signs,
friendly rangers, ease of access,
and few rules and regulations. In
general, Hispanics tend to put
more emphasis on family
recreation, prefer more intensively
developed sites, passive forms of
recreation (picnicking, relaxing,
etc.), and have more concern
about their personal safety. In
contrast, Anglos tend to put
highest value on natural beauty, a
clean, unlittered environment, and
active, goal-oriented activities
such as hiking, walking, and
riding motorcycles.

Central American users

Consider the way visitors of
Central American descent used
four recreation areas in the San
Bernardino and Angeles National
Forests during one study. Their
activities were very different from
the way Anglos use recreation
areas.

Most groups arrived at the
recreation site between mid
morning and noon. Food
preparation was a dominant
activity, primarily foods of a
traditional nature: carne asada,
tortillas, tacos, refried beans, and
tamales, or hot peppers and
plantains. Most meals were
prepared entirely at the site. In
one case, a goat was cooked all
morning for a group lunch.

9

Creeks were a focal point of
activity for both adults and
children. Adults might wade or sit
in the water and watch the
children playing around them.
Later in the day, they socialized,
napped, listened to the radio, or
played games. Spanish-language
broadcasting of baseball or
soccer games were popular.
Recreation areas were also
commonly used as part of a
church activity. A group might
come by bus after church for a
picnic; afterwards the children
played games while the adults
talked and relaxed.

Many activities considered
common for Anglos were not
observed. Sunbathing was rare,
for example, and few people wore
bathing suits even in the water,
preferring instead to wear their
everyday clothes.

All in all, people tended to use the
site the way they had used the
outdoors in their native country, in
this case, Nicaragua. In effect,
they sought to duplicate their past
experiences. For these people,
coming to the forest was often a
“bittersweet” experience, a good
time to be shared with family and
friends, but also a reminder of the
way things used to be back home.

In general, Hlspanics put more emphasis
on family recreation

Implications for
management

To date, more than 15 studies
have been conducted as part of
this program, both in cooperation
with National Forests, the Bureau
of Land Management, other
landowners, and cooperating
universities. Out of this research
has come much useful
information. A key finding is that
every area is unique. No two
areas are used exactly the same
way and the visitors to those areas
also differ in their cultural
heritage, values, and recreational
pursuits.

An example is Mecca Hills, a BLM
recreation site. There researchers
found significant differences in the
type of visitors that used the area
on holiday versus non-holiday
weekends. Throughout most of the
year, visitors were mainly Anglo
and tended to use the site in
rather traditional ways. On holiday
weekends, namely Mothers Day
and Easter, use was very different:
dominantly Hispanic, larger
groups devoted to family-oriented
activities, and people with a
preference for more highly
developed facilities.

10

Research results helped
managers plan new developments
for the site. Because Hispanic use
was high on only two weekends,
they decided to make temporary
changes for those weekends:
bring in portable toilets and trash
dispensers rather than develop
entire new facilities, and bring in
bilingual rangers rather than put
up all-new bilingual signs.

“The important thing is not to jump
to conclusions about what is
going on at a particular site,”
Winter says. “There have been a
lot of surprises in this research.”
For example, what some might
interpret to be anti-social behavior
(littering, vandalism, etc.) and lack
of concern for the resource, is
more likely to be the result of
different cultural values,
differences in the way people use
the site, and facilities that are
inadequate for the use they are
getting.

General guidelines

It is clear times are changing.

“The non-traditional is becoming
more traditional and the
perception of who is a traditional
visitor has to change as well,” she
says. “The important thing is to
know who visitors are and develop
the skills to communicate with
them.”

In that regard, there are specific
things managers can do to ease
the transition:

• Learn how to incorporate the
cultural values of non-
traditional groups into
management plans.

• Develop training programs for
staff that have direct contact
with recreation users. Field
employees should be from
culturally diverse groups and/
or bilingual, be sensitive to
cultural differences, and have
more interaction with forest
visitors that is not related to
law enforcement.

• Increase the use of informal
communication channels to
reach Hispanics and use
whatever language is
necessary for signing and
interpretive programs.

• Plan water and sanitation
facilities with the idea that
many users will prepare food
at the sites.

• Use recreationists as
volunteers. Because people
were often found in “favorite”
places to which they have a
strong emotional attachment,
they may be willing to help out
by participating in litter control
or education programs.

“We appreciate the opportunity to
work closely with managers,”
Winter ways. “Our job is to provide
information about forest visitors
and how they are using sites. In
the final analysis, however, it is the
manager that must make the
decisions about what use is
appropriate for a particular area.

For further information, contact
the Pacific Southwest Research
Station and request Visitor
Perceptions of Crowding and
Discrimination at Two National
Forests in Southern California,
Research Paper PSW-216.

Researchers
track the bull
trout

by Cindy Chojnacky
Intermountain Station

The status of bull trout is of
growing concern to the Forest
Service and other land
management agencies in the
Intermountain West. In June 1994,
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
determined that listing of bull trout
was "warranted but precluded"
under the Endangered Species
Act. The Forest Service considers
this native fish a “sensitive"
species — at risk and a candidate
species for further protection. Yet
little is known about bull trout
distribution, abundance, and
habitat needs.

Russ Thurow, and other
researchers at the Enhancing Fish
Habitats Project in Boise are out to
change that. They are using radio
telemetry, underwater surveys,
and stream mapping to
understand the critical habitat
needs and seasonal habitat uses
of bull trout.

Unlike anadromous fish such as
the Chinook salmon, the bull trout
spends its entire life cycle in
freshwater — there is no great
pilgrimage to the ocean and back.
However, it does get around.
Fluvial stocks of bull trout spawn
in small stream reaches, move
down to larger rivers to winter, and
migrate upstream to their home
streams to spawn again.

Belly down in icy water

In a joint venture with the Idaho
Fish and Game Department,
Thurow is tracing the journey of
bull trout that spawn and rear in a
tributary of the Salmon River, then
move down to the main river to
overwinter in pools. Thurow has
spent many long frigid winter
hours belly down in icy water
learning where bull trout winter.

His experience in observing trout
underwater resulted in the recent
publication of Underwater
Methods for Study of Salmonids in
the Intermountain West, General
Technical Report
I NT-307.

The interagency research team
includes Thurow, Biologist John
Guzevich, and Fish and Game’s
Dan Schill and Steve Elle. The
project began in 1992, and a third
field season is being completed.
“It’s a good partnership,” noted
Thurow. “We have pooled
equipment, people, and expertise.
We have collected a lot more
information by sharing resources
and personnel.”

Goals of the study are to (1)
describe bull trout seasonal
habitat uses and critical habitats;

12

(2) evaluate bull trout dispersal
and “homing” — where juveniles
migrate to rear, and whether
adults show “fidelity” by returning
to the same area to spawn; and

(3) describe what factors
influence fish movements and
when fish move.

First, “we collect information on all
fluvial bull trout that enter the
stream” through a Department of
Fish and Game fish trap. Next, the
team surgically implants radio
tags in the abdomen of a
subsample of bull trout. “We’ve
taken care to properly learn the
surgical technique,” Thurow said.
The tags are selected so they
weigh less than 2 percent of
fishes bodyweight.

No mortality after
surgery

The team was trained in the
surgical technique by
experienced personnel, watched
videos of surgery, and practiced
on hatchery trout before
attempting the surgery on bull
trout. “Our training paid off, said
Thurow. “We have observed no
mortality of wild bull trout for the
first two months after surgery.”

Radio tag which is surgically implanted in
bull trout.

Bull trout anesthetized and ready for
surgical implant.

The implanted fish are returned to
the stream and tracked using
radio telemetry. Each tag emits a
unique signal for 220 days to one
year.

13

Habitat is classified, and stream
depth, overhead cover,
submerged cover, water
temperature, woody debris, and
other characteristics are
measured. “We're trying to find
out whether fish are selecting
specific channel features and
locations or are randomly picking
sites,” Thurow explained.

As the bull trout puzzle is put
together, the team is linking the
location and type of habitat the
trout seek with different phases in
its life history: prespawning or
movements of fish prior to
spawning, spawning and
construction of redds (locations
where eggs are deposited in
gravel of stream reaches), and
postspawning or when trout
migrate downstream and
overwinter in the larger streams.

Equipment used for bull trout tracking ,
tag, receiver and book of topographic
maps for plotting trout locations.

Several days after fish are
released, an aerial survey is
conducted with an experienced
pilot who flies down the creek's
20-mile length with radio
equipment on board. A receiver
picks up tag signals so that a fish
can be located within several
hundred meters of its true
location. Fish locations are
marked on a topographic map of
the watershed.

Next, researchers walk the
stream, using the marked
topographic map, wearing
headphones and carrying a radio
receiver to pinpoint each tagged
fish’s exact location. When fish are
found, their location is described
in detail.

“We can evaluate habitat selection
by comparing what habitat is
available to what’s actually used
by the trout,” Thurow added. The
study is being related to broader
habitat inventory work being
conducted through Kerry Overton,
the project’s technology transfer
specialist, and National Forest
fisheries biologists.

The migratory bull trout's nomadic
journey runs something like this:
Fish begin moving into the
drainage from the main Salmon
River in May or June. Their
upstream migration coincides with
increases in water temperature
and stream flow. Through July and
August, the fish continue moving
upstream toward their spawning
area.

Spawn under cover

Bull trout spawn from late August
to mid-September. “So far we
have observed fairly discreet
spawning areas. Fish are
spawning in specific sites
clustered in a few locations.” A
number of fish have spawned
twice and have shown very strong
“site fidelity" by spawning within
200 meters of the same location in
successive years. Bull trout also
seem to have a preference for
spawning in areas with overhead
cover.

After spawning, fish rapidly move
out into the Salmon River and
overwinter in large, deep areas.
Bull trout remain in the main river
from late fall through March and
April with very little movement until
the following spring.

14

The researchers have also
observed a downstream migration
of juvenile bull trout from the
tributary in fall. The immature fish
have been too small to track with
radios so their destination is
currently unknown.

During the next phase of the
research, biologists will work with
physical scientists
(geomorphologists and
hydrologists), and attempt to link
watershed features to the location
of critical habitats. “Ultimately we
want to evaluate the linkages
between larger scale watershed
features such as climate, geology,
landtype, and elevation and
watershed processes such as
natural and human caused
disturbance with the location of
critical habitats for fish,” Thurow
added. “This will help determine
not only what fish need and where
critical areas are likely to be
found, but it may also help us
assess the sensitivity of these
critical habitats to disturbance.”

After the current research is
completed, the researchers will
test their ability to predict the
location of critical habitats in other
streams.

INT Boise fisheries researcher Russ
Thurow demonstrates use of radio
telemetry equipment to pick up signals
from radio tag.

Thurow said the Enhancing Fish
Habitats unit in Boise has
specialized in studying habitat
needs and factors influencing the
viability of native fish populations.
“Virtually all of our native trout and
salmon are currently considered
threatened, endangered, or of
special status. We recognize that
by increasing our understanding
of the species and their
requirements, we can help efforts
to ensure that unique species like
bull trout persist,” said Thurow.

Two of Thurow's partners in the
Boise lab, Research Fisheries
Biologist Bruce Rieman and
former Project header John
McIntyre compiled most of what’s
known about bull trout in
Demographic and Habitat
Requirements for Conservation of
Bull Trout, General Technical
Report INT-302.

15

New from
research

An assessment
of three owls in
the U.S.

Scientific knowledge of
flammulated, boreal, and great
gray owls in the United States is
scarce. To help fill the void,
scientists at the Rocky Mountain
Station have published a limited
edition report on the status of
these three owl species.

The book, complete with three
poster size maps of the US
depicting location of species,
offers forest managers, research
biologists, and the public a
thorough discussion of
conservation, biology, and the
ecology of these forest owls.

Flammulated, boreal, and great
gray owls have been designated
as “sensitive species” in several
regions of the Forest Service.
“Sensitive species” are plants and
animals whose population viability
is identified as a concern by a
regional forest. Sensitive species
require special management, so
knowledge of their biology and
ecology is critical.

-Fr- ' Flammulated, Boreal, and
: “r,X Great Gray Owls in the
United States:

A Technical Conservation

For a copy of Flammulated,

Boreal, and Great Gray Owls in
the United States: A Technical
Conservation Assessment,

General Technical Report RM-253,
contact the Rocky Mountain
Station.

Effects of repeated
manual release
studied in young
plantations

“As we move toward forest
ecosystem management, the
need for knowledge on plant
communities that develop
naturally or after a deliberate
manipulation will be become
increasingly important.

Manipulation could be for a
variety of reasons: to create a
future forest, to provide an
economic crop, to grow plants
whose seeds would be critical to
wildlife, or simply to provide more
diversity and thus be in a position
to capitalize on values and
commodities that might be
needed in the future. In this study,
for example, a wildfire had left the
plant community with no conifer
trees, even though one species
(Douglas-fir) was part of the
climax vegetation. Planting
Douglas-fir seedlings restored the
natural community and
promulgated a mixture of species.

But, in order for Douglas-fir
seedlings to have a chance to
become established, the existing
shrub and hardwood community
had to be treated to free site
resources for seedlings.
Competition was intense. Manual
release, a combination of chain
sawing and grubbing, was
employed to release the conifer
seedlings. Five years after
release, Douglas-fir seedlings in
treatment R2X (released three
times) had significantly larger
stem diameters and foliar cover
than counterparts in the control.
After 5 years, Douglas-fir
seedlings were the tallest
vegetation (4.7 feet) on treated
plots, with fast developing crowns
and low mortality.”

For further information, contact
Pacific Southwest Research
Station and request Research
Paper PSW-221, by
P. M. McDonald, Fiddler and
Flarrison.

16

Fish habitat
inventory: grazed
and ungrazed

Many fisheries biologists believe
that improving grazing
management along mountain
streams in the Intermountain West
has potential to improve trout
habitat more than any other
management activity. Yet, there is
frequent debate about the
condition of stream communities
and how to scientifically monitor
the changes that occur with better
range management. Fisheries
biologists evaluated the
differences between rested and
grazed stream reaches on Silver
King Creek on the Toiyabe
National Forest, and tested
monitoring methods.

The biologists recommend that
managers plan effective
monitoring schemes as they plan
the stream recovery strategy. The
monitoring strategy should
evaluate bank stability and
channel morphology. Based on
inventory data as a baseline,
habitat variables to monitor
include percent bank stability and
undercut, width-to-depth ratios,
and pool frequencies and
dimensions. Sample sizes need to
be large enough to account for
differences in habitat types.

The Silver King Creek study
reinforced the value of having
permanent photo points at the
same sites where physical data
are collected to visually display
changes over time. In addition,

new technologies such as Global
Positioning System (GPS) and
Geographic Information Systems
(GIS) will help monitor changes
over long time periods when
personnel changes.

Request Northern/Intermountain
Regions' Fish Habitat Inventory:
Grazed, Rested, and Ungrazed
Reference Stream Reaches, Silver
King Creek, California, General
Technical Report INT-311, from the
Intermountain Research Station.

Sustainability and
woody debris

Coarse woody debris is critical to
sustaining functioning ecosystems
in the Rocky Mountains. Forest
ecosystems in the Rockies have
great diversity with each habitat
type developing and retaining
different amounts of debris. This
debris has functions ranging from
soil protection to wildlife and
microbial habitat. The importance
of microbial habitat in sustaining
forests is becoming better
understood and appreciated.

Scientists have studied
ectomycorrhizae as a bioindicator
of healthy, productive forest soils.
From this research they have
developed management
recommendations for how much
coarse woody debris should be
kept in a variety of habitat types in
Idaho, Montana, and Arizona.
These recommendations will help
forest managers maintain
long-term forest productivity.

Request Managing Coarse Woody
Debris in Forests of the Rocky
Mountains, Research Paper I NT-
477, from the Intermountain
Research Station.

Studying
atmospheric
deposition on
high-elevation
ecosystems

An extensive report on the effects
of air pollution on alpine and
subalpine ecosystems has just
been released. The document
provides a description of research
conducted at the Glacier Lakes
Ecosystem Experiment Site in
southern Wyoming, and contains
preliminary data on the biological,
physical, and chemical
environment.

The site was established under
the Wilderness Act to study the
effects of atmospheric deposition
on alpine and subalpine
ecosystems. Descriptions of
vegetation, geology, soils,
aquatics, meteorology, air quality,
and snow for the Lost Lake, East
Glacier Lake, and West Glacier
Lake watersheds are presented.
The book also comes with
detailed topographic maps on
vegetation, geology, and soils.
Copies of The Glacier Lakes
Ecosystem Experiments Site,
General Technical Report RM-249,
are available from the Rocky
Mountain Station.

17

Ecology and
management of
annual rangelands

Proceedings — Ecology
and Management of
Annual Rangelands

BSl»pt>®n B Uonten
SlanteyG Klldwt

Plant communities around the
world are destabilizing and
evolving faster than any period in
geologic history, due largely to the
introduction of exotic species into
new environments where they are
better adapted to the environment
than the native species. Many of
the exotics are classified with
legal designation as noxious
weeds, such as leafy spurge and
many of the Centaurea species,
and are targeted for control. Many
other exotics are so well
established and so well
distributed that they are
considered “naturalized” and are
expected to remain a component
of plant communities.

For example, cheatgrass now
occupies over 41 million hectares.
Cheatgrass is so well distributed
in the arid West that it readily
invades a high percentage of
disturbed rangeland. Perhaps no
exotic species has demonstrated
its power to alter an ecosystem
more than has cheatgrass, which
has dramatically reduced
biodiversity and increased the
frequency of wildfire over vast
expanses.

Range scientists and natural
resource managers met in Boise,
ID, in 1992 for a symposium on
the ecology and management of
cheatgrass and the other annuals
that are permanently altering
rangeland ecosystems. The
416-page proceedings from that
symposium is a good compilation
of knowledge about this segment
of global change.

Request Proceedings — Ecology
and Management of Annual
Rangelands, General Technical
Report INT-313, from the
Intermountain Research Station.

A guide to research
natural areas in five
western states

Forest Service Research Natural
Areas provide a permanently
protected area for the purpose of
maintaining biological diversity,
conducting research, monitoring
and fostering education. A new
publication, titled Research
Natural Areas in Colorado,
Nebraska, North Dakota, South
Dakota, and Parts of Wyoming, is
a guide to these RNAs.

The publication describes the
location, significant features,
climate, flora, fauna, and
published research for the 16
RNA’s established through 1993
on Public Lands administered by
the USDA Forest Service in
Colorado, Wyoming, Nebraska,
and North and South Dakota.

For more information, request
General Technical Report RM-251,
from the Rocky Mountain Station.

18

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STAMP _ STAMP

Aspen change in
central Utah

In 1913 a young forester named F.
S. Baker started investigating the
silvics of aspen on the Wasatch
Plateau in the then newly created
Utah Experiment Station in the
Manti National Forest. By 1918 C.
F. Korstian was collecting data on
the plots Baker established Baker
and Korstian both went on to write
silviculture textbooks and become
the deans of forestry schools.
Between 1913 and 1977 the same
aspen stands were measured
regularly by a wide variety of
respected scientists. Finally, after
64 years of study by at least 15
researchers, retired scientist Walt
Mueggler completed the data
summaries, interpreted the
results, and prepared a
manuscript.

So, what have we learned from
one of the oldest aspen studies by
some of the country’s most noted
silviculturists? These aspen
stands defied the traditional
wisdom that thinning will increase
diameter growth to favor
sawtimber or veneer logs.
However, thinning favors the
survival of more aspen stems and
more total basal area.

To thin or not to thin; that is the
question. If land managers have
their objectives clearly defined the
information in this publication can
help them make decisions to
accomplish those objectives.

Request Sixty Years of Change in
Tree Numbers and Basal Area in
Central Utah Aspen Stands,
Research paper INT-478, from the
Intermountain Research Station.

The data indicated: (1) stem
numbers declined continuously as
the stands aged; (2) an inverse
relationship existed between
aspen site quality and stem
numbers in middle-age stands;

(3) basal area peaked sometime
around 80 years of age and
declined appreciably by age 100;

(4) greatest mortality in
middle-age stands was in smaller
diameter class stems; (5) stands
thinned between ages 40 and 70
contained more, but smaller, stems
at maturity, and greater total basal
area than those not thinned.

21

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