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Abstract: After 6 years of intensive study, all the research studies designed to answer the information needs identified in appendix B of the Tongass land management plan have ended, with their results published or in press. The knowledge generated from these studies not only informs the ongoing process of regional natural resource management in southeast Alaska, but also helped to define future directions for research. Topics still needing additional study include issues related to wildlife, aquatic systems and salmon habitat, silvicultural options for forest management, wood products utilization, and social science. The role of science in supporting the development of options for natural resource management of the Tongass National Forest was carefully defined and implemented in order to maintain science objectivity and impartiality. The planning processes in southeast Alaska clearly exemplify a clear example of the recognition that natural resource plans need to be founded on the best available science. The complexity of ecosystems, including the scales at which they are organized and operate, require focused research to answer key questions in tandem with management decisions. Managers want the support of science institutions to bolster the effectiveness, predictability, and credibility of their decisions. The integration of science into the decision making process is far more prevalent today than it once was and will increase in the future as we move to refine management decisions based on a continually increasing body of science on which to base those decisions. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: We review results and implications from recent wildlife studies that followed from the 1997 Tongass Land Management Plan (TLMP) and identify information needs and directions for research, development, and application. Sustained population viability of wildlife species was identified as a major issue in the TLMP planning process. Several species were identified as management indicator species, and research was conducted to determine their potential sensitivity to forest management. Southeastern Alaska was found to be a region with an especially high degree of endemism in its small mammal fauna, principally because of the combination of its archipelago geography combined with highly dynamic glacial history. Two species of endemic small mammals selected for demographic study, however, appeared to be less dependent on old-growth forests than had been suspected at the time TLMP was written: the northern flying squirrel (Glaucomys sabrinus) because of relatively high suitability of noncommercial, low-volume, mixed-conifer forest; and the southern red-backed vole (Clethrionomys gapperi) because of relatively high suitability of precommercially thinned young-growth forest. The northern goshawk (Accipiter gentilis) was found to be problematic for “management indicator” status because of logistical difficulties involved in monitoring this relatively rare, highly mobile species that frequently changes nest sites. Sampling protocols were developed for marbled murrelet (Brachyramphus marmoratus), although murrelet populations do not appear to be in trouble on the Tongass. The conservation strategy of TLMP for American marten (Martes americana) appeared to be sound on Chichagof Island where marten have been studied intensively, but implications for the rest of southeastern Alaska were unclear without further work. Studies of the Alexander Archipelago wolf (Canis lupus ligoni) indicated that population density of black-tailed deer (Odocoileus hemionus) and road access (to wolf hunters) were the predominant factors affecting wolf productivity and mortality, respectively. Finally, studies of bird community response to timber-harvest alternatives to clearcutting indicated that although creation of forest “edge” may increase nest predation rates, the actual response depends on a broad array of factors and is highly variable. We suggest that research, development, and application focus on plant and animal communities and management of vegetation to achieve specific objectives for wildlife habitat. We suggest that such efforts emphasize silviculture of second-growth forests, understanding old-growth reserves, distribution of endemic small mammals, and alternatives to clearcutting. Models for evaluating black-tailed deer habitat and populations are needed for subsistence-hunting management, and some work needs to be directed at interactions between tourism and selected wildlife species. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The Forest Service has relied on a single forest measure, timber volume, to meet many management and planning information needs in southeast Alaska. This economic-based categorization of forest types tends to mask critical information relevant to other contemporary forest-management issues, such as modeling forest structure, ecosystem diversity, or wildlife habitat. We propose the joint distribution of tree density and mean tree diameter as a more comprehensive set of forest measures. Focusing on those measures, we build a predictive-mapping model by using existing geographic information system data resources and existing ground-sampled inventory data. The utility of our predictive-mapping model will need to be tested with additional intensive ground-sampled data and in applications that involve forest managers, planners, and biologists. Such tests will reveal the model''s utility in addressing contemporary forest-management problems and information needs. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper describes the physical nature of the Tongass National Forest, its salient natural resources, the social and economic importance of the resources, the complexity of the land management planning process, the chronology of the plan development, and the structure and function of the Pacific Northwest Research Station and Tongass National Forest planning partnership. Three features of the planning process were unique to the revision of the Tongass National Forest plan. First, a major goal was to produce a landscape-scale plan for long-term resource sustainability. Second, the 23-person planning team included six research scientists as full members. Finally, an agreement was reached between the Pacific Northwest Research Station and the Tongass National Forest to collaborate and obtain high-priority information needed for the next planning cycle. Benefits accrued to the Pacific Northwest Research Station by demonstrating the relevance of sound science in successful forest planning. Benefits also accrued to the USDA Forest Service Alaska Region in more informed, credible, and defensible decisions. Finally, benefits accrued at the national level when the process of conducting a science consistency check was incorporated into the regulations for forest planning. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]