Search

This paper examines the links between the material and symbolic nature of timber extraction during the Pacific Northwest (pnw) timber wars of the 1980s and 1990s. Applying Durkheim's work on religion and social solidarity, the authors consider a form of logger religion that emerged through many years of pnw timber production, shaping the identities of loggers and timber community dynamics. This paper proposes that forests are spaces that bridge the sacred and profane. Our evaluation examines a totemic meaning assigned to loggers originating from forest-based labour and reinforced by timber communities through rituals. Throughout the timber wars, loggers also developed a conflicted consciousness, stemming from their connection to and the destruction of forests. Given the character of logger religion that existed, the deployment of forest management and community development policies may not adequately re-create tacit relationships between the sacred and profane, previously damaged as a result of the drastic decline in timber production in the PNW. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on federal forest management policy in the Pacific Northwest in the U.S. that began to emphasize habitat protection and reduced the timber harvest on Federal lands starting in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Topics discussed include how this major policy shift affected the prosperity of rural communities in this region and how the policy shift differentially affected various types of communities.

Timber resources are a vital part of the economy in the Pacific Northwest, yet reforestation efforts are often hampered by animal damage. Understanding the factors that influence seedling damage can assist managers in implementing appropriate techniques to reduce species-specific damage. I radio-collared and monitored mountain beavers (Aplodontia rufa) from preharvest to seedling planting to determine the impacts of forest management practices on demographics. In addition, I monitored Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) seedlings on 28 plots on two harvest units (Vesta and Schoolhouse) to determine the effects of chemical site preparation on mountain beaver foraging and subsequent seedling damage. Mountain beaver densities differed between silvicultural treatments (F3,39 = 3.58, P < 0.02), although reproductive success did not (x2 = 0.14, df = 1, P = 0.70). Larger mountain beaver home ranges were documented in the mature timber compared with those following harvest. Home ranges were also larger in the chemical site preparation portion of the unit (mean = 3.37 ± 0.9 ha) than in the nontreated portion of the unit (mean = 0.82 ± 0.17 ha) on Vesta. Herbicide treatment did not promote seedling damage on either unit. Vegetation does not appear to be the only factor influencing mountain beaver movements and seedling damage. Availability of water is very important for mountain beavers and may also influence their foraging choice, as well as contributing to their increased movements in mature timber (reduced groundwater) versus clearcut areas. Understanding the effects of vegetation on population demographics and subsequent seedling damage may allow for initiating a nonlethal management method using alternative forage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Over the last 20 years, changing public values and increased ecological understanding have led to a paradigm shift in forestry from timber management to sustainable ecosystem management on U.S. federal lands. Forest managers are now seeking alternative management approaches that simultaneously meet socio-cultural, ecological and economic goals. Consequently, many field experiments have become increasingly interdisciplinary and larger in scale or scope. Individually and collectively, these studies in western Washington and Oregon represent major investments by research and land management organizations to enhance the science and understanding for sustainable forest management under increasing public scrutiny and demands for safeguarding healthy environments, conserving biological diversity and providing some level of economic prosperity. They also help to facilitate the transfer of scientific results into practical applications and to realize a more effective interface between science and policy. Questions addressed in this paper include (i) what do we mean by large-scale experiments, (ii) who is investing in these kinds of experiments and why, (iii) where is this information being put to use, and (iv) what does the future hold for these studies? [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The Northwest Forest Plan in the Pacific Northwest sought to stabilize local economies, including local employment and income, by stabilizing the flow of wood fiber from public forests. This is also a common forest management objective in other regions and countries. Because this economic strategy ignores basic market adjustments, it is likely to fail and to unnecessarily damage forest ecosystems. Application of basic economic principles on how markets operate significantly changes the apparent efficacy of efforts to manage local economies by managing timber supply. The emphasis on timber supply tends to ignore the dominant role that the demand for wood fiber and wood products, rather than wood-fiber supply, plays in determining levels of harvest and production. Contemporary economics indicates that markets tend to operate to offset reductions in wood-fiber supply. This significantly moderates the economic cost of reducing commercial timber harvest in the pursuit of environmental objectives. In addition, contemporary economic analysis indicates that the economic links between natural forests and local communities are much broader than simply the flow of commercially valuable logs to manufacturing facilities. At least in the United States, the flow of environmental services from natural forests has increasingly become an amenity that has drawn people and economic activity to forested areas. Attractive site-specific qualities, including those supported by natural forests, can potentially support local economic development even in the face of reduced timber harvests. These market-related adjustments partially explain the Northwest Forest Plan's overestimation of the expected regional impacts associated with reduced federal timber supply and the ineffectiveness of the plan's efforts to protect communities by stabilizing federal timber supply. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on a study related to use of two strategies for managing forests for different purpose in debates in the Pacific Northwest. Topics discussed include use of legacy retention as under intensive management for timber, growth of western hemlock in western Oregon, and intensive timber management on Chipmunks.

Focuses on intensively managed forest plantations (IMFP) in the U.S. Pacific Northwest. Factors that have contributed to the dramatic alteration of the forestry landscape in the region; Practices typically employed in IMFP; Efficacy of increasing the intensity of plantation management in enhancing timber productivity.