FRANKLIN

OLD-GROWTH FORESTScientists are just beginningto understand the complexnatural forest. Trees 200years and older temper theseasons, providing food andshelter that many animalsrequire to breed and thrive.

Forest canopy isuneven andcontains manygaps that allowlight to nourish adense shrub layer.

Fallen trees maydecompose intwice the timethey took to grow,slowly releasingnutrients into thesoil.

Removing woodydebris robs thesoil of nutrients.

Nitrogenis released into atree's roots whenvoles eat fungi.Lichens trapnitrogen and serveas winter food fordeer and elk.

Growing treesabsorb nitrogenfrom theatmosphere.

Standing snagsprovide food forinsects, attractingwoodpeckers thatcarve nests forcavity dwellerssuch as the flyingsquirrel. Spottedowls in turn preyon squirrels andvoles for survival.

Damage frominsects and fungiis usually confinedto small stands.

Disease and pestepidemics canaffect whole

stands.

Dominant trees,some with topsbroken out. towerover a mosaic ofyounger trees ofall kinds.

After the canopy Trees tend to becloses, second- of the same agegrowth forests and size and theprovide poor forest is lesshabitat for many diverse.wildlife species.

TREE PLANTATIONMany industry second-growthforests are simplified tochannel the most nutrients,water and sunlight into thenext cut of timber. Naturaldisorder often is replaced withgenetically improved plantingsof fast growing trees. Somecompanies apply herbicides toprotect their crops fromcompeting vegetation.

Forest canopy iseven and dense,keeping the forestfloor too dark formost shrubs togrow.

The OregomarvRENE EISENBART

New Forestry practices on the Willamette National Forest's Blue River Ranger District call for some timber Franklin, "that what was good for wood production wasn't necesarlly good for other forest values." EnvirOn-fo be left standing in a clearcut. "We came to the uncomfortable recognition," says forest ecologist Jerry mentalists and timber Industry representatives remain skeptical of the practices.

New Forestry: Trying logging with a lighter touchBy KATHIE DURBIN and PAUL KOBERSTEINof The Oregonian staff

B

LUE RIVER — The tour was billed asan introduction to New Forestry —and the 100 people who took it on a hot

summer day got both a crash course and anearful of the controversy that term stirs upamong foresters.

On the H.J. Andrews Experimental Forest,where experiments in New Forestry began 20years ago, forest ecologist Jerry Franklin ges-tured up into the canopy and down toward thedecaying logs on the forest floor as hedescribed what New Forestry is — and isn't.

It's not a single pre-scription or a single setof practices, he said. It'sa range of techniquesdesigned to mimic orpreserve natural pro-cesses in a forest standwhile allowing commer-cial logging to occur.

It's not a value judg-ment about whether 40years of clear-cuttingwas right or wrong. It'sa recognition thatsociety wants its forests managed differentlynow.

Call it logging with a lighter touch. Its aim:to preserve the structure of natural forests forwildlife and for the health of the new foreststhat will grow up in their place.

Franklin, chief plant ecologist for the ForestService's Pacific Northwest Research Station,has lectured college students and briefed mem-bers of Congress and his own boss, ForestService Chief F. Dale Robertson, on what NewForestry is all about.

But on the July 12 tour, Franklin faced atough audience.

"New Forestry is being sold to the Ameri-can people like a bar of soap," said Bill Atkin-son, head of the forestry engineering programat Oregon State University. "People are usingNew Forestry to get at clear-cutting. We're get-ting New Forestry by decree, by dogma. Wedon't have Chairman Mao; we've got Jerry."

Clear-cutting in small patches, the brand ofplantation forestry that Oregon State hastaught over the years, has its problems, Atkin-son conceded.

Destructive logging practices have beencostly, he said, and harmful to wildlife, fishand riparian areas.

"But it grows trees." Atkinson argued."Plantations outgrow natural forests by 30 to40 percent. These second-growth forests aregoing to save the industry."

Franklin, visibly angry, got in the last wordlater that day.

"If you want to, you can argue ecologicalvalues aren't important enough to interferewith economic values. But it ain't a debateabout where it should come down ... Let'snot argue about the train that's coming down

the track."Fred Swanson, leader of the Forest Service's

Pacific Northwest Research Station team onthe Andrews imental Forest, says pro-fessions estry con-cepts or the pros and cons of clear-cuttingshouldn't obscure the broad social implica-tions of the new debate that's raging over for-est management.

"The tough issue is, how do we move awayfrom this allocation battle and look at what wewant from our forests in the future?" Swansonasked. "In this state, we don't seem to haveeven an initial effort under way to do that."I Di

n 1970, on the Andrews forest near BlueRiver, 40 miles east of Eugene, Franklinand a small team of scientists probed the

mysteries of the old-growth forest with a grantfrom the International Biome Program, estab-lished to study all the world's ecosystems.

"There was a feeling that scientific informa-tion on old growth should be gathered beforethe forests were all gone," Franklin said.

The scientists learned that dead and decay-ing material in forests of centuries-old treesplays a vital role in cycling nutrients to livingplants and animals. They learned how the nee-dles of branches in the high forest canopydraw moisture from the air and how the treesstore it. They learned that the structure ofancient forests — large conifer trees, deadstanding snags, fallen logs — provides homesfor mouse-like voles, flying squirrels andnorthern spotted owls.

"We came to the uncomfortable recognitionthat what was good for wood productionwasn't necessarily good for other forest val-ues," Franklin said.

In recent years, the team of researchers hasexperimented with leaving large live trees,dead standing snags and decaying logs onlogged sites. Working closely with the Willam-ette National Forest and logging contractors,the team has designed timber sales in whichmore acres were logged but fewer trees peracre were removed.

"The New Forestry," "New Perspectives,"new silvicultural prescriptions. Whatever itslabel, the search for alternatives to clearcut-ting is gaining steam.

Traditional forestry in the Northwest, thekind increasingly evident from the air andfrom mountain roads, calls for cutting all thetrees, tractor-piling the logging slash intoheaps and burning it.

But although fresh clear-cuts mar the land-scape, their appearance is not the main thingdriving New Forestry. A growing body ofresearch shows that clear-cutting, tractor-pil-ing and slash burning can have severeenvironmental consequences.

Some soils are ruined by clearcutting andburning. Some slopes are so unstable that theywill slide downhill into streams if tree roots

Please turn toFORESTS, Page 22

The Oregonian JOEL DAVIS

Participants in a tour of the Andrews forest get a close look at experimental forestry techniques on the Willamette National Forest that require loggers to leave more trees.

THE NEW FORESTRYNew Forestry practicesIn this version of a "sloppy clearcut: loggers preserve pieces of the ,natural forest by leaving dead snags, living trees of many ages,.fallen logs and other debris. Slash may be burned or left on theground. Forest ecologists say the technique retains habitat for some,old-growth species, returns nutrients to the soil and creates more adiverse second-growth forest.

Largeoldtrees

■Continued from Page 21aren't there to hold them. The 40- to60-acre clearcuts on federal landcarve up and destroy habitat forwildlife, notably the northern spot-ted owl. The straight edges of clear-cuts leave trees on the peripheryvulnerable to wind, heat and cold.And the vast clear-cuts on privatetimberlands in the Northwest —some covering as much as twosquare miles — will reshape thelandscape for centuries.

U

T

he New Forestry is a catch-all phrase that encompassesa variety of concepts

designed to allow some loggingwhile protecting wildlife, scenery,watersheds and the forests them-selves.

It may mean leaving severalgreen trees per acre standing in theforest to shade young seedlings andcreate future snags and stands ofmultiple-age trees.

It may mean leaving plenty ofdecaying logs on the ground toreturn nutrients to the soil.

It may mean cutting fewer treesper acre but logging much largerareas.

It may mean leaving the centersof pristine roadless areas intact andselling timber only around theedges, or marking trees individual-ly and removing them by helicopter.

And in some cases, it may meanputting vast tracts of timberland off-limits to logging for centuries, to cre-ate old-growth forests for the future.This "landscape ecology" is theessence of the controversial owl pro-tection plan proposed by the JackWard Thomas scientific committee.

The owl, officially listed this yearas a threatened species, lives pri-marily in old-growth forests.

Some forest managers hope NewForestry will help bridge the stormywaters that swirl around forestpolicy as competition for the shrink-ing old-growth forests intensifies.

But neither environmentalistsnor timber industry representatives— nor forestry professors, as theJuly 12 exchange demonstrated —have embraced the concept whole-heartedly.

The U.S. Forest Service isifc ronrPotc under the ban-

Other companies are adopting await-and-see attitude.

"It would be hard for me to go toour board (of directors) and ask forpermission to do this without harddata," said Paul Figueroa, a foresterfor Weyerhaeuser Co.

Brian Boyle, Washington'selected director of state lands, plansto submit legislation in the nextlegislative session that wouldrequire loggers to leave behind deadsnags, live conifers and woodymaterial on the ground after har-vesting.

Environmentalists say that if theLegislature fails to enact a measure,they will use the initiative process toplace one on the Washington ballot.

If such a measure were enacted itwould be the Northwest's first lawrequiring New Forestry on privateland.

Some •of the concepts that go bythe name New Forestry have beenpracticed continuously for 50 yearsin the 90.500-acre Almanor Forest, aprivate tract in northeast Californiaowned by Collins Pine Co.

The forest, located on the eastern

this wholesale environmentalchange. No one can predict its long-term consequences.

But a new science called restora-tion forestry is studying ways torepair the damage by reintroducingbiological complexity into second-generation forests and getting wild-life to return.

On the Olympic Peninsula, one ofthe most fragmented landscapes inthe Pacific Northwest, only a fewlarge tracts of intact old growthremain. What's left is mostly alongriver valleys in rugged OlympicNational Park and in a few smallwilderness areas in the adjacentOlympic National Forest. Second-growth plantations in privateownership cover vast areas, and onesection of the Olympic National For-est. known as the Shelton unit, wasalmost totally clear-cut over a 40-year period under a special arrange-ment with Simpson Timber Co.approved by Congress.

But it's not too late to repairdamage done by logging on areassuch as the Shelton unit, Franklinsaid.

hon."The Oregon Natural Resources

Council opposes substituting NewForestry for the preservation of old-growth forests.

"We think that since we're downto 10 percent of ancient forests, it'sinappropriate to log any of it," saidconservation director Andy Kerr."New Forestry should be practicedonly on new forests. It should not beused to cut down the old forests."

The timber industry, on the otherhand, worries about how it willmake up the reduced timber yieldsthat result when more trees are leftstanding in the forest after logging.

"That's a real concern to us," saidGreg Miller of the Southern OregonTimber Industries Association.

Within the field of professionalforestry, where clear-cutting hasreigned for more than 40 years, con-servatives say: "Show me."

Dean S. DeBell, principal silvicul-turist for the Forest Service's PacificNorthwest Research Station inOlympia, says it is important toremember that many New Forestryconcepts are "interesting hypoth-o • at this mint, with little scien-

Forests:Pros differover routefor future

Largeoldtrees

Traditional ForestryClearcutting, still the dominant logging technique in the Northwest,removes all trees from a forest tract, burns the slash and reforestswith seedlings to create a single-ago plantation. Advocates ofclearcutting say it remains the best way to grow Douglas fir, whichgrows best in open areas where the soil has been prepared byburning.

Clear-cuttotes stand

Second-growthplantation

Theas a threatened species, lives pri-marily in old-growth forests.

Some forest managers hope NewForestry will help bridge the stormywaters that swirl around forestpolicy as competition for the shrink-ing old-growth forests intensifies.

But neither environmentalistsnor timber industry representatives— nor forestry professors, as theJuly 12 exchange demonstrated —have embraced the concept whole-heartedly.

The U.S. Forest Service is pio-neering its concepts under the ban-ner "New Perspectives in Forestry."The Willamette National Forest'sBlue River district has adopted NewForestry techniques as standardoperating procedure, and practicessuch as individual tree selectionhave been proposed for sensitivesoils on the Siskiyou National For-est.

The Washington Department ofNatural Resources has agreed toadopt a special commission's recom-mendation for creation of a 260,000-acre experimental forest on theOlympic Peninsula, where New For-estry techniques will be applied.

A few private timberland ownerssuch as Plum Creek Timber Co.. ofSeattle, are dabbling in the new sil-vicultural techniques as well.

Plum Creek. the Northwest'ssecond largest timberland owner,experimented this summer withleaving mature conifers on 20 per-cent of its land, and company presi-dent David Leland says he plans toexpand the experiment to most log-ging sites next year.

"We don't think it's appropriateto stick our heads in the sand and dothings the way we've always donethem," Leland said.

Loggers are leaving about ZS per-cent of a stand's value on theground, but Leland said those treescan be harvested later on — at leastpartially recouping their value.

veatinit.Environmentalists say that if the

Legislature falls to enact a measure,they will use the initiative process toplace one on the Washington ballot.

If such a measure were enacted itwould be the Northwest's first lawrequiring New Forestry on privateland.

Some of the concepts that go bythe name New Forestry have beenpracticed continuously for 50 yearsin the 90,500-acre Almanor Forest, aprivate tract in northeast Californiaowned by Collins Pine Co.

The forest, located on the easternslope of Mount Lassen about 120miles northwest of Reno, Nev.,yields 35 million board feet of tim-ber per year and provides a steadyflow of wood for the Collins mill innearby Chester, Calif., which em-ploys 300 workers.

And the company does it withoutclear-cutting the forest.

"We have never clear-cut any ofthe acreage here," said Larry Potts,Collins' vice president and generalmanager.

Instead. Collins selectively har-vests individual sugar pines, ponder-osa pines, Douglas firs, white firsand incense cedars. The standingtrees range in age from young seed-lings to old-growth conifers. Loggerscut down the less vigorous trees,leaving the older, healthier speci-mens to restock the forest.

"We at Collins believe that ourforest practices have been superiorto most others in the industry," hesaid.

L

ogging has transformed vastnatural forests in the North-west to tree plantations.

In the process, it has simplifiedcomplex ecosystems. reducing theirvalue as habitat for many wildlifespecies, from elk and pileated wood-peckers to tree voles and northernspotted owls.

No one knows the full impact of

river veil/eye in ru gged OlympicNational Park and In a few smallwilderness areas in the adjacentOlympic National Forest. Second-growth plantations in privateownership cover vast areas, and onesection of the Olympic National For-est, known as the Shelton unit, wasalmost totally clear-cut over a 40-year period under a special arrange-ment with Simpson Timber Co.approved by Congress.

But it's not too late to repairdamage done by logging on areassuch as the Shelton unit, Franklinsaid.

Aggressive commercial thinningto open the tight second-growthcanopy can allow young seedlings tosprout and grow. Early harvests ofmature trees, leaving behind plentyof trees to become old growth, willrestore wildlife habitat over time.

"The one potential for that area,"Franklin said, "would be to developsome restoration forest practices tohelp move that area back into amixed-age stand."

S

ome lawmakers tout NewForestry as a key to resolv-ing the conflict over the

management of federal forests.Rep. Jolene Unsoeld, D-Wash., has

drafted a bill that would requiretrials of New Forestry techniques inareas set aside for the northern spot-ted owl, to test whether owls cancoexist with the new silviculturaltechniques.

But neither side in the polarizedold-growth battle has rushed toendorse the concept.

"Interestingly, it's difficult forboth the industry and traditionalenvironmental groups to deal with,"Franklin said. "The industry isdumbstruck. At the same time, someelements of the environmental com-munity are trying to come to gripswith the fact that biological diver-sity and sustainability are reallywhat it's all about — not preserva-

make up the reduced timber yieldsthat result when more trees are leftstanding in the forest after logging.

"That's a real concern to us," saidGreg Miller of the Southern OregonTimber Industries Association.

Within the field of professionalforestry, where clear-cutting hasreigned for more than 40 years, con-servatives say: "Show me."

Dean S. DeBell, principal silvicul-turist for the Forest Service's PacificNorthwest Research Station inOlympia, says it is important toremember that many New Forestryconcepts are "interesting hypoth-eses" at this point, with little scien-tific evidence to support them.

No one knows whether they willproduce the desired results over thelong term, DeBell said in a speech tothe Society of American ForestersCoos Bay chapter last April.

For instance, leaving snags andstanding trees may provide struc-tures used by the northern spottedowl, but habitat for red-tailed hawksand great horned owls, both preda-tors of the owl, also would beimproved.

"It could be argued that the neteffect of such practices would beincreased spotted owl losses due topredation and displacement," DeBellwrote.

The Thomas committee, takingnote of such concerns, recommen-ded against using owl habitat areasfor experiments in New Forestryuntil the techniques have a chanceto prove themselves.

But Franklin says science wasn'tthe main factor in the Forest Serv-ice's decision to adopt small, scat-tered clear-cuts as a standard log-ging method. Public opposition tohuge clear-cuts on private land waswhat drove the choice, he said.

"The decision was very much asocio-political decision," he said."We wanted distance between theForest Service and the continuousclear-cuts on private land."

' OregoomvSTEVE CCSSDE