The Northwest Forest Plan: Origins, Components, Implementation Experience, and Suggestions for Change |
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Authors: | JACK WARD THOMAS,JERRY F. FRANKLIN&dagger ,JOHN GORDON&Dagger , K. NORMAN JOHNSON§ |
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Affiliation: | Department of Forest Management, College of Forestry and Conservation, University of Montana, Missoula, MT 59812, U.S.A, email;College of Forest Resources, Anderson Hall, University of Washington, P.O. Box 352100-228, Seattle, WA 98195-2100, U.S.A.;Interforest, LLC, 27 Evans Road, Holderness, NH 03245, U.S.A.;Department of Forest Resources, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331, U.S.A. |
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Abstract: | Abstract: In the 1990s the federal forests in the Pacific Northwest underwent the largest shift in management focus since their creation, from providing a sustained yield of timber to conserving biodiversity, with an emphasis on endangered species. Triggered by a legal challenge to the federal protection strategy for the Northern Spotted Owl ( Strix occidentalis caurina ), this shift was facilitated by a sequence of science assessments that culminated in the development of the Northwest Forest Plan. The plan, adopted in 1994, called for an extensive system of late-successional and riparian reserves along with some timber harvest on the intervening lands under a set of controls and safeguards. It has proven more successful in stopping actions harmful to conservation of old-growth forests and aquatic systems than in achieving restoration goals and economic and social goals. We make three suggestions that will allow the plan to achieve its goals: (1) recognize that the Northwest Forest Plan has evolved into an integrative conservation strategy, (2) conserve old-growth trees and forests wherever they occur, and (3) manage federal forests as dynamic ecosystems. |
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Keywords: | federal forest planning Northern Spotted Owl old growth timber harvest |
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