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PLAN
The final Bridger-Teton National Forest Plan was built on the concept of Tentatively Suited lands for management.
Attribute data about soils, slope, and vegetation were processed by a geographic information system to display the location of these lands and provide information about other controllable management elements. Management alternatives, based on land characteristics and desired future conditions, were mapped to communicate forest resource allocations that meet different sets of social values.
Allocating National Forest resources to meet society's social values (Kennedy 1985, 1988) is the goal of management planning. This planning process is aimed at providing a satisfactory amount and mix of resource outputs while protecting use options for future generations. Forest
Service regulations direct that management be planned for implementation on suited lands. Tests for management suitability oflands are based on currently available technology to ensure that irreversible resource damage to soil productivity or watershed condition will not occur (Congressional Record 1976; Federal Register 1982).
This paper outlines the process used by Bridger-Teton
National Forest (BTNF) personnel to develop management information for the final Forest Plan. Soil characteristics along with land slope and vegetation formed the foundation for this land stratification to identify Tentatively
Suited lands. A geographic information system (GIS) was used to systematically identify and display the location and suitability characteristics ofBTNF lands.
Managing forest operations to achieve desired outputs involves planning, organizing, coordinating, directing, controlling, and supervising. These management activities are usually successful when appropriate information is communicated about particular facts or circumstances that are relevant to natural resource management processes.
Kennedy (1985) points out that natural resource managers respond to four major interrelated systems. These are represented by economics of utilizing land, labor,
Paper presented at the Symposium on Management and Productivity of Western-Montane Forest Soils, Boise, ID, April 10-12, 1990.
Gordon E. Warrington is Forest Soil Scientist (retired) Bridger-Teton
National Forest, Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Jackson,
WY 83001. and capital resources; social values, cultural attitudes, and behavior; political and legally defined policies; and environmental/natural resource biosphere components and processes. I would add one more system, technological capabilities to process data and carry out tasks.
A natural resource manager's only method of responding to social, environmental, and technological systems is to manipulate a discrete set of management elements. Therefore, the key to managing natural resources is knowing what can be controlled. Controllable management elements are those variables that a manager can manipulate through a decision to achieve the corporate goals and objectives. For natural resource management the controllable elements are
(Warrington 1989; Warrington and others 1990):
• Quality is the goal toward which the methods used to implement the management practices are aimed (Pirsig
1974). It is expressed through the effects of the chosen management practices on the functioning and productivity of affected watersheds. This includes the extent of disturbances, the magnitude of disturbance, and the duration of the effects of the disturbance.
• Quantity of outputs produced (for example, board feet, animal unit months [AUM's]) or inputs used (such as tree planting, range improvements).
• Location of the practices on the ground.
• Timing of practices through the sequencing of entries into a watershed and/or the season of operation. If only one management entry is made then only the operating season is important. With multiple entries the operating season has an effect on the watershed response for each entry as well as on the cumulative effects of all entries.
• Mix of outputs can be changed through crop rotations.
This element is more important in agriculture than in forestry or range management because crops can be changed in shorter time periods than are practical for forests or rangelands.
These controllable management elements are the basis for communicating management information. Management information is created by upward aggregation of data and interpretations from several sources (fig. 1). The bottom of the pyramid represents basic data (individual facts) collected during inventory work. This is usually a large data set, but without further characterization it does little to explain observed phenomena. Therefore, basic data are interpreted to provide estimates about potential outcomes based on appropriate sets of inputs. Interpreted information is modified by social and economic constraints to become management information.
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Educators/ /
Inventory
Data
<---Managers/decision makers affecting social policy and direction
<--Staff consultants and resource specialists
<--Resource specialists
Figure 1-8chematic representation of natural resource user groups and their general information needs.
Six broad categories of natural resource information users are identified in relationship to their infonnational needs. The kinds of infonnation and categories of users are not necessarily distinct. A researcher may also be an educator, and so forth. These groupings do, however, provide a basis for making inventory data into a useful management tool for forest planning. figure 2. Not Suited lands fall into the combinations of attributes shown to the lower right of the asterisks dividing the matrix. As land capabilities change, the cost of managing Tentatively Suited lands also changes. An economic and social cost analysis will be used to determine management feasibility on those lands.
The first step in allocating BTNF resources was to assign all forest lands that were available for resource manipulation to two categories of management suitability (USDA
Forest Service 1989). These categories, based on watershed resource characteristics, are Tentatively Suited and Not
Suited for forest management practices. These management practices include but are not limited to:
• Timber production, including harvest, site preparation, and planting.
• Timber Yarding when moving a log from the stump to a landing.
• Roads, including construction, maintenance, closure, and restoration to natural contours. The potential for resource damage to areas outside of the road right-of-way is also considered.
• Surface Occupancy, including construction activities and continuous onsite activities.
Slope gradient and slope stability were the primary factors that best represented the overall management suitability ofBTNF lands. The Tentatively Suited and Not Suited land areas were identified and mapped from interpretations of soil stability characteristics and land slope. For combinations of slope stability and gradient where technology is not available to prevent irreversible damage to soil productivity and watershed condition, the land areas are classified as Not Suited for management in the foreseeable future. Due to the inherent variation in landscapes and mapping standards, small areas of Tentatively Suited land may not be delineated, and some other lands may be mapped as Not Suited. This makes onsite verification of management suitability a requirement for all projects.
Land suitability categories (USDA Forest Service 1989) based on land slope and land attributes are shown in
Following are short explanations about each of the soil and slope criteria used for stratifYing land suitability. A complete discussion can be found in USDA Forest Service
(1989).
<=40 Percent-This seems to be a generally accepted slope break based on local experience where land management practices have shown extensive damage to occur when equipment was operated on slopes over 40 percent.
41·55 Percent-Resource damage along mountain roads is often related to the height and stability of road-cut banks. Therefore, a finished 12-foot-wide road with a ditch will require an overall width of 16 to 17 feet. Using a balanced cut and fill design, a 1112:1 cut-and-fill slope, and a vertical cut height of 30 feet, the resulting land slope is approximately 55 percent (USDA FS and USDI BLM 1976).
56·70 Percent-Changing road design to a full bench on slopes >55 percent avoids long, unstable sliver fills that are difficult or impossible to compact. In the Oregon Coast
Range, Sidle and others (1985) reported that the number of road-related landslides has been reduced by using fullbench construction on slopes >26 0 (49 percent).
>70 Percent-The slope is generally steeper than the angle of repose for unconsolidated natural materials.
Each soil-map unit is rated for its risk of failure (USDA
Forest Service 1976; USDA Forest Service and USDA Soil
Conservation Service 1986) using one of four hazard levels.
This rating is based on land characteristics that indicate potential for mass failures along with frequency of actual landslides delineated in the Geological Hazard Inventory.
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Soillland attribute
1
Stable
Slope class 1
0-40 percent
TH=Yes
Y =Conventional
R=Yes
SO=Yes
Slope class 2
41-55 percent
TH=Yes
Y=Cable
R=Yes'
SO=Yes'
Slope class 3
56-70 percent
TH=Yes
Y=Cable
R=Yes2
SO=2
Slope class 4
>70 percent
TH=Yes'
Y=Aeriai
R=Yes2
SO=None
2
Marginally stable
TH=Yes
Y =Conventional
R=Yes
SO=Yes
TH=Yes
Y=Cable
R=Yes'
SO=Yes'
TH=Yes TH=Yes'
Y=Cable
R=Yes2
Y=Aeriai
R=Yes2
SO=2 SO=None
* • • • • * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
3
Marginally unstable
4
Unstable
TH=Yes'
Y=LI
R=Yes'
SO='
TH=Yes2
Y=LI
R=Yes2
SO=2
TH=Yes'
Y=Skyline
R=Yes2
SO=None
* * * * * * * * *
*
* TH=No
*Y=None
* R=None
* SO=None
*
*TH=No
*Y=None
* R=None
* SO=None
* * *
TH=No
Y=None
R=None
SO=None
5
Landslide
TH=Yes2
Y=LI
R=Yes2
SO=2
*
*
*TH=No
*Y=None
* R=None
* SO=None
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
TH=No
Y=None
R=None
SO=None
TH=No
Y=None
R=None
SO=None
TH=No
Y=None
R=None
SO=None
TH=No
Y=None
R=None
SO=None
Alpine cirque basins and slopes with snow avalanche paths
TH=No
Y=None
R=None
SO=None
TH=No
Y=None
R=None
SO=None
TH=No
Y=None
R=None
SO=None
TH=No
Y=None
R=None
SO=None
Figure 2-Bridger-Teton National Forest land suitability matrix. Symbols and relative amounts of mitigation needed to maintain acceptable watershed condition: TH = Timber Harvest Method, 1Some Restrictions, 2Many Restrictions;
Y = Yarding Method, LI- Low Impact; R = Roading, 1Some Restrictions, 2Many
Restrictions; SO = Surface Occupancy, 1Some Restrictions, 2Many Restrictions.
A mass failure hazard rating of Stable indicates that evidence of past mass movement is not discernible and land characteristics are not conducive to future mass movement. A Marginally Stable rating indicates that evidence of past mass movement has not been discerned, but there are land characteristics that are conducive to mass movement. A Marginally Unstable rating indicates that evidence of past mass movement exists, but no current movement is discernible. An Unstable rating indicates that the site is actively moving, and probabilities of increased or additional movement, even without humancaused disturbances, are high.
Geologic-hazard (landslide) mapping (DeGraff and others 1979) was conducted by the Forest Service Regional
Environmental Geologist and contractors. Both recently active landslides and landslides dormant since recession of the last glacial period were delineated on color aerial photography (1:15,840) and transferred to a 1:24,000 orthoquad base.
The dormant landslides may be activated, particularly with changes resulting from road building, timber harvest, and burning practices. In general, the greatest potential for new landslides occurs in areas with a history of past movement. Controlling the effects of these activities depends on application of direct methods of slope stabilization or avoidance of areas of known instability.
These are high-elevation areas oflow productivity due to harsh, cold climate with a short growing season and thin soils.
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These are forested land areas that are considered not suited for management because of snow avalanche hazard.
Below timberline, active areas are treeless strips, often following a gully. Less active areas may appear as strips of smaller trees, or strips of trees that are ofa different species than those outside of the path. Runout zones may be outlined by changes in vegetation (Perla and Martinelli
1978).
"The damage caused by avalanches can be summarized as follows: The dislodgement of stones and soil; damage to pastures and forests, to buildings and communication routes, and finally danger to mankind and to animals."
This sentence, written about a century ago by one of the pioneers in the subject matter, Coaz, is still valid (FAO
1985).
Using a GIS for analysis of resource data to create management information is not new. Paper maps have always been available in some form. What is new is the computer power to consistently select a set of attributes and associated cartographic data from several different maps and process them as needed to create the desired interpretive map. This is where GIS analytical capabilities were used to prepare work maps for the Forest Plan.
Geographic data are organized into two generic classes consisting of cartography and attributes. These two data sets are related so there is a link between features represented by individual polygons, lines, or points and tables that quantify or describe the characteristics of the features.
Cartographic data consist of the location and topology of points, lines, and polygon features. Topology is the relationship among adjacent polygons, lines, and points in a cartographic data set.
Attribute data describe the characteristics of the cartographic data. For vegetation polygons, they describe the timber type and age class; for soil polygons, the relative stability hazard and control section soil texture.
To identify the location ofland areas that are Tentatively Suited for timber management, an ARClInfo GIS was used to union (overlay) cartographic data for soils, landslides, slope, and vegetation. This created a data base with all possible polygon combinations that represent these data sets. The map representing Tentatively Suited lands was created by selecting from this master data base all polygons with the required attributes about soils, vegetation, and slope classes. The resulting maps showed locations and relative suitability for timber management.
Using the tentative land suitability base, a systematic, interdisciplinary approach involving resource specialists and public help was used to design and map management alternatives. An array of alternatives was developed to respond to public issues and forest problems and challenges through different management emphasis. Each alternative map shows a mix of Desired Future Conditions
(DFC's). DFC's are mixes of compatible objectives and express the natural resource conditions that future sitespecific field programs will be designed to achieve. The location and mix of DFC's for an alternative was based on the management emphasis and land characteristics.
Forest Service management goals are to provide goods and services from the land without impairing land productivityor degrading water quality. Natural resource managers meet these goals using management elements that can be manipulated to achieve the corporate goals and objectives. These controllable elements are: job quality that is reflected in the way chosen management practices affect the ecosystem, quantity of inputs and outputs, location of the practices on the ground, and timing in im plementing these practices. Weather, market economies, and societal preferences are uncontrollable elements. In forest planning, all of the elements must be considered, but only the controllable elements can be affected by management decisions.
Developing and communicating management goals and objectives through a planning process calls for aggregating basic resource data into management information. At the
BTNF, lands were first classified as Tentatively Suited or
Not Suited for forest management practices based on soil attributes, land slope, and vegetation. Lands were classified as Not Suited where technology is not available to prevent irreversible environmental damage from management practices. The remaining Tentatively Suited lands were categorized and management limitations noted. Additional resource data were used to develop standards and guidelines about quality, quantity, location, and timing.
Spatial data about the Tentative Suitability ofindividual resources were processed with GIS technology into maps for use in developing management alternatives. Final planning alternatives based on various sets of social values refined the management information about the controllable elements. An interdisciplinary process involving people from the Forest Service, other agencies, and interested citizens was used to design and plot management alternatives on the work maps. These alternatives were developed to show ways of responding to public issues and forest problems using a mix ofDFC's.
Congressional Record. 1976. National Forest Management
Act of 1976. Public Law 94-588. 90 STAT: 2949-2963.
Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
DeGraff, Jerome V.; Olson, Earl P.; Collins, Tom; Godfrey,
Andrew. 1979. R-4 inventory of geological hazards. Soil and Water Manage. Rep. G-R-4-BO-1. Ogden, UT: U.S.
Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Intermountain Region. 20 p.
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United Nations, Forest Resources Division. 231 p.
Federal Register. 1982. National Forest System Land and
Resource Planning; Final Rule. September 30, 36 CFR
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Kennedy, James J. 1985. Conceiving forest management as providing for current and future social value. Forest
Ecology and Management. 13: 121-132.
Kennedy, James J. 1988. Legislative confrontation of groupthink in US natural resource agencies. Environmental Conservation. 15: 123-128.
Perla, Ronald I.; Martinelli, M., Jr. 1978. Avalanche handbook (revised). Agric. Handb. 489. Washington,
DC: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service.
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1985. Hillslope stability and land use. Water Resour.
Monogr. 11. Washington, DC: American Geophysical
Union. 140 p.
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1976. Engineering field tables. Washington, DC: U.S.
Government Printing Office. 186 p.
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Department of Agriculture, Soil Conservation Service.
1986. Classification and correlation of the soils of the Teton National Forest, Wyoming; Parts of Teton,
Fremont, Park, Sublette, and Lincoln Counties. Jackson,
WY: Bridger-Teton National Forest. 400 p. Draft.
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service. 1989.
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Jackson, WY: Bridger-Teton National Forest: B34-B37.
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1988 May 16-19; Salt Lake City, UT. Ogden, UT: U.S.
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Warrington, G. E.; Leonard, S. G.; Moos, D.; Osen, C.;
Russell, W. E.; Sautter, E. 1990. The needs of the users of soil survey information: reliability and methods of presentation. In: Proceedings of national cooperative soil survey conference; 1989 July 24-28; Lincoln, NE.
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