After more than a century of active fire suppression and evolving timber
management practices, forests in the Blue Mountains of the PNW have become increasingly vulnerable to uncharacteristic outbreaks of insects, diseases, and wildfires. The current pace of active management (thinning, prescribed burning) toward re-
Overall project objectives were established by a project initiation letter to the Blue
Forest resiliency is expressed when the dynamic range of species, structure, vegetation patterns, and
Mountains interdisciplinary team in January 2015 by Forest Supervisors of the Wallowa-
patch size distributions are similar to those that naturally emerge from the local climate, geology, dis-
Whitman, Umatilla, Malheur, and Ochoco National Forests. The project falls under direc-
silient forests is not keeping pace with forest growth. In addition, the socioeconomic livelihood of sev-
tion of existing Forest Plans, and relevant government policies, laws and regulations.
eral communities is threatened by the potential loss of forest-dependent jobs and industries. Active
turbance regimes, and biota.
Ecosystems that are resilient can recover following disturbances of characteristic frequency, severity,
management toward resilient forests can help maintain jobs for millworkers, loggers, truck drivers,
Project objectives include:
and temporal patterns. Many resilience characteristics are based on long term, or evolutionary adapta-
teachers, store clerks, fuel suppliers, county road crews, and more. Active forest management also con-
 Restore landscapes toward desired conditions for forest structure, composition, density,
tions to disturbance regimes and biophysical environments. Completely natural or historical land-
tributes to the resilience and maintenance of other high value resources, such as recreational opportuni-

ties, tribal treaty resources (e.g., elk, huckleberries), sensitive plants and animals, and community developments.

The USFS PNW Region Eastside Restoration Strategy was chartered in January 2013 to accelerate the
pace and scale of restoration on forested National Forest System lands in the eastern PNW. The
Eastside Strategy Board of Directors selected the Blue Mountains Forest Resiliency Project (BMFRP)
for planning by a dedicated interdisciplinary team, with the final EIS and draft decision targeted for
November 2016.


pattern, and disturbance
Proactively set-up landscapes to better manage fire behavior and effects that are safe
for the public and firefighters, and support the increased use of prescribed and unplanned wildland fire, where appropriate
Protect or conserve tribal treaty, and other high value resources (both fire-adapted and
fire sensitive)
Contribute to social and economic vitality and resiliency
Test new ways of project planning that reduce planning time for implementable projects, while meeting policy, regulatory and legal requirements for environmental analysis, public involvement, and sound decision-making.
Excess successional class
Deficit successional class (S-Class)
Haugo, R., Zanger, C., DeMeo, T., Ringo, C., Shlisky, A., Blankenship, K., Simpson, M.,
Mellen-McLean, K., Kertis, J., Stern, M. 2015. A new approach to evaluate forest structure restoration needs across Oregon and Washington, USA. Forest Ecology and Management 335: 37-50.
scape patterns are not the goal for current and future climate and landscape conditions. However, the
past (e.g., Historical Ranges of Variation) can be an important guide to creating resilient forests. Desired conditions for the Blue Mountains Forest Resiliency Project incorporate our best understanding
of characteristic ranges of variation (RV) in past, current and future biophysical environments and
Thinning, prescribed fire, and natural disturbances are some of the primary drivers of forest conditions on National
forest conditions. The resilience of local and tribal communities and economies is often influenced by
Forest System lands in the Blue Mountains. The Forest Resilience Project will identify conditions and geographic ar-
the resilience of nearby National Forest System lands, including the forest products, values, and expe-
eas where active management can be used appropriately to reduce the extent of forest conditions that are in excess of
riences they provide or support.
desired conditions, and increase the extent of conditions that fall below the desired amount.
In some cases, active management can promptly shift stand conditions toward desired amounts. For example, the extent of open, large ponderosa pine and western larch dominated stands are commonly below those expected for dry
forests of the Blue Mountains. Conversely, the extent of dense, small to large Douglas-fir and grand fir stands are
The characteristics of forest resiliency is site-specific, but there are general ecological con-
Landform Associations represent areas with similar, recognizable, naturally formed geomorphic features.
straints at broader levels. Ecological subregions (ESRs; Hessburg et al. 2000) represent ar-
Landforms have a characteristic shape and can include such large features as plains, plateaus, mountains,
eas with similar broadscale patterns in climate, geology, landform, and biota, each with
and valleys, as well as smaller features such as hills, and canyons. Different landforms support differing
their own unique combination of drivers of forest resiliency. Differing patterns of forest
drivers of fire behavior and effects, and can inform the ecologically appropriate geographic placement of
composition, structure, disturbance, and pattern emerge from different ESRs in the Blue
forest treatments.
Within landforms, local landscape topography, physiography, and geomorphology can be predictive of fire be-
above those expected. Where these conditions co-exist, closed large-tree forests can be appropriately thinned and pre-
havior and forest patterns across landscapes (Underwood et al. 2010; Hessburg et al. 2005, 2007; North et al.
scribed burned to promptly reduce excess, and increase deficit conditions. Closed stands dominated by small and me-
2009; Taylor and Skinner 2003). Variability in soils at finer resolutions also contributes to landscape patterns.
dium trees can also be thinned and prescribed burned, but also need time to grow to achieve a similar outcome.
Partitioning landscapes into basic topographic positions, such as drainage bottoms, ridgetops, or south- and
north-facing slopes, can be used to classify the forest into areas with different inherent productivity and disturb-
Mountains (Hessburg et al. 1999, Stine et al. 2014).
Landform Associations
of the Blue Mountains
Ecological Subregions
(Hessburg et al. 2000)
ance regimes. These classes can be used to locate ecologically-appropriate landscape treatments on the ground.
For example, in general in the Blue Mountains (under natural disturbance regimes and fuel distributions) southfacing aspects and ridges tended to burn more often and less severely than north-ridges. Ridges have a relatively
high lightning ignition frequency and limited fuel accumulations, and provide a network of natural barriers to
the fire transmission across the landscape. This is typically not the case on north-facing aspects and in valleys;
hence, they have lower fire frequencies. Although there are exceptions, forest management can take advantage
of these generalizations by tailoring management actions to the local biophysical template.
Modeled range of variation in forest
structural stages, compared to current
conditions for the Idaho Batholith ecological subregions.
The watersheds outlined in black above, and white to the right, were subsamples of current
and historical landscape conditions for the Interior Columbia Basin Ecosystem Manage-
The same general approach to treatments can also be used to proactively
ment Project (ICBEMP; Hessburg et al. 1999). The empirical, historical spatial data availa-
set-up landscapes to better manage fire behavior and effects that are safe
ble for these places makes them valuable as “learning landscapes”, where we can under-
for the public and firefighters, and support the increased use of ecological-
stand biophysical constraints on forests conditions, and the long-term direct and indirect
ly and socially appropriate prescribed and unplanned fire. The map at right
effects of historical land management practices and natural disturbance.
shows the probability of moderate to high intensity fire (flame lengths of
Empirical estimate of HRV from 1930s-1950s aerial photography
25
% of ESR 34
Forest structure key
25
20
Max 80 percentile
20
15
Mean
15
10
10
5
5
0
0
herb
(Miles Hemstrom, DRAFT model results, July 2015)
Location of over-represented forest conditions (small,
medium and large tree-dominated, closed canopy stands
relative to slope position, and aspect in a sample watershed on the Ochoco National Forest.
Potential treatment area within a sample watershed on the
Ochoco National Forest. In this landform (dissected mountains), on upper slope positions and southern aspects, fire was
naturally more frequent. Over-represented forest conditions
(small and medium diameter, Douglas-fir and grand fir dominated, closed canopy) in this area could be a candidate for
thinning, prescribed burning, and growth to reduce the deficit
in large pine and western larch dominated conditions.
shrub
woodland
stand
stem
initiation (si) exclusion
closed
canopy
(secc)
stem
understory
young
old forest old forest
exclusion reinitiation
forest
multistory single story
open
(ur)
multistory
(ofms)
(ofss)
canopy
(yfms)
(seoc)
other
Historical % of Idaho Batholith/Dry Forest-Cool Shrub ESR by structural stage
for the Dry Forest PVG
6-8 feet) given existing fuel conditions, topography, and general weather
patterns. Red areas have a high probability of this fire intensity, and green
areas have a low probability. Potential treatment areas in grey are where
desired fire behavior could be safely managed to slow down or prevent
transmission of fire to fire-sensitive areas (e.g., rural communities, firesensitive plant or wildlife habitats), or support the use of planned or unplanned ignitions to achieve resource objectives in fire-adapted systems
(e.g., open dry forests). Locations of natural barriers to fire transmission
(ridges, natural openings) that intersect with over-represented forest conditions represent opportunities for win-win treatment opportunities.