Journal of Forestry

Walls, Matthew

doi: 10.5849/jof.14-022pmid: N/A

As the managing editor of the Journal of Forestry, I have the privilege of overseeing one of the core membership benefits of the Society of American Foresters (SAF), the scientific and educational organization serving a highly diverse array of natural resource professionals working in a highly diverse variety of disciplines across a highly diverse geographic range—all striving to understand and describe, in whole or in part, the “ecosystem characterized by a more or less dense and extensive tree cover, often consisting of stands varying in characteristics such as species composition, structure, age class, and associated processes, and commonly including meadows, streams, fish, and wildlife” (Helms 1998). View largeDownload slide View largeDownload slide It should therefore come as no surprise that my goal for the management of the Journal is to ensure that the content we publish is equally diverse, a philosophy I typically shorthand as “something for everyone” (see Walls and Moser 2012, Walls 2013). While this principle has guided our editorial team since April 2005 (Walls 2005), we continue to receive criticism from members who feel that we are failing to meet this goal. Most recently, I received feedback from a member who had chosen not to renew his membership because, in his words: “As a forester in the Pacific Northwest, I find very little information in your publications that pertain to this region.” Variations of this “there's nothing in the Journal for me” critique have peppered member and reader surveys throughout the past decade. Following this latest comment, I conducted a content review to discover whether we are failing to deliver on our promise of “something for everyone.” This Editor's Note presents the results of this review. Methods All scientific articles published in the Journal of Forestry over the last 5 years (January 2009 through December 2013) were reviewed to determine (and quantify) their research topic and the geographic scope of that research. Research Topic Authors submitting manuscripts to the Journal of Forestry are required to designate the research topic of their submission from among the following categories: economics, education & communication, entomology & pathology, fire, forest ecology, geospatial technologies, history, human dimensions, international forestry, measurement, policy, recreation, silviculture, social sciences, soils & hydrology, urban & community forestry, utilization & engineering, and wildlife management. Authors may select only one topic designation. This topic designation is presented above the title on the first page of every scientific article published within the Journal of Forestry, as well as on the table of contents to assist readers in locating articles aligned with their interests. Geographic Scope Authors are not requested to designate the geographic scope of their research. To quantify the geographic scope of the articles published in the Journal over the past 5 years, I first chose to divide geographic scope into five categories: national, international, northern US, southern US, or western US. Articles were deemed to be national in scope if the research reported results of national surveys or trends across the United States; international if the article primarily reported research regarding forestry outside of the United States; or northern US, southern US, or western US if the research focused on a specific, limited region or area within the boundaries demarcated by SAF's former regional applied forestry journals (a map of these regions is available at www.safnet.org/publications/SAF_JAF_regions.gif). In many instances, a clear geographic scope was identifiable from the title, such as through the direct mention of a specific state, country, or region. If geographic scope could not be identified from the title alone, the abstract and/or full article was consulted to identify whether a specific case study or research site was being reported that constrained the geographic scope of that article. If no clear geographic constraint was determinable, that article was deemed to be national in scope. In two instances, the geographic scope was determined to span two regions: north/west and north/south; both instances were recorded as national. Results and Discussion Table 1 lists the number of papers published within each topic area in each of the past 5 volume years of the Journal of Forestry. Since the number of articles published in each volume year varies, Figure 1 presents these results as percentages of the total amount of scientific content presented in each volume year to normalize the results across the 5 years reviewed in this study. Table 1. Number of scientific articles by topic, 2009–2013. 1 “Human dimensions” was established as its own distinct category in 2011 (Vol. 109). View Large Table 1. Number of scientific articles by topic, 2009–2013. 1 “Human dimensions” was established as its own distinct category in 2011 (Vol. 109). View Large Figure 1. View largeDownload slide Percentage of scientific articles by topic, 2009–2013. Figure 1. View largeDownload slide Percentage of scientific articles by topic, 2009–2013. Volume 111 (2013) displays the most even representation of articles across the topics presented in the Journal of Forestry. In that year, the range between the minimum and maximum number of articles per category is at its lowest (5 articles) across the 5 years reviewed. Larger ranges (between 7 and 10 articles) were present in prior years, where there were spikes in the topics of education & communication (in 2011), policy (in 2009 and 2012), and, to a lesser extent, social sciences (in 2010). The number of topics for which there were no articles was smallest in 2009 (one topic: soils & hydrology) and largest in 2010 and 2013 (where five topics have no representation). Some topics, such as history, urban & community forestry, and wildlife management, are poorly represented throughout the 5-year period, possibly due to the strong presence of competing publications vying for that content (such as Forest History Today, Arboriculture & Urban Forestry, and The Journal of Wildlife Management). History and wildlife management represent the only two topics for which there have been multiyear droughts. Table 2 lists the geographic scope of all articles published within the past 5 volume years of the Journal of Forestry. Again, since the number of articles published in each volume year varies, Figure 2 presents these results as percentages of the total geographic scope of the scientific content presented in each volume year to normalize the results across the 5 years reviewed in this study. Table 2. Geographic scope of scientific articles, 2009–2013. View Large Table 2. Geographic scope of scientific articles, 2009–2013. View Large Figure 2. View largeDownload slide Percentage of geographic scope of scientific articles, 2009–2013. Figure 2. View largeDownload slide Percentage of geographic scope of scientific articles, 2009–2013. As one might expect for a journal with national scope, articles with national implications have represented the highest percentage of content in each of the years reviewed (except, ironically, this past year, in which articles with western focus slightly edged out national content). In none of the years reviewed were any of the domestic regions unrepresented; in fact, the lowest percentage of regional content across the period reviewed was 9% (representing western content, in 2009). Content focused on international forestry represented the smallest percentage in all but one of the years reviewed (the oldest surveyed, 2009), which is not unexpected for a publication serving the Society of American Foresters. International articles have been a lightning rod for criticism in the past (“Articles like forestry practices in Bangladesh do not help me in my job!”; Walls and Moser 2012); in 2013 editor Don Bragg tightened the requirements of international submissions to help ensure their relevance to our largely domestic audience (www.safnet.org/publications/jof/intlguidelines.cfm). Excluding articles with international focus, Volume 111 (2013) displays the most even representation of content by geographic scope. In that year, the range between the minimum and maximum values is at its lowest (3 articles) across the 5 years reviewed. Conclusions While 2013 displayed the least difference between minimum and maximum values across both topic and geographic scope, and thus the most even spread of content by both topic and scope across the years reviewed, the absence of content in the topics of history, soils & hydrology, urban & community forestry, utilization & engineering, and wildlife management points out several areas where we are in fact failing in our promise of “something for everyone.” While each of these topic areas is represented by alternative professional societies (such as Forest History Society, Soil Science Society of America, International Society for Arboriculture, Forest Products Society, and The Wildlife Society), they are important disciplines within the field of forestry and to the Society of American Foresters, and we will strive to improve our reporting in these areas in the years ahead. As always, we thank our readers for their constructive feedback. If there is a topic or region we are failing to cover, please let us know. Because, let's face it: “something for most” just doesn't have the same ring to it. Literature Cited Helms J.A. (Ed.). 1998. The dictionary of forestry . Society of American Foresters, Bethesda, MD. 210 p. Walls M. 2005. Growing better all the time, part 2. J. For.  103( 3): 107. Walls M., Moser W.K. 2012. Management and policy implications. J. For.  110( 6): 297. Walls M. 2013. A brief history of the Journal of Forestry, and sometimes you need to step backward to take a step forward. J. For.  111( 1): 8– 9. Copyright © 2014 Society of American Foresters

doi: 10.5849/jof.14-999pmid: N/A

The following articles will appear in the April 2014 edition of Forest Science. www.forest-science.org FUNDAMENTAL RESEARCH biometrics Evaluating Forest Vegetation Simulator Performance for Trees in Multiaged Ponderosa Pine Stands, Black Hills, USA S.A. Ex and F.W. Smith Increasing emphasis on ecological objectives such as biodiversity in forestry has precipitated interest in multiaged silvicultural methods that create and maintain more complex stand structures than simpler even-aged methods. Foresters often use the Forest Vegetation Simulator (FVS) growth model to compare competing silvicultural alternatives, which can include multiaged structures. For models such as FVS to be useful for this task, they must realistically simulate structural dynamics in multiaged stands. We evaluated FVS performance for trees in even-aged and multiaged stands of ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa C. Lawson var. scopulorum Engelm.) in the Black Hills, USA, by comparing FVS predictions of dbh increment to measurements from increment cores. dbh change is the primary element of tree growth estimated by the regional FVS variant used in the Black Hills and is the basis for all other aspects of tree growth. We found that the dbh growth model used by FVS was more biased and less accurate for trees in multiaged stands than for trees in even-aged stands and that residual error varied systematically with tree size class in multiaged stands, which could affect stand dynamics simulation. Performance improved for trees in multiaged stands when predictions were adjusted with a model that included crown ratio (CR), which is related to photosynthetic capacity and tree growth. A CR-based adjustment did not improve model predictions for trees in even-aged stands, presumably because CR was less variable than in multiaged stands and because stand structures were more similar to those used for model development. This study illustrates the potential for empirical forest growth models such as FVS to behave in unexpected ways when they are used for stands and trees that are dissimilar from those used for model development. It also highlights the importance of continued model testing because growth models are increasingly used to develop silvicultural alternatives for structurally complex stands. http://dx.doi.org/10.5849/forsci.12-054 economics Conservation Easements and Management by Family Forest Owners: A Propensity Score Matching Approach with Multi-Imputations of Survey Data N. Song, F.X. Aguilar, and B.J. Butler Increasingly, private landowners are participating in conservation easement programs, but their effects on land management remain to be addressed. Data from the US Forest Service National Woodland Owner Survey for the US Northern Region were used to investigate how conservation easement participation is associated with selected past and future forest management practices. Multiple data imputation was used to correct for missing data bias, and propensity score matching was applied to correct for selection bias. Results show that only the adoption of forest management plans, among 17 forest management practices, was significantly and positively correlated with easement participation. Conservation easements legally bind participants to maintain land forested, but there was no evidence of greater association between easement participation and active forest management practices, including timber harvesting. These findings suggest that adoption of conservation easements is a policy tool that can preserve forestland from changing to other uses but may not necessarily be conducive to wider implementation of land practices necessary for long-term protection of forests. http://dx.doi.org/10.5849/forsci.12-107 forest ecology Applicability of Predictive Models of Drought-Induced Tree Mortality between the Midwest and Northeast United States E.J. Gustafson Regression models developed in the upper Midwest (United States) to predict drought-induced tree mortality from measures of drought (Palmer Drought Severity Index) were tested in the northeastern United States and found inadequate. The most likely cause of this result is that long drought events were rare in the Northeast during the period when inventory data were available. Therefore, new predictive models of drought mortality for the Northeast were built using USDA Forest Service inventory data and national climate data from 1969 to 2007. The Standardized Precipitation Index was better correlated with tree mortality in the Northeast than the Palmer Drought Severity Index, and new models were estimated. The reliability of the Northeast models varied considerably by drought-sensitivity class, with the model for drought-intolerant species being particularly suspect. I argue that the Midwest models may nevertheless have some value in the Northeast because my tests were unable to cover the range of drought conditions under which the models were developed, there is no obvious reason why the same species should respond differently in a very similar ecological province, and some Northeast models are very weak. http://dx.doi.org/10.5849/forsci.12-148 forest management A Functional Framework for Improved Management of Western North American Aspen (Populus tremuloides Michx.) P.C. Rogers, S.M. Landhäusser, B.D. Pinno, and R.J. Ryel Quaking or trembling aspen (Populus tremuloides Michx.) forests occur in highly diverse settings across North America. However, management of distinct communities has long relied on a single aspen-to-conifer successional model. We examine a variety of aspen-dominated stand types in the western portion of its range as ecological systems, avoiding an exclusive focus on seral dynamics or single-species management. We build a case for a large-scale functional aspen typology based on the existing literature. Aspen functional types are defined as aspen communities that differ markedly in their physical and biological processes. The framework presented here describes two “functional types” and seven embedded “subtypes”: seral (boreal and montane), stable (parkland, Colorado Plateau, elevation and aspect limited, and terrain isolated), and a crossover seral-stable subtype (riparian). The assessment hinges on a matrix comparing proposed functional types across a suite of environmental characteristics. Differences among functional groups based on physiological and climatic conditions, stand structures and dynamics, and disturbance types and periodicity are described herein. We further examine management implications and challenges, such as human alterations, ungulate herbivory, and climate futures, that affect the functionality of these aspen systems. The functional framework lends itself well to stewardship and research that seek to understand and emulate ecological processes rather than combat them. We see advantages of applying this approach to other widespread forest communities that engender diverse functional adaptations. http://dx.doi.org/10.5849/forsci.12-156 Copyright © 2014 Society of American Foresters

Butler, Brett J.; Markowski-Lindsay, Marla; Snyder, Stephanie; Catanzaro, Paul; Kittredge, David B.; Andrejczyk, Kyle; Dickinson, Brenton J.; Eryilmaz, Derya; Hewes, Jaketon H.; Randler, Paula; Tadle, Donna; Kilgore, Michael A.

Schultz, Courtney A.; Coelho, Dana L.; Beam, Ryan D.

doi: 10.5849/jof.13-070pmid: N/A

Project-level monitoring is a necessary component of forest restoration and has historically been neglected. The 2009 Forest Landscape Restoration Act, which created the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program (CFLRP), authorizes funding for collaboratively designed restoration projects on US National Forests. It is the only statute requiring that the US Department of Agriculture Forest Service conduct project-level monitoring, specifically requiring collaboratively designed and implemented multiparty monitoring for 15 years after a CFLRP project begins. We conducted research to understand the design of these monitoring programs, their purposes, and their associated governance structures. Our goal was to investigate how this innovative aspect of the CFLRP is proceeding in the early years of the program and to set the stage for longitudinal research on this aspect of the CFLRP. We conducted and systematically analyzed semistructured interviews with 45 participants, including federal and nonfederal partners, from the first 10 CFLRP projects. We found that monitoring programs are being designed for a variety of purposes, such as tracking ecological impacts, maintaining trust with stakeholders, supporting “adaptive” planning documents meant to cover multiple years of treatment, and “telling the story” of these projects in terms of social and economic impacts to communities. Governance structures include formal roles and responsibilities for participants but lack formal processes for incorporating monitoring data into long-term project planning. Major challenges relate to the timing requirements of the CFLRP legislation, a lack of capacity among all parties in terms of time and expertise, navigation of the distinction between research and monitoring, and the design of adaptive planning documents to cover activities for multiple years over large landscapes.

Emery, Marla R.; Wrobel, Alexandra; Hansen, Mark H.; Dockry, Michael; Moser, W. Keith; Stark, Kekek Jason; Gilbert, Jonathan H.

doi: 10.5849/jof.13-023pmid: N/A

Traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) has been proposed as a basis for enhanced understanding of ecological systems and their management. TEK also can contribute to targeted inventories of resources not included in standard mensuration. We discuss the results of a cooperative effort between the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission (GLIFWC) and USDA Forest Service's Forest Inventory and Analysis Program (FIA). At the urging of member tribes, GLIFWC staff worked with tribal gatherers to document TEK regarding desired characteristics of birch bark for traditional uses and translated this into an inventory field guide. The guide was provided to FIA, which incorporated the methods into its field manual and trained inventory crews in implementation of the protocol. Birch bark data were collected during three field seasons from 2004 to 2006. Results show birch bark supply has declined. Lessons learned from this multiyear, multistage project provide a model for future targeted inventory efforts.

Riechman, Jesse A.; Park, Logan O.; Ruffner, Charles M.; Groninger, John W.

doi: 10.5849/jof.12-110pmid: N/A

Fire frequency far below historic norms is threatening eastern oak ecosystem integrity. Increasingly, private family forest landowners are interested in using prescribed fire as a tool for maintaining oak dominance and associated wildlife habitat and wildfire protection. The Southeastern Illinois Prescribed Burn Association (SIPBA) empowers landowners to apply prescribed burning as a management tool. Prescribed fire use is consistent with the established land ethic expressed by members and serves as a means of modeling the practice for nonmember neighbors. SIPBA members regard dependence on outside funding as a limit to both the capacity and, potentially, the sustainability of this novel cooperative land management organization.

Kooistra, Chad M.; Hall, Troy E.

doi: 10.5849/jof.13-004pmid: N/A

Little is known about public attitudes toward management of forests after major disturbances. Mail surveys (n = 231) and in-depth telephone interviews (n = 36) with Grand County, Colorado, residents revealed that support for active forest management and economic development options was relatively high, concerns about impacts from the outbreak were mostly moderate, except those regarding wildfire and falling trees, which were high, and attitudes toward land managers and community leaders were generally negative. Concern, gender, and political orientation were significant predictors of support for management options, although different variables explained attitudes about different options. Interviews illustrated the complexity of attitudes toward management by revealing competing concerns related to the outbreak and forest management. Specifically, citizens generally supported postoutbreak management to reduce social and ecological impacts from the outbreak, but they were wary of the possibility of further negative social/ecological impacts resulting from further disturbance. This study reveals the importance of managers addressing people's concerns about both the disturbance and subsequent management actions when making postdisturbance management decisions.

Lewis, Alexis B.; Ebbeck, Vicki

doi: 10.5849/jof.12-107pmid: N/A

Decisionmaking in wildland firefighting is an evolving, dynamic reflection of a complex array of social and environmental factors that managers are expected to handle with fewer resources than in past eras. The need for new and effective ways of developing the capabilities to handle these factors is paramount. Seven focus group interviews with wildland fire managers (N = 39) throughout the western United States were conducted to assess the meaning and utility of two potential tools that could aid in this development—mindfulness (Kabat-Zinn 1990) and self-compassion (Neff 2003). Individuals who integrate these processes in their lives have been found to maintain and build important personal resources. Managers in this study best resonated with the concepts of mindfulness and self-compassion through four main methods of relating them to personal fire experiences that offer guidance to other managers. They saw value in training fire personnel to use these tools with caution toward self-compassion.

Bragg, Don C.

doi: 10.5849/jof.14-027pmid: N/A

1930s and 1940s When Russell R. Reynolds formally opened the Crossett Experimental Forest on Jan. 1, 1934, the prospects for developing pine silviculture in southern Arkansas seemed uncertain at best—it would be a few years before any results would be available. Fortunately, the development of a southern pine-based pulp and paper industry greatly facilitated the application of the silvicultural techniques being refined by Reynolds and others across the South by providing a ready market for small-diameter wood produced by thinning young stands, as witnessed by the pine pulpwood being delivered by rail to the Crossett paper mill in the early 1940s. USDA Forest Service photograph from the archives of the Crossett Experimental Forest. View largeDownload slide View largeDownload slide 1950s By the 1950s, some of the earliest studies installed on the Crossett Experimental Forest began to yield encouraging results, as can be seen in the growth response of this 24-in.-dbh loblolly pine released from competition when young in an uneven-aged stand on the Crossett Experimental Forest. USDA Forest Service photograph (FS#482514) taken in May 1957 by Russell R. Reynolds. View largeDownload slide View largeDownload slide 1960s Knowledge transfer programs have long been a part of the work of the Crossett Experimental Forest. This image of an unidentified forester explaining the economic benefits of good silviculture to visitors attending the field day following the 25th annual harvest of the Good Farm Forty is typical of the approach taken during this period, where the annual production of a parcel was cut and displayed to show the rewards of proper forestry practices. USDA Forest Service photograph taken by Daniel Todd in November 1962, from the archives of the Crossett Experimental Forest. View largeDownload slide View largeDownload slide 1970s The Crossett Experimental Forest closed for a number of years after Reynolds retired, but public pressure and renewed interest in the long-term studies at Crossett helped convince the USDA Forest Service to reopen the facility. In this picture, Larry E. Lassen, Director of the Southern Forest Experiment Station, addresses the attendees at the reopening ceremony held on Feb. 14, 1979. Also shown (from left to right): Dr. Robert E. Buckman, Deputy Chief for Research, USFS; US Senator Dale Bumpers; Lassen (speaking); Reverend Herman Reese, St. John's Lutheran Church in Crossett; B.G. Gresham, Arkansas State Forester; Russell R. Reynolds, retired Forest Service scientist; and John Wishart, Vice President of Timber and Timberlands for Georgia-Pacific. USDA Forest Service photograph from the archives of the Crossett Experimental Forest. View largeDownload slide View largeDownload slide 1980s In addition to the establishment of new studies and the continuation of old ones, Project Leader Dr. James Baker reinstituted the field day tradition; here he leads a discussion of timber management with a number of private forest landowners on the Crossett Experimental Forest. Circa late 1980s USDA Forest Service photograph taken by Mike Chain, from the archives of the Crossett Experimental Forest. View largeDownload slide View largeDownload slide 1990s The long-term research and demonstration projects found on the Crossett Experimental Forest permit longitudinal studies that exceed most other programs in the region. Here, staff measure a large loblolly pine in the Reynolds Research Natural Area, which had been established in the late 1930s as an unmanaged control for the uneven-aged research being done at Crossett. Circa 1990 USDA Forest Service photograph from the archives of the Crossett Experimental Forest. View largeDownload slide View largeDownload slide 2000s Decades of continuous observation at the Crossett Experimental Forest has allowed scientists, such as Dr. Michael Shelton (pictured here examining high-quality pine sawlogs harvested from the Good Farm Forestry Forty) to assess the full management cycle, from seed germination to canopy recruitment to maturation and harvest. January 2003 photograph by Don C. Bragg, from the archives of the Crossett Experimental Forest. View largeDownload slide View largeDownload slide 2010s Investments in recent years have upgraded the weather station, improved the road infrastructure, converted a former soils laboratory into a bunkhouse for visiting guests, and improved other office facilities and measuring equipment on the Crossett Experimental Forest. This includes a canopy-level eddy covariance tower built in September 2011 to allow scientists to study the interactions of a mature pine forest with the atmosphere at a scale previously not possible at this location. USDA Forest Service photograph by Don C. Bragg, from the archives of the Crossett Experimental Forest. View largeDownload slide View largeDownload slide Editor's Note:This is the second part of the introduction to the new Journal of Forestry “Picture the Past” article type and is presented as one possible example of a photo essay-format version of this feature. Copyright © 2014 Society of American Foresters

Beanblossum, Robert L.

doi: 10.5849/jof.14-032apmid: N/A

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