Restoration of Low Elevation Dry Forests of the Northern Rocky Mountains: A Holistic Approach

February 3, 2009

Dry forests of the northern Rocky Mountains can be described as stands of pure ponderosa pine, or pine intermixed with Douglas-fir and western larch that cover the lower slopes of these mountains and provide important habitat for a number of wildlife species. Since the beginning of the 19th century, these forests were greatly affected by logging, grazing, road-building, and fire suppression. Such activities changed the structure of the forests reducing their ecological integrity.

As a result, these forests are now the main target for forest restoration and fuel reduction treatments. However, the model used for restoration was derived from the ecology of ponderosa pine forests in the southwestern US, which are characterized by open, park-like stands that historically experienced surface fire under short term intervals. By contrast, the Northern Rockies dry forests historically varied in their stand density and experienced mixed-severity fires, described as different levels of fire severity that burn hot in places and hardly at all in others on a varying time interval.

In our report, Restoration of Low Elevation Dry Forests of the Northern Rocky Mountains: A Holistic Approach, we argue that successful forest restoration strategies for the Northern Rockies must take into account the specific ecology of forests in this region, as well as the history of land management activities in a particular place.

Authors: Michele Crist, Tom DeLuca, Bo Wilmer and Greg Aplet