ROADLESS AREA-INTENSIVE MANAGEMENT TRADE-OFFS ON PACIFIC NORTHWEST NATIONAL FORESTS REFERENCE ABSTRACT Randall, Robert M., Roger D. Fight, Kent P. Connaughton, 1979. Roadless area-intensive management trade-offs on Pacific Northwest National Forests. USDA This study tested the hypothesis that timber harvest levels could be maintained on selected Pacific Northwest National Forests without harvesting from roadless areas, if resources saved by not developing the roadless areas were used for more intensive timber management on the remaining land. The study also examined the employment, financial, environmental, and multiple use implications if such a course of action were followed. KEYWORDS: Wilderness management, land use, policy (forest), RESEARCH SUMMARY RESEARCH PAPER PNW-258 1979 Building roads to provide access to National Forest roadless areas for timber harvest and other multiple use objectives involves a substantial capital investment. It has been suggested that it might be pos-sible to produce as much or more timber from a National Forest by reallocating that investment to timber management practices, such as reforestation, release, and thinning in the areas outside the roadless areas; this would leave roadless areas undeveloped and unmanaged. The primary objective of this study was to test the hypothesis that as much timber could be harvested from a National Forest without harvesting from its roadless area as could be harvested with its roadless area in the timber base if the resources saved by not developing the roadless area were used for more intensive timber management on the area with roads. Secondary objectives were to estimate the employment, financial, environmental, and multiple use implications if such a policy were adopted. The intent was to do the analysis using approaches that closely simulate how such a policy would be implemented under current Forest Service regulations and planning approaches. Alternatives that change policies unrelated to the primary question were beyond the scope of the study. Thus, the analysis was done within the current policy constraints relating to timber flows, water quality, rare and endangered species, sustained yield, and other multiple use values. Seven western National Forests were chosen for study. The results for three Pacific Northwest Region National Forests--the Siskiyou, Umatilla, and Willamette--are reported here. For each study Forest the hypothesis was tested by calculating two harvest levels: one with Forest planned levels of intensive timber management and with the entire roadless area available for timber harvest (the base alternative) and one with the roadless area withdrawn and funds saved by not building roads available for further intensifying timber management on the remaining land (the reallocation alternative). Additional harvest levels were calculated to provide a more complete comparison of the results, and discussions of the alternative harvest levels for each Forest are included. The major conclusions of the timber harvest analyses are: 1. The harvest that could be programed in the first decade with the entire roadless area included in the timber base could not be achieved on any study Forest when the roadless area was withdrawn and the funds saved were reallocated to more intensive timber management. If only half the roadless area was withdrawn, however, the base programed harvest level could be achieved on one study Forest through reallocation of funds. 2. 3. 4. Potential yield was reduced on all Forests when half or all the The average annual chargeable harvest (recent harvest) on all Reductions in potential yield on the study Forests were nearly acres. The financial and employment effects of withdrawing roadless areas from timber harvest and reallocating funds to more intensive management of the remaining land are shown for the study Forests. were derived from several assumptions, including the expected trends in real stumpage prices and real costs when no changes in harvest occur on any National Forest except the one being analyzed. The effects of the key alternatives on present net worth and receipts to counties are shown. These results show that on the Willamette and Siskiyou National Forests the reductions in financial values when roadless areas were withdrawn were quite large. On the Umatilla the changes in financial values were small. The report includes a general discussion of the trade-offs in environmental conditions and nontimber benefits (benefits from nontimber goods and services produced by the Forest) when roadless areas are withdrawn and timber management is intensified on the remaining land. This discussion reveals that on the study Forests there are significant trade-offs associated with these alternatives. 18 Umatilla National Forest . Conclusions About the Financial and Employment CHANGES IN ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS AND NONTIMBER Forage Production. Anadromous and Residential Cold Water Fish Populations 39 Opportunities for Developed Recreation. 39 39 Mineral and Energy Development Opportunities LITERATURE CITED APPENDIX A Real Stumpage Price (Dollars Per Thousand Annual Real Per Capita Income Growth Rate, Oregon and Washington. . . . . 39 39 40 APPENDIX C Documentation of Road Costs and Assumptions and Silvicultural Costs for Each Study Forest. APPENDIX D - Summary and Detailed Financial Consequences APPENDIX E - Summary and Detailed Financial Consequences APPENDIX F Employment Consequences for the Siskiyou, a The administrative and legislative branches of Government are moving toward resolution of the questions of the aggregate amount and distribution of American wilderness. The National Forests are a key element in this decision because extensive roadless areas are still available which could be designated as wilderness. Many of these areas are also desirable for other uses; thus, conflicts have arisen among different classes of users over the ultimate disposition of these lands. In view of the complex trade-offs involved and of the need to identify and measure the consequences of some proposed solutions to the problem, study team composed of USDA Forest Service economists and forest managers was organized to study, in depth, on a few selected western National Forests the proposal that investment funds be used to intensify forest management on roaded portions of National Forests, leaving roadless areas undeveloped. The results of this study are presented in a national report.1 The purpose of this report is to detail results for the study of Forests in the Pacific Northwest Region (Oregon and Washington) and to present and explain in more detail the data and assumptions used in the national report. Reports detailing study results for other western regions are being prepared. KEY QUESTION It has been suggested that reallocating dollars from building roads in the roadless areas to more intensive management of the areas where a road network has already been established would be a better use of Moreover, it has been suggested that reductions of timber harvest resulting from withdrawing roadless areas from the timber base can be made up from gains that result from intensified timber management practices, such as reforestation, release, and thinning in accessible areas. The primary objective of this study was to test the hypothesis that as much timber could be harvested from National Forest areas without harvesting from the roadless areas as could be harvested with roadless areas in the timber base, if the resources saved by not developing a road system in the roadless areas were used for more intensive timber management on the lands with roads. Other objectives were to estimate the employment, financial, environmental, and multiple use implications if such a policy were adopted. Our analysis used approaches that 1Fight, Roger D., K. Norman Johnson, Kent P. Connaughton, and Robert W. Sassaman. Roadless area-intensive management tradeoffs on western National Forests. West. |