Management Goals & Treatments

A team of natural resource specialists from the San Juan National Forest, regional managers, and scientists came together for a three-day workshop to develop the study design for the ASCC project site. The team developed a set of Desired Future Condition statements, Objectives, and Tactics for each major climate adaptation trajectory (resistance, resilience, transition). These three trajectories are briefly summarized below:

RESISTANCE  

maintain relatively unchanged conditions over time

Management Goal: 

• Retain the same species composition as in pre-harvest stand of ponderosa pine, Douglas-fir, and aspen, with a slight reduction in white fir, and maintain all species, especially if poorly represented 
• Maintain even and consistent spacing
• Retain stand structure to resist the increase of growing space for shrub components and the likelihood of creating a new cohort of conifers that would act as ladder fuels to the existing co-dominants and dominants in the stands

Strategies & Approaches: 

• Thin to 60-90 ft²/acre 
• Maintain even and consistent spacing 
• Retain the same species composition as in pre-harvest stand of ponderosa pine, Douglas-fir, and aspen, with a slight reduction in white fir
• Retain stand structure to resist the increase of growing space for shrub components and the likelihood of creating a new cohort of conifers that would act as ladder fuels to the existing co-dominants and dominants in the stands   

RESILIENCE 

allow some change in current conditions, but encourage eventual return to original conditions

Management Goal: 

• Heavily favor fire-adapted and drought tolerant species across all size classes and create openings in the stand
• Create high variability in spacing with openings up to 1 acre
• Expand openings off of existing natural openings in the stand structure
• Retain trees in closely spaced legacy groups with multiple size classes and species
• Increase drought-tolerant and fire-adapted species (ponderosa pine and Douglas-fir)

Strategies & Approaches: 

• Thin to 60-80 ft²/acre 
• Create high variability in spacing with openings up to 1 acre
• Expand openings off of existing natural openings in the stand structure 
• Retain trees in closely spaced legacy groups with multiple size classes and species 
• Increase drought-tolerant and fire-adapted species (ponderosa pine and Douglas-fir) 

TRANSITION

actively facilitate change to encourage adaptive responses

Management Goal: 

• Increase drought-tolerant and fire-adapted species (ponderosa pine and Douglas-fir). Remove all white fir
• Create high variability in spacing with a canopy openness target of 30-40%, average 40 ft²/acre of basal area
• Maintain aspen in swales on north slopes

Strategies & Approaches: 

• Create high variability in spacing with a canopy openness target of 30-40%, average 40 ft²/acre of basal area 
• Increase drought-tolerant and fire-adapted species (ponderosa pine and Douglas-fir) 
• Maintain aspen in swales on north slopes 
• Remove all white fir