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APPENDIX C 



VEGETATION ANALYSIS 



INTRODUCTION 



This section provides a detailed 

 description of the conditions of the 

 forest in the analysis area and 

 addresses the potential effects of 

 the proposed alternatives related to 

 the following issues: 



• Adequate regeneration of the 

 harvest units 



• The likelihood of blowdown 

 occurring in and adjacent to 

 existing harvest units 



• The potential effects to old 

 growth on Stillwater State Forest 



Also, this section addresses general 

 concerns with timber harvesting, 

 such as potential effects to the 

 health of the forest, the spread of 

 noxious weeds, wildfire hazards, the 

 maintenance of biodiversity, the 

 effects of clearcutting, and 

 historic occurrence patterns. 



ANALYSIS METHOD 



A coarse-filter analysis was 

 conducted on the analysis area in 

 reference to effects to age class, 

 covertype, and old-growth timber 

 stands. Each alternative was 

 analyzed for the effects to snags, 

 coarse woody debris, and noxious 

 weed occurrence and distribution. 

 The data used to define the existing 

 condition of the project area came 

 from several sources, including 

 DNRC's SLI, extensive traverses, and 

 plots. The Stillwater SLI is 

 updated annually in areas where 

 recent harvesting has been 

 completed. The estimated effects of 



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forest -management projects that have 

 been implemented, but not completed, 

 on current vegetation conditions are 

 considered in the cumulative-effects 

 analysis . 



ANALYSIS AREA 



The coarse-filter analysis area is 

 the contiguous Stillwater State 

 Forest and scattered sections in 

 northern Lincoln County, 

 approximately 99,264 forested acres. 

 The analysis of site-specific 

 effects is limited to areas where 

 actions are proposed (referred to as 

 the proposed harvest units or the 

 project area) ; consideration for 

 adjacent lands is analyzed where 

 applicable. Some comparisons are 

 made with historic data representing 

 the Upper Flathead Valley that was 

 collected in the 1930s {cliwatic 

 section 333c, Losensky 1997h) . 



EXISTING CONDITIONS 



COVERTYPE 



The current covertype distribution 

 on the landscape in the coarse - 

 filter analysis area is displayed in 

 FIGURE 1. For comparison, the 

 covertype distribution from the 

 Historic Upper Flathead Valley is 

 displayed. Covertypes are assigned 

 based on the existing percent of 

 species mixes from a set protocol 

 using SLI. Also displayed is an 

 appropriate covertype distribution. 

 This depicts the covertype 

 distribution DNRC determined should 

 be trended towards based on the 

 current percent of species mix, fire 

 and fire suppression history, white 



