nCURES IU-5-COMPARISON OF STAND STRUCTURE 



Clumpy multistorled 



Classic uneven-aged appearance 



Single-storied 



Two-storied 



Multistoried 



no distinct canopy levels 



FIGURES III-6-COMPARISON OF STOCKING LEVELS 

 OF OLD-GROWTH STANDS 



4-11 MBP/acr« 

 20-27 MBP/acr* 



12-19 MSF/acr* 

 2S-36 MBF/aer« 



Comparing the old-growth stands in the 2 

 areas as depicted in Figures III-4 through 111-6 

 shows the major differences in the 3 attributes 

 that were lised. The largest variances were that 

 the Beaver Lake old-growth stands had very 

 few heavily stocked stands, vigor was higher, 

 and the structure of the old stands in the 

 Beaver Lake Project area were, for the most 

 part, an uneven-aged structure with no dis- 

 tinct canopy levels, while old-growth stands 

 on the entire forest are predominantly 

 multistoried stands. The differences between 

 old growth in the project area and on the 

 entire Stillwater State Forest may be largely a 

 product of past harvest entries in the majority 

 of the old-growth stands in the Beaver Lake 

 Project area. 



FIRE HISTORY AND 

 CURRENT WILDFIRE 

 HAZARDS AND RISKS 

 IN THE BEAVER LAKE 

 PROJECT AREA 



A major wildfire burned into the edge of 

 this area both in 1910 and 1919. Between 

 1962 and 1992, 41 small fires, all less than 

 one acre, occurred in the project area. 

 There have been no major fire occurrences 

 in nearly 90 years. Following the habitat- 

 type grouping that was done by Fisher 

 and Bradley, Fire Ecology of Western 

 Montana Habitat Types (INT 223;Fisher 

 and Bradley 1987), 2 main habitat-type 

 groups occupy most of areas Group 6 and 

 Group 11. Group 6 covers fire intensities 

 from nonlethal to mixed lethal, with small 

 areas of stand-replacing fires. Group 11 

 covers a wide variety of site and moisture 

 differences, and fire severity can range 

 from minor ground fires on moist sites to 

 stand-replaceing fires. Stillwater State 

 Forest completed a risk rating of the 

 Beaver Lake Wildland/ Residential Inter- 

 face Zone. The score fell into the extreme 

 risk/extreme priority category. Key 

 concerns were: 



deadends on secondary roads with no 

 cul-de-sacs; 



more than 25% of homes/cabins not 

 meeting fire-resistant construction 

 and /or landscaping guidelines; 

 dense timber stands or high brush 

 fields around more than 10% of the 

 existing structures; 



the absence of organized homeowner- 

 contact mechanisms; 

 the presence of campgrounds, debris 

 burning, use of wood for domestic 

 heat, farming and ranching, 

 powerlines, railroads, and vehicle 

 travel routes; 

 no fire hydrants; 



a fire department estimated response 

 time of 16 to 30 minutes; and 

 a past fire occurrence rate of .40-i- fires/ 

 1,000 acres/ 10 years. 



Stillwater State Forest • Beaver Lake Timber Sale Project 



