tive effects to air quality would not exceed the 

 levels defined by the State of Montana Coop- 

 erative Smoke Management Plan (1988) and 

 managed by the Montana Airshed Group. 



IRRETRIEVABLE AND 

 IRREVERSIBLE 

 COMMITMENTS OF 

 NATURAL 

 RESOURCES 



IRRETRIEVABLE 



According to Shipley (1995), irretrievable 

 commitments of resources are lost for a period 

 of time. Some stands in the project area are 

 mature with individual trees more than 150 

 years old. Any of the timber-harvesting 

 alternatives would cause some of these large, 

 old, live trees to be irretrievably lost; they 

 would no longer contribute to future snag 

 recruitment, stand structure and composi- 

 tional diversity, aesthetics, wildlife habitat, 

 nutrient recycling processes, or any other 

 important ecosystem functions. 



Areas that will be converted from timber 

 production to permanent roads would be lost 

 for a period of time from timber production 

 and would not function as forested lands. 



IRREVERSIBLE 



According to Shipley (1995), irreversible 

 commitments of resources are commitments 

 that cannot be reversed or replaced. The initial 

 loss of trees due to timber harvesting would 

 not be irreversible. Natural regeneration 

 combined with site preparation and artificial 

 regeneration would promote the establishment 

 of new trees. If management decisions allow 

 for the continued growth of established trees, 

 they would ultimately become equivalent in 

 size to the irretrievably harvested trees. 



Areas that are initially lost to timber produc- 

 tion through road construction could over 

 time be reclaimed and once again produce 



timber and function as forested land. 



SUMMARY OF 

 RELATIONSHIP 

 BETWEEN SHORT- 

 TERM USES AND 

 LONG-TERM 

 PRODUCTIVITY 



,„LHJ 



Generally, short-term uses are those that occur 

 annually. Long-term productivity refers to the 

 ability of the land to produce a continuous 

 supply of a resource. 



All harvest alternatives are designed to protect 

 the long-term productivity of the sites. It is 

 anticipated that the stocking reduction that 

 would occur under each alternative would ■ 

 increase the health and growth of residual 

 stands resulting in an increase in long-term 

 productivity. The post-harvest stands would 

 more closely resemble stands that existed 

 historically and would provide a variety of 

 opportunities for use in the long term. 



A P(. 



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Chapter IV: Environmental Consequences 



-IV41 



