trees per acre have died. These 

 stands still retain 100 to 150 

 live trees per acre. Because so 

 few trees per acre have blown 

 down or died, the stand canopy 

 coverage has probably not been 

 changed by these natural events . 



In the short term, the canopy 

 coverage would not be changed by 

 the No-Action Alternative. 

 Natural disturbances over time 

 would cause mortality to 

 individual trees and groups of 

 trees, which would result in 

 variable changes to canopy 

 coverage as trees die and are 

 replaced. 



• Direct and Indirect Impacts of the taction 

 Alternative to Canopy Coverage 



Since the trees planned for 

 removal were already killed by a 

 natural event, stand canopy 

 coverage would not change beyond 

 what has occurred naturally. 



Cumulative Xn^acts to Canopy 

 Coverage 



• Cumulative Impacts qfthe JVo-Action 

 Mtemative to Canopy Coverage 



The brood trees for Douglas-fir 

 bark beetles would not be 

 removed, which may cause 

 increased Douglas-fir mortality 

 over large areas. As Douglas-fir 

 fades from the overstory, canopy 

 coverage may shift to other 

 shade -tolerant species. 



• Cumulative Impacts qfthe Jlction 

 Alternative to Canopy Coverage 



The proposed action would remove 

 brood trees for Douglas -fir bark 

 beetles, which may reduce tree 

 mortality and allow Douglas- fir 

 to persist in the overstory, 

 maintaining canopy coverage. 



FRAGMENTATION 



Historically, forest fires burning 

 with various frequencies and 

 intensities created the patterns and 

 edges associated with forest patch 

 size and shape. This resulted in a 



forest patchwork of various age 

 classes and stands of a variety of 

 sizes and shapes. Since the advent 

 of fire suppression and logging 

 activities, the primary agent of 

 patch development has been forest 

 management and human developments . 

 Intense fires during severe fire 

 seasons still influence patch 

 development, but the frequency of 

 low- intensity fires and ignition 

 sources for large fires is greatly 

 reduced. 



Swan River State Forest and 

 adjoining properties display this 

 pattern of fire-generated patches 

 overlain by human-generated patches 

 of logging units and land clearing. 

 Past logging units often were 

 designed in regular geometric 

 patterns, usually ranging from 20 to 

 100 acres. When viewed from above, 

 these patches created an unnatural - 

 looking mosaic across the landscape. 

 These past harvest units have been 

 characterized as an unnatural 

 "fragmentation" of the normal forest 

 condition; however, the natural 

 stand boundaries show that past 

 landscapes were highly variable and 

 fragmented by fire and other 

 influences. More recent harvesting 

 on neighboring industrial private 

 ownerships has followed property 

 boundaries, making a checkerboard 

 pattern of 300- to 640-acre patches. 

 Past harvest openings on these 

 ownerships have utilized both even- 

 aged regeneration harvesting 

 (seedtree and clearcutting) and 

 uneven-aged harvesting (individual- 

 tree selection and group selection) . 



Swan River State Forest's SLI 

 database shows that timber stands 

 are delineated along natural and 

 human-generated boundaries . The 

 natural boundaries fall along edges 

 of moisture regimes, age classes, 

 soil types, topographic features, 

 and fire influences that created 

 visible differences in timber-stand 

 characteristics. The human- 

 generated boundaries follow property 

 boundaries, natural boundaries, and 

 past harvest areas. The stand size 



Page C-6 



Vegetation Analysis 



