225 



NONFOREST 

 (389b) 



NONCOMMERCIAL FOREST 

 (29^) 



(Ihousand board leer per acre) 



COMMERCIAL FOREST 



(33%; 



FIGURE 4. Proportion of different land and forest types on the Tongass National 

 Forest, southeastern Alaska. 



during their lives (Meehan et al. 1984, 

 Sigman 1985). 



Although grizzly bears have been 

 reduced greatly throughout the lower 

 forty-eight states, where they are now 

 classified as threatened, in southeastern 

 Alaska brown/grizzly bear populations 

 still thrive and are especially abundant on 

 Admiralty, Baranof, and Chichagof 

 islands (Schoen et al. 1987). Converting 

 old-growth forests to managed second- 

 growth forests will result in a decrease in 

 the number of bears the area can support 

 (Peek et al. 1987). However, a potentially 

 more serious consequence of logging is 

 the extensive system of logging roads 

 that provides entry into previously 

 inaccessible bear habitat (Peek et al. 

 1987). Roads greatly increase bear- 

 human contact and ultimately lead to the 

 death of more bears from sport hunting, 

 killing in defense of life, and illegal kills. 

 Only sport hunting can be effectively 

 managed. 



Historically, our success in maintaining 

 stable grizzly populations while 



intensively developing olher resources in 

 North America has been poor. Alaska 

 represents our last opportunity for 

 ensuring the grizzly a stronghold on this 

 continenL 



Harvesting old growth will potentially 

 affect numerous species of birds 

 including waterfowl, shorebirds, raptors, 

 passerines, and even seabirds. Numerous 

 migratory birds seek cover, forage, and 

 nest in old-growth forests. Old growth 

 also provides critical habitat for many 

 resident birds during wintef when 

 inclement weather and limited food 

 supplies threaten survival (Haapanen 

 1965, McClelland 1977). 



Recent research (Noble 1978, Kessler 

 1979, Hughes 1985) indicates that at least 

 twenty-six species of forest birds are 

 associated with old growth in 

 southeastern Alaska. Breeding 

 populations of kinglets {Regulus spp.), 

 woodpeckers, several species of hawks 

 and owls, and others will be reduced as 

 old-growth habitat disappears. 

 Converting old growth to managed 

 second growth greatly reduces the 



structural diversity of the habitat, 

 resulting in fewer places for birds to feed, 

 nest, escape predators, and avoid bad 

 weather. 



Similar to deer, many forest bird 

 populations are limited by the availability 

 of food resources during winter (Fretwell 

 1972). Chickadees (Parus spp.), kinglets, 

 woodpeckers, brown creepers (Cerihia 

 americana), and other birds use old 

 growth for foraging and roosting during 

 winter (McClelland 1977, Mannan and 

 Meslow 1984. Hughes 1985). One 

 common forest resident, the winter wren 

 (Troglodytes troglodytes), nests and 

 feeds in clearcuts during the breeding 

 season but often is precluded from using 

 clearcuts in winter due to heavy snow 

 accumulation. 



Large, standing dead trees, or snags, 

 which occur naturally only in old-growth 

 .•forests, are used most often as cavity sites 

 by birds. Harvesting old growth 

 permanently reduces suitable snag 

 habitat for cavity-dependent birds 

 (Haapanen 1965, McClelland 1977, 

 Mannan and Meslow 1984, Hughes 

 1985). Leaving suitable snags will not 

 ensure the perpetuation of cavity- 

 dependent wildlife. Standing snags in 

 clearcuts only provide potential nesting 

 sites. Without the necessary forest cover 

 and wintering habitat upon which 

 nonmigratory cavity-nesting birds 

 depend, snags remain unused. 



Twelve of the twenty-six old-growth 

 associated bird species in southeastern 

 Alaska rely on tree cavities for nesting 

 and roosting (Hughes 1985). In 

 southeastern Alaska, certain traits make 

 snags valuable as bird habitat. Cavity- 

 nesting birds throughout the Northwest 

 exhibit a strong preference for large 

 diameter snags for cavity excavation 

 (Balda 1975, Mannan et al. 1980, 

 Raphael 1980, Zaraowitz and Manuwal 

 1985). Large snags, more than 58 cm in 

 diameter, are used most often as cavity 

 nest sites by birds in southeastern Alaska 

 (Hughes 1985). In addition, snags with 

 bird cavities nearly always contain 

 heartrot decay throughout the snag 

 (Hughes 1985). Heaitroi softens the tree 



Volume 8 (3), 1988 



Natural Areas Journal 141 



