Use of Ecological Knowledge to Improve Big-Game Range 
JACK EF. SCHMAUTZ ! 
The Forest Service goal in big-game habitat 
management in northern Idaho and western 
Montana is to maintain and to improve exist- 
ing and potential game winter range by any fea- 
sible and practical method available. Much em- 
perical evidence and some research data show 
controlled fire and various silvicultural prac- 
tices can be important tools in the renovation 
and improvement of declining game ranges. 
FIRE 
Uncontrolled fire was once an important ele- 
ment in the forest environment of the northern 
Rockies. Most of the big-game ranges in north- 
ern Idaho and western Montana were created 
by fire. In the quarter century from 1910- 
1934, more than 6.25 million acres were burned 
by wildfire. Since then, however, the acreage 
burned has declined steadily. There have been 
occasional fire years such as 1961 (when 
63,000 acres were burned) and 1967 (when 
83,000 acres were seared by wildfire). Such 
acreages are small, however, when compared 
to the 2.7 million acres burned in 1910 and 1.5 
million acres burned in 1919.” 
The initial effects of these large burns were 
disastrous to trees and to watersheds, but the 
burned lands were quickly revegetated by 
shrubs. Some of the burned area developed into 
highly productive game range. Now forage 
production is declining: Partly because the 
forest has reclamimed its own, partly because 
the shrubs have grown out of reach of the deer 
and elk, and partly because many palatable 
shrubs have become decadent through over use. 
Because of its unpredictability and its poten- 
tially disastrous consequences, wildfire cannot 
be seriously considered in big-game habitat 
management. However, controlled burning can 
be used to improve wildlife habitat. Planned 
burning in April and May to renovate northern 
Idaho game ranges has been quite successful 
on Pseudotsuga-Physocarpus, Thuja-Pachis- 
tima, and Abies grandis-Paschistima habitat 
types, and, to a lesser degree, on T'suga-Pachis- 
tima (Habitat types described by Daubenmire 
1952, 1966. No damage to soils and water- 
sheds has been noted, even on slopes as steep as 
40 to 50 percent. All shrub species present have 
sprouted quickly, and the slopes were revege- 
*The author is on the staff in the Division of Range 
and Wildlife Management, USDA, Forest Service, Mis- 
soula, Mont. 
* Statistics are from the Division of Fire Control, 
USDA Forest Service, Region 1, Missoula, Mont. 
tated in a few weeks. Salix scoulert and Acer 
glabrum, both palatable shrubs, sprouted espe- 
cially profusely. 
On the other hand, burning in the various 
Abies lasiocarpa associations has not been so 
successful. Resulting understory shrubs are 
not particularly palatable to deer and elk. 
Also, subalpine fir associations generally do 
not occur on key winter ranges. 
Fire, under certain circumstances, can also 
be used to change the composition of shrub 
stands. A palatable species may be virtually ab- 
sent in a shrub stand, but its seed may be pre- 
sent and viable in the duff or mineral soil. Fire 
may induce germination. Such is often the case 
with Ceanothus in the Pseudotsuga-Physocar- 
pus habitat type. Gratkowski (1962) and Lyon 
(1966) have shown that seed of Ceanothus ve- 
lutinus remains viable in the duff for many de- 
cades and that heat in excess of 140°F. followed 
by a cold period is necessary for successful ger- 
mination. Some good Ceanothus stands have 
been obtained by burning. For example, 2 
years after a controlled August burn on a 120- 
acre stand of mature Douglas-fir on the Saw- 
tooth Forest in central Idaho, Lyon (1966) re- 
corded three to five well-distributed, seedlings 
per square foot, Prior to the burn, despite an 
intensive search, only one Ceanothus plant was 
found on the area. 
Studies of Lyon and Stickney (1966) have 
shown sites on which prescribed burning can 
be used successfully can be recognized if four 
conditions should exist: 
1. Shrub crown volume should be high. In 
general, the greater the crown volume, the 
greater is current production and the more 
rapid is the potential recovery rate. 
2. Species composition should indicate a po- 
tential for success. The species present should 
be palatable to game and should have a high 
sprouting vigor following burning. 
3. If a poor potential recovery is indicated 
by inadequate crown volume and presence of 
unpalatable species, soil and duff samples may 
show the presence of stored seed of more desir- 
able species (e.g., Ceanothus). 
4, Potential erodibility of the soil must be de- 
termined. High erodibility will not preclude 
the use of fire but will dictate greater care in 
planning and in burning. 
In addition to the above, we need to know 
how the various shrub species respond to dif- 
ferent fire intensities at different times of the 
year and with different frequencies of applica- 
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