THE AUTHOR 



WARREN P. CLARY is project leader for the Riparian- 

 Stream Ecosystems researcli work unit at the Intermountain 

 Station's Boise, ID, Forestry Sciences Laboratory. Prior to 

 his current assignment he was project leader for the Ecology 

 and Management of Shrub-Herb Rangelands of the Great 

 Basin research work unit at the Shrub Sciences Laboratory, 

 Provo, UT. He has a B.S. degree in agriculture from the 

 University of Nebraska, an M.S. degree in range manage- 

 ment and a Ph.D. degree in plant ecology from Colorado 

 State University. 



RESEARCH SUMMARY 



The Oak Creek Mountain Range Evaluation Area and 

 other similar evaluation areas were established as part of the 

 Accelerated Range Program of the Forest Service, U.S. 

 Department of Agriculture. One of the purposes was to field 

 test production assumptions, such as those for herbage and 

 shrubs, developed in response to the Resources Planning 

 Act (RPA). Production assumptions from an environmental 

 statement and a soils report were also available for compari- 

 son. Four areas of pinyon-juniper removal and forage plant 

 seeding, treated in 1955, 1977, 1978, and 1980 respectively, 

 were studied over a period of 8 years. Although precise 

 positioning of the Oak Creek area within the RPA pinyon- 

 juniper coefficient matrix was difficult, current data and pub- 

 lished information support a conclusion that herbage and 

 shrub production assumptions in the RPA scenario and the 

 local soil report were unrealistically high. The estimate pro- 

 vided by the environmental statement for chaining on Utah 

 National Forests was the most accurate. 



ACKNOWLEDGMENT 



Appreciation is expressed to Sherel Goodrich, Intermoun- 

 tain Region, Forest Service, for assistance in the collection 

 of field data used in this study. 



Intermountain Research Station 

 324 25th Street 

 Ogden, UT 84401 



