Introduction 



To reproduce, or regenerate, a forest is to remove the old stand and establish a 

 new one. The term "regeneration," considered now as the result rather than the process 

 denotes an aggregate of tree seedlings 4.5 feet or less in height that have originated 

 from natural or artificial seeding, outplanted nursery-grown seedlings, or transplanted 

 native stock. More briefly, regeneration consists of groups of trees 4.5 feet or less 

 in height, regardless of origin. 



Successful and dependable forest regeneration requires the employment of skills 

 from many disciplines. The overall objective is the early establishment of a new 

 stand adequately stocked with desirable species at a reasonable cost. The specific 

 manner of achieving that objective is determined by the management plan for each unit. 

 Some forests are managed for a single use or primarily for one dominant use such as 

 recreation, watershed management, timber production, or range for wildlife and live- 

 stock. Most forest land is managed for multiple use to obtain the greatest total 

 benefit from a combination of uses. Regeneration measures for each of the above uses 

 may be different, and management for multiple use is likely to require compromises. 

 For example, if timber production is the dominant use, regeneration efforts may include 

 techniques that expose considerable bare soil to hasten the establishment and growth of 

 the new stands. If esthetic values and watershed protection are additional concerns, 

 however, large expanses of bare soil may be undesirable. 



Protection of the site is always an important consideration in regeneration. When 

 soils are erosible, slopes are steep, and the land is valuable as watershed, it is 

 obviously essential to establish desirable vegetation quickly on cleared sites. The 

 ground must be prepared for regeneration in a way that will protect the site from 

 erosion. For example, grass seed may be sown on logged sites to protect the site 

 until tree seedlings are planted after suitable site preparation. 



Specific management goals in a regeneration program are the time schedule and the 

 species and stocking desired in the new stand. Like the overall objective, these are 

 determined by management priorities. Once the species has been chosen, however, its 

 requirements become limiting factors in decisionmaking. 



The wide diversity of conditions under which ponderosa pine {Vinus ponderosa Laws, 

 grows makes a single prescription for regeneration impossible. Techniques must differ 

 according to the locality and the type of area to be regenerated, as, for example, 

 timber sales, recent burns, or brushfields (old burned areas). On this basis, the 

 choice between natural and artificial regeneration must be made, and an appropriate 

 method of site preparation chosen. Where cutting is yet to be done, the regeneration 

 plan should precede the design of the cutting. 



Ponderosa pine is the most widely distributed pine in North America, extending 

 from the Fraser River in British Columbia to west central Mexico and from northeastern 

 Nebraska to the Pacific Coast (Curtis and Lynch 1965) . This paper reviews methods of 

 regenerating ponderosa pine in only one geographic region within its vast range in the 

 United States (fig. 1). The research and observations reported here span a period 

 of some 50 years within an area generally known as the northern Rocky Mountain - 

 Intermountain region, namely, extreme northeast Washington, Montana, Idaho, Nevada, and 

 Utah. References to work elsewhere are made only when important findings help to 

 evaluate regenerative procedures for use with ponderosa pine in this area. 



