UPPER WEST 

 BRANCH STUDY 



Establishment 



This set of cleaning plots was established in an 8-year-old stand occupying a level 

 bench in the Upper West Branch drainage of Priest River in the Kaniksu National Forest. 

 The stand originated after a 1926 burn of logged-over old growth. In 1935, density 

 per acre ranged from 9,000 to 21,000 trees that were over 0.5 foot in height. Of these, 

 more than half were seedlings in the 0.5- to 1.5-foot range, chiefly western hemlock 

 (Tsuga heterophylla (Raf.) Sarg.) and western redcedar [Thuja plicata Donn) . Western 

 larch {Larix oacidentalis Nutt . ) was strongly dominant over the entire area, with only 

 scattered lodgepole pine (Pinus aontorta Dougl . ) and western white pine appearing among 

 the taller trees in the stand. 



The study installation consisted of three 0.4-acre plots treated as follows: 



Vnaleaned. --lYxis was the check plot. 



Moderately cleaned. --All white pine and redcedar were left, together with a few 

 Engelmann spruce {Picea engelmannii Parry) and Douglas-fir [Pseudotsuga menziesii 

 (Mirb.) that were not crowding the white pine. Also, where white pine was absent, 

 small larches were left and given an 8-foot spacing. 



Heavily cleaned. --Ml trees taller than 0.5 foot were cut, except white pine and 

 redcedar. 



As a result of the moderate cleaning, the density was lowered to about 2,700 stems 

 per acre, and the percentage of 4-milacre quadrats dominated by white pine increased 

 from 1 percent before treatment to 45 percent after. Most of the remaining quadrats 

 continued to be dominated by western larch. Heavy cleaning lowered the average density 

 to 1,760 trees per acre. The percentage of quadrats with dominant white pine was 

 raised to 70 percent, and redcedar temporarily became the tallest species on the rest 

 of the quadrats. 



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