Echo Peak: Selection Cuttings 



Description and Methods 



This study was established on a 700-acre tract of uneven-aged timber to test the 

 effects of repeated light cuttings on regeneration and on the growth of the remaining 

 stand. Cuttings of this type have been proposed, and used to a limited extent, as the 

 best way to manage the drier and warmer south-facing slopes within the "western white 

 pine type." Gradual harvest, permitting a gradual entry of reproduction, helps to 

 protect the characteristically thin soils from serious losses which might result from 

 more drastic conversion methods. 



The Echo Peak area is situated on rather dry upper slopes, with east, south, and 

 west aspects represented. Portions of the stand were partially logged in 1939-41 and 

 the entire area was again selectively logged in 1950-51 to remove dead, defective, and 

 poor-vigor trees. In 1952 ten randomly located strips, each containing five circular 

 1/5-acre plots, were established. On these plots, trees larger than 6 inches d.b.h. 

 were tagged for growth measurements and counts were made of all smaller trees by 1-inch 

 diameter classes. Trees less than 3 years old were not recorded. In 1957 a smaller 

 reproduction sample was taken within five 1/20-acre plots that were concentric with the 

 five original 1/5-acre plots. About one-third of the study plots were in areas clas- 

 sified as Thuj a-Tsuga/ Pachistima and the remainder were on Abies grandis / Pachistima 

 sites. Composition of the "seed-producing" overwood (trees 10 inches d.b.h. or larger) 

 in 1952 was 44 percent grand fir, 26 percent Douglas-fir, 26 percent western white pine, 

 2 percent larch, and 2 percent hemlock. The former harvest cuttings and natural 

 mortality had removed approximately 50 percent of the merchantable volume. 



Results 



Until 1952 the cuttings in the Echo Peak tract had not resulted in any appreciable 

 regeneration. At that time, the stand 1-inch d.b.h. and under averaged only 46 trees 

 per acre. By 1957, reproduction was considerably more abundant with an average of 338 

 trees per acre that were less than 0.6 inch in diameter. Western white pine and 

 Douglas-fir reproduction increased during the 5-year period but not nearly as rapidly 

 as grand fir. 



Regeneration on plots classified as Thuj a - Tsuga / Pachistima habitat type had an 

 average of over 400 seedlings per acre in 1957. Plots within areas of the Abies 

 grandis / Pachistima habitat type had an average of under 300 seedlings per acre. Species 

 composition on these two habitat types was similar. More than 75 percent of the seed- 

 lings were grand fir on each habitat type. Of the 18 plots in the Thuj a - Tsuga / Pachistima 

 habitat type, none were without seedlings whereas four of the 32 plots in the Abies 

 grandis / Pachistima habitat type had no seedlings. 



DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS 



The results of these studies confirm much of what has already been reported con- 

 cerning the natural regeneration of western white pine (Haig et al. 1941). Also, these 

 results provide additional information concerning the regenerative behavior of other 

 species and help to refine our knowledge of the variables associated with natural 

 regeneration in two of the major habitat types of Northern Rocky Mountain forests. 



Thuj a - Tsuga / Pachistima Habitat Type 



On favorable aspects, represented at Deception Creek by the Thuj a - Tsuga/Pachistima 

 habitat type, the forester can use any of the even-aged silvicultural systems and be 

 quite sure of adequate diverse natural regeneration within 5 to 10 years after the 

 regeneration cut. Western hemlock is apt to be the most abundant species in the new 

 stand if a seed source is left nearby. Hemlock regeneration was generally as abundant 



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