INTRODUCTION 



Natural regeneration of conifers in the "Western White Pine Type" is generally 

 quite prompt on favorable sites under any of the even-aged silvicultural systems when 

 an adequate seed source is reserved. Seedtree, shelterwood, and strip or block clear- 

 cutting have all met with considerable success (Haig et al. 1941). The coming of 

 blister rust ( Cronartium ribicola J. C. Fisch. ex Rabenh.) to the western white pine 

 (Pinus monticola Dougl.) type made these methods less desirable and shifted the 

 emphasis to clearcutting , prescribed broadcast burning, and planting. Under this 

 system, Ribes (the currant genus and alternate host for blister rust) could be more 

 economically eradicated and greater western white pine potentials established. 



Recent developments have shown the futility of practical rust control by known 

 Ribes eradication or chemical treatments (Ketcham, Wellner, and Evans 1968). Western 

 white pine breeding programs should provide stock with an adequate degree of rust 

 immunity for field planting in about 15 years. But until a chemical treatment which 

 is applicable to seedling stands is developed, purposeful natural regeneration of 

 white pine seems to be completely impractical except under those rare circumstances 

 where Ribes are practically nonexistent or where climatic conditions limit the amount 

 of pine infection. 



The current emphasis in management of these forests, then, is on the regeneration 

 of other suitable species common to the type. These may include grand fir (Abies 

 grandis Lindl.), Douglas-fir ( Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franc), western hemlock 

 ( Tsuga heterophylla (Raf.) Sarg.), western redcedar ( Thuja plicata D. Don.), western 

 larch ( Larix occidentalis Nutt.), ponderosa pine ( Pinus ponderosa Laws.), lodgepole pine 

 ( Pinus contorta Dougl. var. murrayana (Grev. $ Balf.) Engelm.), Engelmann spruce 

 ( Picea engelmannii Parry) and subalpine fir ( Abies lasiocarpa (Hook.) Nutt.). These 

 species constitute the major coniferous component of the ecological plant associations 

 in which the Western White Pine cover type occurs. The principal "habitat types" 

 include: Abies grandis /Pachistima myrsinites; Thuj a plicata - Tsuga heterophy lla/Pachistima 

 myrsinites; Thuj a plicata/Pachistima myrsinites; and Picea engelmannii - Abies 

 lasiocarpa / Pachistima myrsinites (Daubenmire 1952) . 



While planting and seeding will be employed within these forest types when 

 necessary or justifiable, reliance must be placed on natural regeneration for most of 

 the reforestation job. But what natural regeneration can the timber manager expect in 

 these types under various silvicultural systems? How fast will restocking occur? Can 

 the composition and density of the new stand be controlled in the regeneration process, 

 reducing the need for future silvicultural measures? Twenty years of natural repro- 

 duction records from stands on the Deception Creek Experimental Forest in northern 

 Idaho provide some answers to these questions. The studies were established to supple- 

 ment and give more definitive answers to some of the recommendations of Haig et al . 

 (1941) . 1 Although designed to feature western white pine in the future stand, they 

 provide some valuable information on other species which should be useful in formulating 

 alternative management guidelines. 



i Most of the studies reported were established by Kenneth P. Davis and Charles A. 

 Wellner. 



