The Kings River Sustainable Forest Ecosystems Project: Inception, Objectives, and Progress 1

Kings River Sustainable Forest Ecosystems Project, a formal administrative study involving extensive and intensive collaboration between Forest Service managers and researchers, is a response to changes in the agency's orientation in favor of ecosystem approaches and to recent concern over issues associated with maintenance of late successional forest attributes and species that are closely associated with them, such as the California spotted owl (Strix occidentalis occidentalis). Planning for the project began in mid-February, 1993. A prescribed burning program was already underway in the project area then, and the first vegetation treatments were initiated in 1997. Two additional projects involving treatment of vegetation are nearing implementation. A demographic study of the spotted owl, begun in 1990, already encompassed most of the project area, and it was enlarged in 1994 to cover the entire area. Other research projects were initiated in 1994 and 1995, and results of those are beginning to come in. An appendix lists 77 technical papers, abstracts, theses, and dissertations that were completed through 1999, based on work associated with the project, and one extensive database on the distribution and habitat associations of California's plant species, which is now available on the Internet. Ecosystem management aligns different uses of the land with ecological parameters and goals of environmental quality. An important USDA Forest Service mission is to balance the multiple uses of its lands in an ecologically sustainable way. This challenge has been significant for National Forests of the Sierra Nevada, especially with controversies over the effects of even-aged timber harvest on old-growth forests and their associated wildlife, such as California spotted owls. Much of the concern stems from loss of habitat attributes—closed­ canopied stands, very old trees, large snags and downed wood, and multiple structural layers—believed to be needed by the owl and other wildlife species. Several of these attributes are also believed to be vital for sustaining healthy, productive forests. The Kings River Sustainable Forest Ecosystems Project involves a formal administrative study and associated research, with joint leadership and collaboration among line officers and staff of the Sierra National Forest, the Kings River Ranger District, and the Pacific Southwest Research Station (PSW). District personnel are implementing two landscape-level management options, at watershed scales, while researchers study the effects of those options on various forest resources and values. Persons involved with the project are optimistic that both options, with minimal "zonation" for special needs, will sustain all key resources (soil, water, vegetation, and wildlife) and functions of