NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR AIR AND STREAM IMPROVEMENT

Effects of Pre- and Post-Fire Forest Management on Aquatic Biodiversity: An Evaluation of
Fire Resiliency and Recovery

Why This Project Matters

This project will help address the new realities of increasingly severe wildland fires. The United States is experiencing longer fire seasons, bigger fires, more acres burned on average each year, and more extreme fire behaviour. In September 2020, approximately 11% of Oregon’s Cascade Ecoregion burned in the Labor Day Fires, including at least 38% of SFI-certified lands within the Riverside, Beachie Creek and Holiday Farm complexes alone. These fires burned at varying severities, which resulted in a range of riparian conditions across land ownerships. Post-fire forest management also varies by ownership leading to different trajectories of recovery. The links among forest stand age, fire severity and extent, and aquatic biodiversity are unclear, ultimately stalling prioritization of forest recovery and resiliency.

How the Project is Supporting Pre- and Post-Fire Forest Management on Aquatic Biodiversity

The National Council for Air and Stream Improvement (NCASI), along with collaborators from the US Forest Service, Weyerhaeuser, and Oregon State University, will work to determine whether aquatic biological diversity varies with forest management or fire extent and severity. NCASI will assess which landscape or management factors are the most influential predictors of aquatic biological diversity in forested streams. Inclusive in the forest management analysis is pre-fire management and post-fire management. NCASI will also evaluate biodiversity across control watersheds in Oregon and Washington that are part of forestlands certified to SFI standards.

SFI’s Contribution

The SFI Conservation and Community Partnerships Grant Program is supporting this project. Access to the SFI network is also enabling NCASI to collaborate with multiple SFI‑certified organizations to add breadth to the project. Project partners will assist with development of fact sheets associated with this research and participate in NCASI-led field tours or workshops. Many participating landowners will provide management information to support this study.

How the Project Helps Forest Managers

The project will help forest managers and forestland owners support aquatic biodiversity with their pre- and post-fire forest management. Key messages anticipated to result from this work could include: recommendations for which SFI‑certified forest management practices promote fire resiliency and climate resiliency of aquatic ecosystems, and recommendations for which SFI‑certified forest management practices conserve aquatic biodiversity.

Recommendations for post-fire management of riparian areas to maximize aquatic ecosystem resiliency will be integrated into other deliverables, including a fact sheet on species at-risk responses to wildfire and management factors to help meet objectives in the SFI standards. Information will also be shared with small landowners through handouts and presentations to the SFI Oregon State Implementation Committee and the Oregon Small Woodland Association.

Partners

This partnership includes conservation NGO’s, forestry companies, and government to improve forest health in the face wildfire. These partners include:

Project Lead: NCASI

Sustainable Forestry Initiative

U.S. Forest Service

Weyerhaeuser Co. (SFI‑certified organization)

Oregon State University,

Related Information

SFI and NCASI Partner to Address the Climate Challenge with Carbon and Water Tools: media release

NCASI Foundation Receives Federal Conservation Grant for Collaborative Research Directed at Protecting At-Risk Species: media release

About NCASI

The National Council for Air and Stream Improvement, Inc. (NCASI) is a 501 (c)(6) tax-exempt association organized to serve the forest products industry as a center of excellence providing unbiased, scientific research and technical information necessary to achieve the industry’s environmental and sustainability goals. NCASI’s mission is to help our members cost-effectively meet their environmental and sustainability goals through basic and applied research, technical support, and education. Through execution of our mission, we provide essential support to our forest products industry members in their efforts to ensure the availability of a sustainably managed fiber supply, characterize and help improve the effectiveness of pollution control measures at manufacturing facilities and provide valuable insights and assistance to members in the manufacture of sustainable forest products.