Evaluating the Long-Term Consequences of Forest Management and Stream Cleaning on Coarse Woody Debris in Small Riparian Systems of the Central Rocky Mountains

Coarse woody debris (CWD), while often providing the primary source of structure in small streams, has been frequently subjected to intensive removal efforts with uncertain long-term consequences. We present the integration of a growth and yield model (F V S) with a mechanistic recruitment model (C W D) to simulate long-term effects of both harvesting and CWD removal from streams in northwestern Wyoming. The C W D model predicted a gradual recovery from stream cleaning 80 110 years later, but both selective harvesting and clearcutting significantly decreased the volume of material entering the stream when compared to uncut controls. The combination of stream cleaning and clearcutting frequently limited the total CWD load to < 10% of undisturbed levels. Selective harvesting of riparian forests, while decreasing CWD inputs, may deliver enough to allow harvests in some systems when coupled with proactive CWD management. Proactive management, in this sense, means we may want to deliberately form snags or initiate CWD delivery, or at least retain favorable trees in the residual stand to ensure continued CWD recruitment. Forest Service Fish Habitat Relationships Program Leaders or Representatives FHR Currents Purpose The USDA Forest Service Fish Habitat Relationships Program was established to further the development of fisheries technology and transfer this technology to field biologists. With ever increasing demands for natural resources, protection and management of aquatic communities requires biologists to be knowledgable of current research findings and state-ofthe-art techniques. The purpose of FHR Currents is to provide a vehicle to quickly disseminate information important to fieldlevel biologists in the USDA Forest Service.