Forest Service Seeks Public Comment on Management Plan Finney Adaptive Management Area Selected for Experimental Forestry

The American Alpine Institute just received the following email from Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest:

The Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest asks the public review and comment on a plan to learn how to best restore old growth and riparian forest characteristics in the Finney Adaptive Management Area. The area is located southeast of Darrington in the Skagit and Stillaguamish watersheds. The Northwest Forest Plan selected the Finney as one of 10 areas in Washington, Oregon and California to pursue experimental forestry. “This project will determine up to five topics for research to evaluate alternative approaches to create old growth and riparian forest conditions in younger stands,” said Don Gay, wildlife biologist and project lead.

He described ideal old growth as including large snags and downed logs, multi-layered tree canopies with small openings or gaps within the forest, and a greater diversity of plant and animal species. The results of the studies conducted in the Finney AMA will be used to guide forest management on the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest and elsewhere in western Washington. “The Finney AMA will be one of the few areas where research on forestry has been conducted in the mid-elevation Pacific silver fir forest zone,” Gay said.

The plan will identify areas for each experiment, essential response variables to be measured, and measurement intervals according to Gay. Public 2008 meetings sought public comment to develop the plan, and the forest is seeking public review and comments to finalize it in October. Address comments to Don Gay at dgay@fs.fed.us. The proposal can be viewed at: http://www.fs.fed.us/r6/mbs/projects/finney-ama/