FOREST PLANNING IN AN OREGON CASE-STUDY - DEFINING THE PROBLEM AND ATTEMPTING TO MEET GOALS WITH A SPATIAL-ANALYSIS TECHNIQUE

Five major management goals were identified for the upper Grande Ronde River Basin on the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest in northeastern Or egon: to produce high-quality fish habitat, to maintain elk habitat, t o restore and maintain forest conditions within the natural range oi v iability, and to contribute to community economic stability. From the broad goals, specific goals for stream temperature, habitat effectiven ess index (HEI), habitat corridors, maintenance of land in late or old serai stages, and a nondeclining even flow of timber were selected. A case study was undertaken in a small watershed that is under typical societal constraints to determine whether one decision support tool, S NAP II+, could evaluate the selected goals in a single planning exerci se. Three riparian management strategies and two forest road scenarios were used. The exclusion of harvest and road-building from riparian z ones in order to increase habitat protection decreased harvest levels and net present value but maintained preactivity stream temperatures. Other resources were generally maintained within prescribed management levels. Although the technique has limitations (e.g., it does not acc ount for riparian zones in calculations of forage and cover for HEI, a nd it can use the maximum but not minimum acreage goal for some resour ces), it shows promise for evaluating management tradeoffs in watershe d analysis.