Solution of forest health problems with prescribed ®re: are forest productivity and wildlife at risk?

Advanced forest succession and associated accumulations of forest biomass in the Blue Mountains of Oregon and Washington and Intermountain area have led to increased vulnerability of these forests to insects, diseases, and wild®re. One proposed solution is large-scale conversion of these forests to seral conditions that emulate those assumed to exist before European settlement: open-spaced stands (ca. 50 trees per ha), consisting primarily of ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa Laws.) and western larch (Larix occidentalis Nutt.). We question how well presettlement forest conditions are understood and the feasibility and desirability of conversion to a seral state that represents those conditions. Current and future expectations of forest outputs and values are far different from those at presettlement times. Emphasis on prescribed ®re for achieving and maintaining this conversion raises questions about how well we understand ®re effects on forest resources and values. We consider here potential effects of prescribed ®re on two key aspects of forest managementÐproductivity and wildlife. Use of large-scale prescribed ®re presents complex problems with potential long-term effects on forest resources. Before implementing prescribed ®re widely, we need to understand the range of its effects on all resources and values. Rather than attempting to convert forests to poorly described and understood presettlement seral conditions, it would seem prudent to examine present forest conditions and assess their potential to provide desired resource outputs and values. Once this is achieved, the full complement of forest management tools and strategies, including prescribed ®re, should be used to accomplish the desired objectives. We suggest a more conservative approach until prescribed ®re effects are better understood. # 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.