Some general suggestions for management we feel might be helpful are given below; specifics for each area follow: (1) In much of the lodgepole pine forest the time between primeval fires greatly exceeded that in the ponderosa area. Plans for management must encompass long time spans, and perhaps provide for the chance that natural fires are not solving all problems, on a long term basis. (2) Any prescribed burning should be preceded by small scale, experimental burns, whose effects need to be evaluated probably for several years, before management burning. There is no need to rush the return toward primeval conditions in any case, and less in the lodgepole than in the ponderosa. We were disappointed that the slow, cautious, experimental approach suggested for ponderosa was not followed, and hope it will be here. Simply transporting the philosophy, methods and haste used in the ponderosa management to lodgepole would, for about 90% of the area, cause more deviation from the primeval conditions in a short time than all the man-caused perturbations of the last 120 years. It is important to remember that repeatedly burning ponderosa pine lightly will eventually reduce fuel loads; burning lodgepole will probably always eventually increase them. (3) Since lodgepole pine at Crater Lake does not have serotinous cones, seed supply may limit the rate of reforestation. Since prescribed burning will probably kill most lodgepole, directly or indirectly, small burning units with mature forest between would help aid reforestation. Reports for lodgepole pine/sedge-needlegrass communities elsewhere in Oregon indicate that regeneration will be sufficient (for forestry purposes) only one tree height’s distance into a clearing. (4) Much of the danger associated with heavy roadside fuel loads (e.g. along Hwy 62 in Castle Creek Valley) could be alleviated by keeping the wide shoulders of the roads as fireproof as possible. Removing wood chips, grass, and trees which invade there all would help. (5) Providing fire-ecology and fire-management information to visitors and local residents is important, and should be even more vigorously pursued. (6) Some major changes in vegetation since white man’s arrival are probably natural. For example, much lodgepole invasion of the Pumice Desert and meadows occurred some years ago and trees are now large enough to be obvious. Elsewhere in the Cascades, a similar wave of tree invasion has been related to the dry period of late 1920s to late 1930s. It seems inappropriate to us to eliminate such changes from the primeval which are not caused by man, in response to the Leopold Report.
Specific Recommendations
Natural Fire Areas – Units I and II
In the discussion below, units I, II and III refer to the Park Fire Management Plan; unit I has natural fire, unit II has natural fire except with high fire danger, and in unit III all fires are suppressed.
A key to the five Management Types we suggest is given in Table 1. Their general location in the Park is shown in Figure 2.
Given the natural fire policy, prescribed burning is neither necessary nor justified for three of the five management types in units I and II, where natural fires will burn.
Table 1. Key to Management Types listed on pp. 32-37. Suggestions for management may vary depending on whether the type is inside or outside the boundary of the natural fire area as shown on the Fire Management Plan. See the text for details.
A. Less than 10% of tree reproduction is fir and hemlock.
I. Forest is quite open; fuels are generally discontinuous
….. MANAGEMENT TYPE CII. Thickets of lodgepole pine are common; fuels are often continuous and heavy.
… .MANAGEMENT TYPE EAA. Greater than 10% of tree reproduction is fir and hemlock.
I. Subalpine fir is conspicuous ….MANAGEMENT TYPE B
II. Subalpine fir is rare or absent.
1. Overstory is dense, primarily of lodgepole pine. Fuels are heavy and often continuous
….. MANAGEMENT TYPE A11. Overstory is relatively open, including other pines or shasta fir. Fuels are discontinuous. Pinemat manzanita is often conspicuous
….. MANAGEMENT TYPE D
