| Popis: |
This chapter presents a collaborative public and private landscape forest management plan developed between The Nature Conservancy and the Willapa National Wildlife Refuge to pursue forested watershed restoration across their adjoining 14,161 acres (5,731 hectares) of forestland in southwestern Washington State. The current landscape primarily consists of young, conifer forests (10–60 years) that were historically managed intensively for timber production. Partners identified a mutual goal of restoring young forests to ecologically resemble and function similarly to late-seral forested landscapes of the region. A collaborative landscape management plan was completed in 2007 and included creation of management objectives, assessment of current forest, stream, and road network conditions, modeling of alternative restoration treatments, and a restoration framework. The management plan provided the foundation and structured framework that fostered open communication, effective coordination of activities, and sharing of resources across ownerships to achieve restoration objectives. We discuss the impact of legal, financial, and resource constraints on plan implementation as well as outcomes and lessons learned from planning and early implementation. |
