Applying Ecosystem Services to Collaborative Forest Management

Elk River Public MeetingNikola Smith

Ecologist and Ecosystem Services SpecialistU.S. Forest Service

Port Orford City HallFebruary 2, 2017

✓What are ecosystem services?✓How have we applied this idea to

planning?

Why are forests important?

“60% of the world’s environmental services are being degraded faster than they can recover”

Millennium Ecosystem Assessment

Ecosystem ServicesThe benefits people obtain from ecosystems

Water (quantity)FuelwoodEnergy and MineralsFood and MedicinesFiberForage

TimberRangeFish and Wildlife

PROVISIONING

Soil formationSeed dispersalPollinationNutrient cycling

SUPPORTING

CULTURALAesthetic valuesEducational valuesSpiritual valuesCultural heritageRecreation Public health

Carbon sequestration

Climate regulation

Soil stabilizationWatershed services

REGULATING

(water quality and flood control)

Strengthening multiple use to tell a more complete story

Our Story

Using ecosystem services to frame forest management is like going from

black and white to color

~ John Allen, Forest Supervisor, Deschutes National Forest

The way we think changes how we behave.

Thinking about landscapes as integrated systems.

Describing Outcomesin addition to reporting Outputs

• Acres treated• Miles restored• Number of visits• Board feet sold

• Healthy watersheds• Resilient, functioning

ecosystems• Benefits for communities

Ecological, Social and Economic Outcomes

Recreation

Fuels Treatment

Forest Products

Watershed Restoration

Habitat Restoration

Cultural Resources

Starting with the Land

From Kandziora et al. (2013), after Haines-Young and Potschin (2010a); Haines-Young and Potschin, (2010b); de Groot et al. (2010b) and Müller and Burkhard (2010)

Adapted from Kandziora et al. (2013), after Haines-Young and Potschin (2010); Haines-Young and Potschin, (2010); de Groot et al. (2010) and Müller and Burkhard (2010)

Biophysical structure or process

Ecosystem Properties

BenefitsValues

EcosystemServices

EcosystemFunction

Ecological Integrity

Understanding Human

Dependence on Natural

Systems

image courtesy of Don Boucher

How Do We Make This Real?National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)

Promote harmony between people and the environment

PROPOSEDACTION

DECISIONPROPOSAL Implementation

Monitor and Evaluate

Adaptive Management

Information exchange about

public values and forest conditions

What is this landscape about?foundational processes

Geology and Landforms

Hydrology and Fisheries

Vegetation and Habitats

Fire Regimes

How do functions and processes extend beyond our boundary?What and where are challenges and stressors on the system?

Impacts of Natural and Human Disturbance on Landscape Patterns

Vegetation type and composition of successional stages

Habitat connectivity

Case StudiesDeschutes, Willamette and Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forests

From Theory to Practice:The Marsh Project

Crescent Ranger District, Deschutes National Forest

Identify Values & Benefits

Describe Attributes & Components

Define Current

Condition

Potential Management

Actions

Pos/Neg Effects and Trade-offs

Internal and External Workshops: Collaborative Identification of Priority Ecosystem Services

integrated systems approach

Slide courtesy of Frank Burris, OSU Extension

Shasta Agness Planning Area ~ Gold Beach Ranger District

Biodiversity

Pollination

Recreation

Water Quality

Timber

Cultural Resources

Landforms Available Water Storage

Joni Brazier, Soil Scientist, Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest

PotentialVegetation Types

Unique and Fire-DependentPlant Assemblages

Clint Emerson, BotanistRogue River-Siskiyou National Forest

“Pollinators and the ecosystem services they provide are critical to life as we know it.”

Pollinators

Ecology

Botany

Engineering

Wildlife

Veg Mgt.

Recreation

Integrated Approaches to Management:Relationships Between Diverse Program Areas and Ecosystem Services Objectives

Pollinators

Forest Products

Food

Recreation

Cultural Resources

Resilience

Habitat

Integrated Approaches to Management:Relationships Between Pollinators and Other Ecosystem Service Objectives

ADAPTIVE MANAGEMENT AREAS

Specifically designed for testing alternative approaches to more effectively achieve desired ecological, social and economic objectives

o all-lands approach to address resilience to disturbance and climate change

o collaboratively develop projectso build on connections between ecological

conditions and a sustainable flow of goods and services

APPLEGATE AMA PLANNING GOALS

“every piece of land has its own signature and function”

Karen Bennett, Retired Regional Soil Scientist, USFS Pacific Northwest Region

making connections between values and ecological context

Driving Values

Oak woodlandsPine-dominated systems

At-risk endangered species habitatOld-growth (present and “next generation”)

Timber infrastructureCommunities at risk due to fire

Nature’s Benefits

Clean waterPollinators and their habitats

BiodiversitySustainable supplies of wood products

History and heritage

Geology, Landforms and Soils

Vegetation and Disturbance

Stream Conditions

Where do topography and soil types suggest that erosion is or could be a concern?

Where is water storage limited and rapid runoff possible during precipitation events?

Where are roads intercepting groundwater storage and causing overland flow?

Clean WaterGeology, Landforms and Soils

Clean WaterVegetation and Disturbance

Which vegetation types are more / less resilient to fire, drought, insects & disease?

Which of these areas correspond with highly erosive soils?

Where might management be needed to enhance resilience or sustain water storage and filtration?

Clean WaterStream Conditions

Proximity of streams to roads

Riparian vegetation water filtration

Vicinity to instream mining sedimentation and lower summer flow

Iron Mountain Botanical Area

Biodiversity

Special Habitats

Recreation

Scenic Values

Cultural Values

User Impacts

Disturbance

Human Health

Marbled Murrelet Habitat

Fisheries

Scenic Values

Balancing Several Ecosystem Services in a Single Program AreaRecreation

Highlights the relevance of climate change to people

and communities

Ecosystem Services Topic Area

Cultural and heritage valuesCarbon sequestration

Natural hazard mitigationForest products

PollinationAir quality

Keeping the Big Picture in Mind

Resilience and DiversityEcological Integrity

Processes and Functions

Biodiversity Conservation, May 2016

Jabiol et al., 2013

USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service

Co-Benefits of Riparian Restoration

Shade and temperature reductions Water quality improvements Regulation of water flowErosion preventionFood source for aquatic organisms Large wood recruitmentAesthetic values…..

It depends on where we are and what we are trying to achieve

Floodplains are among the most endangered and

ecologically significant lands in the United States

Multiple Drivers for Floodplain Restoration

Water purificationFlow regulation / flood prevention

Water and sediment storageCarbon sequestration

Air quality improvementsHabitat connectivity

RecreationSoil formation

Nutrient cycling

Critical Benefits Provided by Floodplains

A New Approach:Multi-Credit Watershed Markets

MAKING MARKETS WORK FOR LOCALECONOMIES AND FUNCTIONALECOSYSTEMS

Diverse LandscapesIntegrated Approaches

Questions and DiscussionNikola SmithEcologist and Ecosystem Services SpecialistPacific Northwest RegionNational Forest System / State and Private Forestry / PNW Research Station503-808-2270, nmsmith@fs.fed.us