How to translate text using browser tools
28 August 2020 Learning from Project Implementation: Removing Pinyon and Juniper Trees from Sage-Steppe and Grassland Sites on the Fishlake National Forest in Central Utah, USA
Andrew Orlemann, Douglas L. Robison
Author Affiliations +
Abstract

In this paper, we share data collected during implementation of a vegetation management project on the Fishlake National Forest in central Utah. This project—designed to remove encroaching pinyon and juniper trees from sage-steppe and grassland communities—has been ongoing since 2017. While cutting and lopping the targeted woodland species, Fishlake employees counted and measured both cut and leave trees. The resulting data indicate that on sites like this one, the primary postsettlement encroacher is pinyon pine (Pinus edulis), and that due to slow growth rates, trees of just 25 cm in diameter at root collar may have been established prior to Euro-American settlement. For managers, it is important to recognize that some proposed pinyon-juniper removal projects will remove primarily pinyon, not juniper. Whether such pinyon eradication is either necessary or desirable should be carefully considered by land managers.

© 2020
Andrew Orlemann and Douglas L. Robison "Learning from Project Implementation: Removing Pinyon and Juniper Trees from Sage-Steppe and Grassland Sites on the Fishlake National Forest in Central Utah, USA," Western North American Naturalist 80(3), 337-344, (28 August 2020). https://doi.org/10.3398/064.080.0305
Received: 18 January 2019; Accepted: 9 April 2020; Published: 28 August 2020
RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS
Get copyright permission
Back to Top