SEELEY LAKE - The Ecosystem Management Research Institute (EMRI) of Seeley Lake announced the release of its Terrestrial Landscape Assessment of the Southwest Crown of the Continent Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Project (CFLRP). The assessment, conducted through a partnership agreement with the U.S. Forest Service, assessed the forests that occurred historically in the project area and describes how these conditions have changed to the conditions present today. The report provides reference information to support the Blackfoot Swan Landscape Restoration Project and the development of forest restoration treatments to be conducted in the Seeley Lake, Swan Lake and Lincoln Ranger Districts of the Lolo, Flathead and Helena National Forests.
“This report compiled available scientific information and conducted an analysis of different forest types that occurred historically and how fire regimes and other disturbances influenced these forests,” said Jon Haufler, Executive Director of EMRI. He added, “It quantifies how forest conditions and fire regimes have changed as a result of fire suppression, past logging and other human activities. It documents increases in conditions that would support high severity fire in the current landscape compared to historical conditions. On many mid to low elevation sites, density of trees has increased while the presence of very large trees in less dense stands has decreased. Many remaining very large trees are at risk of being lost in future fire events because of these changes. The report also analyzed how habitat qualities for a number of wildlife species of concern have changed from historical to current conditions.”
The Executive Summary of the report as well as the full report and its appendices are available on EMRI’s website http://www.emri.org.
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