EFFECTIVE 4/90 Page of 1
R2 AMENDMENT 2409.26-90-1 2409.26d
EFFECTIVE 4/90 Page of 1
FOREST SERVICE MANUAL
Denver, Colorado
FSH 2409.26d - SILVICULTURE EXAMINATION AND PRESCRIPTION HANDBOOK
Region 2 Amendment No. 90-1
Effective April 20, 1990
POSTING NOTICE. Amendments to this title are numbered consecutively. Check the last transmittal received for this title to see that the above amendment number is in sequence. If not, order intervening amendments at once on form 1100-6. Do not post this amendment until the missing one(s) is received and posted. Post this amendment at end of chapter by document name not page number. After posting retain this transmittal until the next amendment to this title is received. Place it at the front of the title.
Superseded New
Page Code (Number of Sheets)
Entire Handbook 213 42
Digest:
Replaces Zero Code through 91. Updates handbook to match the Total Resource Information System Handbook and keep up with changes in Stand Examination and upcoming GIS. Much of the technical materials have been taken out of the handbook and put into user guides (i.e. printouts and growth and yield simulations).
GARY E. CARGILL
Regional Forester
FSH 2409.26d - SILVICULTURE EXAMINATION AND PRESCRIPTION HANDBOOK
R2 AMENDMENT 90-1
EFFECTIVE 4/90
Contents
ZERO CODE
CHAPTER
l0 TIMBER SUBSYSTEM OF RESOURCE INFORMATION SYSTEM (RIS)
20 SURVEY DESIGN
30 DATA COLLECTION
40 DATA PROCESSING, ACCESS AND RETRIEVAL, SYSTEM MANAGEMENT
50 [RESERVED]
60 [RESERVED]
70 [RESERVED]
80 SILVICULTURAL PRESCRIPTIONS
90 APPENDIX
FSH 2409.26d - SILVICULTURE EXAMINATION AND PRESCRIPTION HANDBOOK
R2 AMENDMENT 90-1
EFFECTIVE 4/90
ZERO CODE
Contents
01 AUTHORITY
02 OBJECTIVES
03 POLICY
04 RESPONSIBILITY
06 PRIORITIES
07 TIMBER MANAGEMENT INVENTORY FOR INTEGRATED RESOURCE PLANNING
08 LIMITATIONS
FSH 2409.26d - SILVICULTURE EXAMINATION AND PRESCRIPTION HANDBOOK
R2 AMENDMENT 90-1
EFFECTIVE 4/90
ZERO CODE
01 - AUTHORITY. Basic authority for collection of stand and tree data and the preparation of silvicultural prescriptions are contained in FSM 2410 and FSM 2478. Authority for storing and maintaining stand data is contained in FSM 2490.
02 - OBJECTIVES. The objective of Stand Examination is to provide natural resource information and site specific tree inventory data for forested lands at the intensity required for management decisions.
This handbook outlines procedures for collecting and analyzing site and tree data for both Stand Examination and Forest Inventory. Stand Examination is an intensive inventory designed to gather information specific to individual sites. Forest Inventory is an extensive Forest-wide inventory designed to gather information about the entire Forest at a specific point in time. Current Stand Examination information may also be summarized to produce Forest Inventory data.
Stand Examination/Forest Inventory data collected will be of sufficient quality and intensity to:
1. Prepare silvicultural prescriptions.
2. Provide input and monitoring of silvicultural treatments for Forest Land and Resource Management Plans (Forest Plans).
3. Provide documentation of the decisions made in the Forest Plans, NEPA documents, and public requests.
4. Prioritize stands for silvicultural treatment activities.
5. Provide stocking level and regeneration survey information.
6. Maintain a permanent Forest Inventory (Forest-wide).
7. Provide detailed tree data which will be of sufficient accuracy to be used for Forest Inventory samples.
8. Provide information for growth and yield models in project planning and develop relationships between the stand variables.
9. Provide acreage and volume information for calculation of the allowable sale quantity (ASQ).
There may be other objectives, or combinations of the above, for which Stand Examination data is collected. The level of Stand Examination data needed may vary with the objective. For example, the tree data needed to accurately prescribe site-specific silvicultural treatments will be greater than the tree data needed to prepare a Forest Plan. The amount of data collected should be designed to accurately meet the stated objectives while being flexible enough to collect the data needed.
03 - POLICY. The procedures provided in this Handbook will be used by all organizational levels of Region 2 for Stand Examination and Prescriptions.
04 - RESPONSIBILITY. The Director of Timber Management for the Region is responsible for the design, testing, implementation, and maintenance of the computer programs and data bases which are used to input, process, store, and produce various silvicultural reports. The Director is also responsible for providing technical assistance to Forests in the collection and analysis of silvicultural information and the preparation of silvicultural prescriptions.
Forest Supervisors are responsible for gathering, inspection, processing, and storage of the data in accordance to the standards and guidelines set forth in this handbook.
06 - PRIORITIES. Continuous Forest Inventories are essential for planning purposes. Region 2 has reinventoried each Forest on approximately 10-year intervals in the past. Reinventories necessitated photo sampling the entire Forest and selecting new ground samples. With the change from extensive Forest Inventory procedures to more intensive Stand Examination procedures, Forests are now striving to maintain continuous, flexible, and dynamic District Data Bases which will provide the area control and stratification for all future Forest Inventories. To attain this goal, it is essential to establish the following priority jobs:
1. Complete photointerpretation, site delineation, and stand identification of entire Forests.
2. Update Master site overlay when there is vegetative manipulation in order to reflect current conditions and enter proposed treatments as planned work.
3. Conduct regeneration surveys and store results in the District Data Bases.
4. Surveys will be accomplished on areas identified by timber sale action plans.
5. Complete ground surveys for forested land with priority given to management objectives as stated in the Forest Plan.
6. Reinventory harvested sites and other sites where treatments, natural occurrences, land use changes, or land exchanges have resulted in major changes in site character.
7. Reinventory sites where existing data does not accurately represent the present ground condition.
By accomplishing the above, all sites where major changes have occurred will be promptly updated.
07 - TIMBER MANAGEMENT INVENTORY FOR INTEGRATED RESOURCE PLANNING. The primary objective is to determine the current site condition. The secondary objective of the inventory is to collect detailed tree data in order to obtain the objectives stated above.
08 - LIMITATIONS. Tree data collected using these survey methods is not intended to be used for timber cruising. Stand examination methods will not produce volume estimates reliable enough to replace cruising. The inventory methods discussed in this handbook are geared to describing site conditions for planning, prescriptions, and monitoring.
CHAPTER l0 - TIMBER SUBSYSTEM OF RESOURCE INFORMATION SYSTEM (RIS)
Contents
l0 INTRODUCTION
ll LINK TO RIS
l2 SURVEY DESIGN
12.1 Survey Methods
12.2 Forest Inventory
l3 DATA COLLECTION
l4 PROCESSING DATA
15 DATA PRESENTATION
16 SYSTEM MANAGEMENT
16.1 Stand Support System
16.2 Extensive Data Base
16.3 Extensive Support System
FSH 2409.26d - SILVICULTURE EXAMINATION AND PRESCRIPTION HANDBOOK
R2 AMENDMENT 90-1
EFFECTIVE 4/90
CHAPTER l0 - TIMBER SUBSYSTEM OF RESOURCE INFORMATION SYSTEM (RIS)
l0 - INTRODUCTION. Forest Inventory and Stand Examination will be based directly on the RIS Master Site Subsystem. The information obtained in Forest Inventory and Stand Examination will provide field data for the tree resources of forested sites delineated on Master Site Maps. The summary of this information will be loaded into card 5 of the RIS data base.
ll - LINK TO RIS. Locations provide stable geographic and file location, and a means of acreage accountability. Locations have no significance as a resource unit. Boundaries are located by following natural physiographic or permanent man-made features that are identifiable on the ground.
Location identities are numerical and are a total of 6 digits. Location numbers must be unique within Districts and proclaimed National Forests.
The word location in RIS is synonymous with the old word compartment and the identity numbers are the same for most Ranger Districts (may be different for National Grasslands). Refer to the Total Resource Information Handbook (RIS) R-2 FSH 6609-2l, Chapters 10 and 20, for further information. All of the standards and guidelines in the RIS Handbook will be followed in the survey, processing, storage, and maintenance of the raw tree data collected in Forest Inventory and Stand Examination.
l2 - SURVEY DESIGN OVERVIEW. The purpose of this section is to give a summary of survey design. The explanation will deal only in generalities and specific details are covered in Stand Examination User Guide.
Tree inventories are used to provide systematically collected data which describes in words or numbers what exists on the ground. The data needed to describe the site condition may range considerably. Terms such as "forested" and "nonforested" are enough in certain situations. In other situations, detailed individual tree data may be required, such as species, diameter, height, and age to describe the trees on a site.
Collecting tree data is costly. Therefore, how much information is needed must be defined to adequately describe the site prior to survey. If enough data can be collected from aerial photography, then photointerpretation method of data collection should be used. A simple walk-thru site visit may be adequate to collect further information about the site. More information can be collected about a site by taking plots and measuring trees. If data is collected for a site, that data should be collected and coded in a systematic and standardized fashion so that others may be able to picture the site conditions in a similar way at a later date.
Individual trees can generally be described with a few parameters. These parameters include the following:
Species
Diameter
Height
Age
Crown Ratio
Damage Code
Live or Dead
Radial or Height Growth
Stands of trees can be described in a similar fashion using parameters which may include the following:
Primary Species
Secondary Species
Average Diameter
Average Height
Average Age
Basal Area Per Acre
Trees Per Acre
Board Foot Volume Per Acre
Cubic Foot Volume Per Acre
Site Index
Growth and Mortality Rates
These parameters describe the site as a whole or average. Or, in other words, they provide a single dimension view point.
If a more detailed view of a site is needed, a two-dimensional approach to data presentation may be used. An example is expanding parameters such as trees per acre, basal area, or volumes by diameter class. The data now shows groups of trees as being big and little, tall and short, numerous or few. A mental picture of the forest is defined.
Many forest stands have complex structures which will require more data to form the correct picture of the stand. Not only do trees in a forested area vary in size, they come in different species and condition. In this situation, a detailed three-dimensional view of the site is in order to understand it and prescribe management regimes. The data collection system required to provide a three-dimensional view of the forest stand will be much more intensive than that required for a one-dimension approach. A three-dimensional view point will require individual trees be measured and the data for each tree be recorded. If only data for a two-dimensional view is needed, then tree data may be collected and recorded for a group of trees, such as by species or by diameter class. The individual tree data is grouped or compressed. If one-dimensional data is needed, then all that will be recorded at each plot would be the summary or average of the needed parameters. Such data is quick to collect and record.
12.1 - Survey Method. There are four survey methods or approaches that will be used in stand examination in this Region. These survey methods are similar or the same as those used in the past. For convenience, the former survey types or uses are presented below.
Current Former
Survey Method Survey Types
P = Photo Interpretation 1 = Photo Interpretation
W = Walk-Thru 2 = Walk-Thru
C = Compressed 3 = Standard, extensive
I = Intensive 4 = Standard, intensive
5 = Quick Plot
It should be noted that the current approach is not overly different from the past, only organized in a more systematic fashion. Each survey method refers to a way of collecting and recording data. What stand parameters are collected depends on the intended use of that data. When a stand examination is planned, certain items must be defined; what data is desired, how many plots or trees need to be sampled, and how that collected data is to be presented.
How many plots to take within a forest site depends on how costly the data collection will be, the variability of the trees, the purpose of the survey, and the accuracy desired. The survey methods defined above do not imply intensity of sampling or accuracy of data collected. Sample validity is a combination of survey method, survey area, number of sampling points and standard error of the estimate.
This approach to stand examination is intended to be flexible. Survey methods and sampling intensities may be varied, trees may be grouped, and the different data may be displayed with several different options. Tree data collected in past years is still useable in the revised system. If that old tree data still represents the stand, then continue to save and use it!
Detailed instructions for selecting method of survey and sampling intensity are included in Chapter 20 of this Handbook and the "Stand Examination User Guide."
12.2 - Forest Inventory. The scope of Forest Inventory survey is forest-wide, instead of specific sites. Forest Inventory methods use many of the instructions in this Handbook. However, to obtain better information about Forest Inventory, refer to the "Forest Inventory User Guide."
l3 - DATA COLLECTION. All data collected will be in compliance with Chapter 30 of this Handbook, "Standard Specifications for Stand Examination," Total Resource Information Handbook (RIS) FSH 6609.21 and the "Stand Examination User Guide."
l4 - PROCESSING DATA. All stand data submitted on the R2-24l0-7b is processed by the R2STAND program. Field data is edited and expanded to a per-acre basis. Detailed stand, stocking, and volume tables are produced. In addition, edited summary data is stored for updating the District Data Bases. The site is assumed to already be stored from photointerpretation or map data. All data will be processed according to Chapter 40 of this Handbook and the "Stand Examination User Guide."