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Habitat Conservation Plan and Sustained Yield Plan for

Location: Jackson Demonstration State Forest Client: California Department of Forestry

An important function of Jackson Demonstration State Forest (JDSF) is to demonstrate the application of new techniques and approaches in forest management. Stillwater Sciences developed a multi-species Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) for JDSF, addressing the special needs of the northern spotted owl, marbled murrelet, coho salmon, steelhead, selected amphibians (including northern red-legged frog) and invertebrates, and other wildlife and plant species. Stillwater Sciences conducted a watershed analysis, covering aquatic and terrestrial resources, in the 100,000-acre assessment area that provides the foundation for the HCP. The fieldwork, review of existing information, and modeling efforts for the JDSF project have produced detailed watershed information in a GIS format. Some examples are shown in the following maps:

Map 1. Jackson Demonstration State Forest Stream Class. Fish-bearing and non-fish-bearing stream reaches are shown. This map demonstrates a digital terrain model (DTM)-based approach to developing a complete channel network

Map 2. Channel slope and particle size, for Chamberlain Creek watershed. Bed shear stress was calculated from channel slope and predicted bankfull depth, using a field-determined relationship between bankfull depth and drainage area.

Map 3. Predicted and observed upper limits of fish distribution in Chamberlain Creek watershed. The predicted upper limits of fish distribution (i.e., the extent of Class I streams, as defined under the California Forest Practices Act) are based on a relationship between fish distribution and drainage area, using a flow accumulation model.

For the watershed analysis, Stillwater Sciences:

  • Assessed hillslope and fluvial geomorphic processes in the context of salmonid habitat requirements and life history strategies to determine factors that may be limiting to salmonid populations.
  • Produced a detailed description of current channel geomorphology and aquatic habitat conditions, a comparison of current and historical conditions, and an assessment of recovery from past impacts. For this component of the watershed analysis, Stillwater Sciences performed extensive field surveys and mapping of channel geomorphology, aquatic habitat, and riparian vegetation, and combined these data with historical information on watershed disturbances, land management, stream alterations, and meteorology.
  • Performed field surveys to document and measure the effects of surface erosion, mass wasting, and bank erosion on sediment production and delivery to channels. Survey methods included mapping of recent and historical depositional features and assessing sediment storage capacity in channels.
  • Integrated data from ongoing long-term sediment and streamflow monitoring with data collected from field investigations and other historical sources to produce a sediment budget for the 100,000-acre assessment area. Current and historical sediment yields were identified for key sediment sources, and compared to the natural background sediment yield to evaluate management-related changes.
  • Developed habitat conservation strategies (HCSs) for sensitive aquatic and terrestrial resources and evaluated the predicted impacts of these strategies.

Stillwater Sciences and its subcontractors also developed a Sustained Yield Plan (SYP) for the Forest, refining and improving on the techniques used in previous SYPs. SYPs are one option under the California Forest Practice Act that encourage private landowners to develop long-term sustained yield plans (SYPs) to address in an integrated and comprehensive fashion many of the issues (including cumulative effects) that arise in individual Timber Harvesting Plans. The resulting plan benefits from recent advances in the use of GIS and ecological models for forest planning. The JDSF HCP/SYP includes a comprehensive monitoring and adaptive management plan that was designed by Stillwater Sciences to test or validate key assumptions, hypotheses, and models used in the development of resource management prescriptions and provide a mechanism by which to review and refine management actions.