16A.18
S,N - Reforesting marginal farmland--A challenging new concept in the Inland Northwest
Ronald L. Mahoney, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID
The Palouse Region of the Inland Northwest, in a cover article of National Geographic in 1974, is described as one of the most erodible regions on Earth. The Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) stimulated the first reforestation of marginal Palouse farmland in the late 1980’s. While “old field pine” is an established timber-type in the Southeast where plantations hardly warrant a second glance, the concept is new to the Inland Northwest. There are formidable social obstacles to planting farmland to trees, especially among the pioneer families that clearly remember removing the stumps on some of the forest fringe farmlands along the eastern border of the Palouse. Often eroded and compacted, marginal Palouse soils may contain a proliferation of herbicide-resistant weed seeds, have altered soil chemistry and other nutritional limits, and harbor resident populations of pocket gophers and other rodents. Their full exposure to the elements and proximity to tree-browsing big game populations and open-range cattle presents many challenges to seedling establishment. Despite these challenges and other operational and cultural constraints, a significant segment of the Palouse and other Inland Northwest marginal farmlands are successfully reforested. Primarily through the CRP, they meet conservation goals, and in many cases, establish productive timber plantations. Although many efforts at planting trees failed, other farmland plantations have thrived and encouraged increased interest in their economic and environmental potential. No formal evaluation of CRP plantations on the Palouse has been done, leaving resource managers without an adequate basis for planting recommendations, but a proposal to document this information is under development. That research also needs to develop growth and yield information, and explore effects on wildlife and other ecosystem components, response to fertilization, agroforestry diversification, and social impacts on farm families and timber-dependent communities.
Session 16A, Other
Wednesday, 9 October 2002, 1:30 PM-1:30 AM
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