Hydrologic Impacts of Forest Management

Consensus

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Of all the outputs of forests, water may be the most important. Streamflow from forests provides two-thirds of the nation's clean water supply. Removing forest cover accelerates the rate that precipitation becomes streamflow; therefore, in some areas, cutting trees causes a temporary increase in the volume of water flowing downstream. This effect has spurred political pressure to cut trees to increase water supply, especially in western states where population is rising. However, cutting trees for water gains is not sustainable: increases in flow rate and volume are typically short-lived, and the practice can ultimately degrade water quality and increase vulnerability to flooding. Forest hydrology, the study of how water flows through forests, can help illuminate the connections between forests and water, but it must advance if it is to deal with today's complexities, including climate change, wildfires, and changing patterns of development and ownership. This book identifies actions that scientists, forest and water managers, and citizens can take to help sustain water resources from forests.

Publication information

180 pages · 6 x 9 · paperback
ISBN Paperback: 0-309-12108-6
ISBN Ebook: 0-309-12109-4
DOI: https://doi.org/10.17226/12223

Suggested citation

National Research Council. 2008. Hydrologic Effects of a Changing Forest Landscape. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.

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Paul K. Barten

PAUL K. BARTEN is associate professor of forest resources management at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and lecturer in hydrology and watershed management at Yale University. He is a member of an interdisciplinary team engaged in NSF/EPA-sponsored research on the New Haven, Connecticut watershed system. He also serves as chair of the Quabbin Science and Technical Advisory Committee for the Quabbin reservoir (Boston's water supply). His research interests are in spatial and temporal variation of soil water storage in forested watersheds, streamflow generation, and water movement in forested uplands and wetlands, integrated assessment of the hydrological impacts of land use, retrospective modeling of water and sediment yield, and watershed management. He received his B.S. in forestry from SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry and the New York State Ranger School and his M.S. and Ph.D. in hydrology and watershed management from the University of Minnesota. He was member of the NRC Committee to Review New York City’s Water Management Strategy and Committee on Atlantic Salmon in Maine.

Gail L. Achterman

GAIL L. ACHTERMAN directs the Institute for Natural Resources at Oregon State University. Prior to coming to the university, she worked as an attorney in the Solicitor’s Office of the U.S. Department of the Interior in Washington, D.C. where she advised the Bureau of Land Management and the Bureau of Reclamation from 1975-1978. Upon returning to Oregon she joined what later became the Stoel Rives law firm in Portland, where she helped build the Northwest’s first specialty natural resource and environmental law practice. She also started her civic work by serving on the Oregon Water Policy Review Board from 1981-1985. In 1987, she was appointed as assistant to the governor on topics of natural resources. In that position, she was responsible for natural resource, energy and environmental policy development and implementation, and worked closely with all state resource agencies. She also served as the main liaison with federal resource agencies, including extensive work on plans for Oregon’s national forests. She later returned to private law practice at Stoel Rives until 2000 when she left to become Executive Director of the Deschutes Resources Conservancy in Bend, Oregon, working on developing voluntary, market-based watershed restoration methods. She received her A.B. in economics with honors from Stanford University; an M.S. in natural resources policy and management, University of Michigan and a J.D. cum laude from the University of Michigan.

Kenneth N. Brooks

KENNETH N. BROOKS is professor and director of graduate studies at the University of Minnesota. His expertise is in hydrology, water quality, and watershed management. His research interests are in the areas of forest hydrology, wetland hydrology and riparian management, hydrologic modeling of forested watersheds and methods of evaluating/appraising watershed management practices, including agroforestry. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Arizona.

Irena F. Creed

IRENA F. CREED is an assistant professor in the Department of Biology and in the Graduate Program in Environmental Sciences at the University of Western Ontario. She is the founder and leader of the Catchment Research Facility (CRF), an advanced monitoring, analytical and modeling facility established for the analysis of catchment processes. Her research interests are in the areas of ecology, hydrology, biogeochemistry, geographic information systems, remote sensing, and simulation modeling. Specifically, Dr. Creed investigates the dominant factors regulating energy, water, and nutrient processes and pathways within specific watersheds in a range of forest regions and biomes.

Peter F. Ffolliott

PETER FFOLLIOTT is professor at the School of Natural Resources and Arid Lands Resource Studies, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, University of Arizona. His research involves areas such as watershed, forest, and range and wildlife management, agroforestry, mensuration and inventory techniques, economic assessments and evaluations, ecosystem modeling and simulation, environmental and natural resources policies. Prior to coming to the University of Arizona in 1970, he was a Research Forester with the USDA Forest Service, Flagstaff, Arizona. Dr. Ffolliott teaches and conducts research programs in support of water resources, watershed, and other natural resources management. He is a Fellow of the Society of American Foresters, the Indian Association of Hydrologists, and the Arizona-Nevada Academy of Science, and a member of other many other professional and honorary societies. He received a B.S. and M.S. in forest management from the University of Minnesota; and a Ph.D. in watershed management and water resources administration from the University of Arizona.

Anne Hairston-Strang

ANNE HAIRSTON-STRANG has been a forest hydrologist with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources Forest Service in Annapolis, MD since 1997. She heads the Forest Watershed Management Program, which includes watershed forest restoration and streamside buffer establishment. Her current projects include forest management plan development for Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission forest lands around two drinking water reservoirs, riparian forest buffer monitoring, harvesting BMP assessment, and state coordination with the Chesapeake Bay Program Forestry Work Group. Hairston-Strang received a B.S. in forest management from Virginia Tech; an M.S. in forest soils from University of Minnesota, and a Ph.D. from Oregon State University in forest hydrology.

Julia A. Jones

JULIA A. JONES is professor at the Department of Geosciences, Oregon State University. Her research areas are in spatial analysis in ecology and geosciences, soils, geomorphology, effects of land use on forest hydrology, and ecosystem Informatics. More specifically, her research focuses on streamflow response to forest harvest, soil spatial variability, landscape scale patterns and processes of disturbance. She received a B.A. in economic development from Hampshire College; an M.A. in international relations from the Johns Hopkins School for Advanced International Studies, and a Ph.D. in geography/ environmental engineering from The Johns Hopkins University.

Michael C. Kavanaugh

MICHAEL C. KAVANAUGH (NAE) is a chemical and environmental engineer, consulting professor at Stanford University, and vice president of Malcolm Pirnie, Inc. His research interests are hazardous waste management, soil and groundwater remediation, process engineering, industrial waste treatment, technology evaluations, strategic environmental management, compliance and due diligence auditing, water quality, water and wastewater treatment, and water reuse. He has served as chair to the National Research Council's (NRC) Board on Radioactive Waste Management and the Water Science and Technology Board. He has also chaired the NRC Committee on Ground Water Cleanup Alternatives. Dr. Kavanaugh is a registered chemical engineer in California and Utah, and a Diplomat (DEE) of the American Academy of Environmental Engineers. He received his B.S. in chemical engineering from Stanford University and his M.S. and Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley.

Lee MacDonald

LEE MACDONALD is a professor in the Department of Forest Rangeland and Watershed Stewardship at Colorado State University. His general field of interest is land use hydrology, broadly defined as the effects of changes in land use on the quantity, timing, and quality of runoff. His earlier work focused on the effects of forest management on runoff and the effect on stream channels. He is also increasingly involved in erosion and sedimentation issues, in channel monitoring, and cumulative watershed effects. Another major research interest of Dr. McDonald is wetland hydrology with a focus on how changes in flow affect the hydrology and the ecology of hillslope and riparian wetlands. Dr. McDonald’s research portfolio also includes effects of forest management on runoff using flow duration curves, on the seasonal development of the hyporheic zones in the Taylor Dry Valley of Antarctica, and effects of afforestation on hillslope hydrology and runoff processes in the tussock grasslands of New Zealand. He received a B.A. in human biology from Stanford University; an M.S. in resource ecology from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor; and a Ph.D. in wildland resource science from the University of California, Berkeley.

Ronald C. Smith

RONALD C. SMITH is the managing forester at Tuskegee University, where he is a teaching faculty member; oversees the management of the University’s land holdings; and serves as Director for Forestry and Natural Resources at the Small Farm Rural Economic Development Center. In his faculty position in the College of Agricultural, Environmental and Natural Sciences, he teaches dendrology (tree identification and physiology) and industrial forestry in the Department of Agriculture and Natural Sciences, and runs the extension forestry and farming programs through the University. He also works with students and other foresters through the Alabama Consortium of Forestry Education and Research on a range of research projects that include valuation of non-timber benefits of different forest ecosystem management strategies, the impact of site preparation on timber and non-timber values, wetland function and ecosystem services, and other topics related to forested systems. Smith was a forester for the USFS from 1979 to 2001 and spent many of those USFS years as an adjunct faculty member at Tuskegee teaching students the trade of forestry. He received his degree in forest management service.

Daniel B. Tinker

DANIEL B. TINKER is an assistant professor at the University of Wyoming. His research is conducted in the Greater Yellowstone-Teton Ecosystem in northwestern Wyoming, and involves ecosystem responses to large, natural disturbances such as fire. Dr. Tinker uses GIS and remote sensing to investigate the consequences of landscape-scale spatial heterogeneity in ecological systems. His current work is focused on understanding how the observed variation in post-fire plant communities in the Greater Yellowstone-Teton Ecosystem affects important ecosystem processes such as decomposition and nitrogen mineralization, how these processes vary at the landscape scale, and how the effects of post-fire community structure change over time in young, developing forests. He received his B.S. from Fort Lewis College, and M.S. and Ph.D. from University of Wyoming.

Suzanne B. Walker

SUZANNE BIRMINGHAM WALKER, Vice President and forester/biologist of Azimuth Forestry Services, Inc., manages non-industrial private forestland and provides biological consulting for private land holders in Shelby County, Texas. She also produces biological evaluations and environmental assessments for government agencies and privately held companies, wetland delineations, botanical surveys under cooperative agreements, and species checklists of the flora of the Big Thicket National Preserve with Rice University. Prior to Azimuth, she was in the timber industry as a technical cartographer and as a procurement forester in the 1980s, and spent eight years as a federal forester with the U. S. Forest Service, where she conducted environmental assessments, timber prescriptions, and biological evaluations for threatened and endangered species and management of wildland fire. She has served as member for the State of Texas Prescribed Burning Board since 1999. Ms. Walker received her bachelors in forestry and biology from Stephen F. Austin State University.

Beverley C. Wemple

BEVERLEY C. WEMPLE is associate professor at University of Vermont. Her research interests lie in understanding the dynamics of hydrologic and geomorphic processes in upland, forested watersheds. Her current work continues this interest in examining the influence of land use practices on geophysical processes. She is particularly interested in using basic theoretical tools and simulation modeling, in conjunction with empirical field studies, to understand how management of the mountain landscape alters the processes of runoff generation and sediment production in steep, headwater catchments. She received her B.A. from the University of Richmond, and her M.S. and Ph.D. from Oregon State University.c

George H. Weyerhaeuser, Jr.

GEORGE H. WEYERHAEUSER, JR. is elected senior vice president of technology in Weyerhaeuser Company. Since 1978, he has held various positions, including technical forester, contract logger administrator, sawmill supervisor, and vice president and mill manager for containerboard. In 1990 Weyerhaeuser moved to the company’s headquarters to become Vice President, Manufacturing for Weyerhaeuser cellulose fibers and paper businesses. He served as president and chief executive officer of Weyerhaeuser Canada Ltd. from 1993-1998. Weyerhaeuser currently serves as a director of Clearwater Management Company and president of the Thea Foss Waterway Public Development Authority. He is also a board member of the Institute of Paper & Science Technology (IPST) and the Museum of Glass: International Center for Contemporary Art. He received his B.A. in philosophy/mathematics from Yale University and his M.S. from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Closed

First Meeting of the Committee on Forest Hydrology

March 22 - 23, 2006

Past

Additional Information

Is it a Closed Session event?

Institution Closed

The following committee members were present at the closed sessions of the event

1. Barten
2. Achterman
3. Brooks
4. Creed
5. Ffolliott
6. Hairston-Strang
7. Jones
8. Kavanaugh
9. MacDonald
10. Smith
11. Tinker
12. Walker
13. Wemple
14. Weyerhaeuser

The following topics were discussed in the closed sessions:

1. Member Background and Interest
2. Bias and conflict discussion
3. Statement of Task
4. Initial report outline

The following materials (written documents) were made available to the committee in the closed sessions:

Water and The Forest Service. United States Department of Agriculture Forestservice Washington Office. Fs-660. January2000

Learning to Adapt. Science 309, 29 July 2005: 688-690.

Andreassian, Vazken. 2004. Water and Forests: From Historical Controversy to Scientific Debate. Journal of Hydrology 291:1-27.

MacDonald, L.H., and J.D. Stednick. 2003. Forests and water: a state-of-the-art review for Colorado. Colorado Water Resources Research Institute, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO. 65 pp.

Available only in electronic copy (CD)

Jones, J.A. and D.A. Post. 2004. Seasonal and successional streamflow response to forest cutting and regrowth in the northwest and eastern United States. Water Resources Research. Vol 40.

Healthy Forests – An Initative for Wildfire Prevention and Stronger Communities. Actual Report from President, Aug 22, 2002

Supplement to the Final Environmental Impact Statement Vegetation Management in the Coastal Plain/Piedmont

Overview of the BMP Implementation Monitoring program

Voluntary Compliance with Forestry Best Management Practices in East Texas

Voluntary Implementation of Forestry Best Management Practices in East Texas

Forestry Best Management Practices for Water Quality

Lindenmayer, D.B., D. R. Foster, J. F. Franklin, M. L. Hunter, R. F. Noss, F. A. Schmiegelow, and D. Perry. 2004. Policy Forum Article: Salvage Harvesting Policies After Natural Disturbance. Science 27 303: 1303 [DOI: 10.1126/science.1093438]

Available only in electronic copy (CD)

Swank, W.T., and D.R. Tilley. 2000 Watershed management to land stewardship: case studies in the southeast. Proceedings RMRS-P-13. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. 2000, March.

Post, D.A. and J.A. Jones. 2001. Hydrologic regimes of forested, mountainous, headwater basins in New Hampshire, North Carolina, Oregon, and Puerto Rico. Advance in Water Resources. 24: 1195-1210.

John D. Stednick. 1996. Monitoring the effects of timber harvest on annual water yield. Journal of Hydrology 176 (1996) 79-95. Watershed Science Program, Department of Earth Resources, College of Natural Resources. Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 8OS23, USA

Available only in electronic copy (CD)

Dunne et al. A Scientific Basis for the Prediction of Cumulative Watershed Effects. The University of California Committee on Cumulative Watershed Effects

Swank, W.T., Vose, J.M., Elliott, K.J. Long-term hydrologic and water quality responses following commercial clearcutting of mixed hardwoods on a southern Appalachian catchment. 2001. Forest Ecology and Management. 143: 163-178

Reid, L.M., Dunne, T. 1984. Sediment production from forest road surfaces Water Resources Research 20:1753-1761

Jones, J.A., Swanson, F.J., Wemple, B.C., Snyder, K.U. 2000. Effects of roads on hydrology, geomorphology, and disturbance patches in stream networks. Conserv. Biol. 14:76-85

Available only in electronic copy (CD)

Luce, C.H. and T. A. Black. Spatial and Temporal Patterns in Erosion from Forest Roads (2001) Land Use and Watersheds: Human Influence on Hydrology and Geomorphology in Urban and Forest Areas, 2 pp. 165-178. Wigmosta MS, Burges SJ (eds). Water and Science Application, American Geophysical Union: Washington, DC.

Turner, M.G., Romme, W.H., and Tinker, D.B. 2003. Surprises and lessons from the 1988 Yellowstone fires. Frontiers in Ecology (in Reviews) 2003: 1(7): 351-358

Donato, D.C., J. B. Fontaine, J. L. Campbell, W.D. Robinson, J.B. Kauffman, B. E. 2006. Post-Wildfire Logging Hinders Regeneration and Increases Fire Risk Law. Science 311, 20 January 2006: 352.

D. B. Lindenmayer, D. R. Foster, J. F. Franklin, M. L. Hunter, R. F. Noss, F. A. Schmiegelow, and D. Perry. 2004. Policy Forum Article: Salvage Harvesting Policies After Natural Disturbance Science 27 February 2004 303: 1303 [DOI: 10.1126/science.1093438.

Meyer, G.A., J.L. Pierce, S.H. Wood, and A. J. T. Jull. 2001. Fire, storms, erosional events in the Idaho batholith. Hydrological Processes 15:3025-2038. *HARDCOPY ONLY; NOT IN CD*

Sidle, R.C. and W. Wu. 2001. Evaluation of the Temporal and Spatial Impacts of Timber Harvesting on Landslide Occurance. Land Use and Watersheds: Human Influence on Hydrology and Geomorphology in Urban and Forest Areas, 2 pp. 179-194. Wigmosta MS, Burges SJ (eds). Water and Science Application, American Geophysical Union: Washington, DC

May, C. K. Debris flows through different forest age classes in the Central Oregon Coast Range. Journal of AWRA 38(4): 1097-1113.

Available only in electronic copy (CD)

Dietrich, W.E. and D. Bellugi. Validation of the Shallow Landslide Model, SHALSTAB, for Forest Management (2001) Land Use and Watersheds: Human Influence on Hydrology and Geomorphology in Urban and Forest Areas, 2 pp. 195-227. Wigmosta MS, Burges SJ (eds). Water and Science Application, American Geophysical Union: Washington, DC

D. Lamb, P.D. Erskine, J. A. Parrotta. Restoration of Degraded Tropical Forest Landscapes. Science 310, 9 December 2005: 1628-1632

Date of posting of Closed Session Summary:

April 03, 2006

Contact

Lauren Alexander

202-334-3422
lealexander@nas.edu

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Hydrologic Impacts of Forest Management

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Featured publication

Hydrologic Effects of a Changing Forest Landscape

Description

Contributors

Committee

Sponsors

Staff

Major units and sub-units

Contact

Contact us

Provide feedback

Request materials

More like this

Review of the draft United by Nature assessment

Modernizing Mathematics Education for Grades 9-14

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