Attachment 3 ClumpMarking.pdf

Blue Mile G-Z IRSC Fremont-Winema National Forest

Request for Information Chiloquin Ranger District

Attachment 2: Marking Guidelines and Clump Marking

Marking Guide for Medium and Large Clumps

The goal of this marking is to create or maintain variable spatial patterns in the treatment units.

The targets should not be applied in a rigid manner, but instead used as “guard rails” to inform whether too little or too much variability is being created. Use existing tree and biophysical conditions to create variable patterns within and across treatment units and avoid trying to force the same density and variability on every acre. For example, medium and large clumps can be concentrated in areas where good leave tree candidates exist. Underlying variation in soils, topography, and disturbance processes can also be used to adjust clumping levels across a unit

(e.g., leave more clumps on north-facing slopes).

Definitions:

• Aspen clump – a group of at least 5 live aspen trees at least 5 feet tall within 30 feet of another aspen tree in the clump.

• Healthy/desirable tree – fuller crown, darker foliage, and free of broken/forked tops, mistletoe or insect damage.

• Mature tree – a tree that appears greater than 150 years old. Van Pelt rating system (Van

Pelt 2008) would be used to identify trees over 150 years old.

• Medium clump – a group of 5 to 9 trees within 20 feet of another tree in the clump.

• Large clump – a group of 10 to 15 trees within 20 feet of another tree in the clump.

• Distances are measured slope distance to face of the tree.

• Minimum DBH is 7.0 inches for sugar pine and 9.0 inches for ponderosa pine. The

Government can lower the minimum DBH for ponderosa pine to 7.0 inches if availability of clumps is lacking.

Marking Guide:

1. Mark one medium clump per 1 acre and one large clump per 3 acres.

2. Trees in a clump shall be either all ponderosa pine or all sugar pine trees.

3. Medium clumps should generally be created using younger, desirable trees, but mature and/or large diameter trees may exist in this condition.

Blue Mile G-Z IRSC Fremont-Winema National Forest

Request for Information Chiloquin Ranger District

Figure 1. An example of a medium clump of ponderosa pine trees.

4. Large clumps should generally be created using healthy trees in close proximity, but mature and/or large diameter trees may exist in this condition.

Figure 2. An example of a large clump of ponderosa pine trees.

5. Do not place a clump of young trees within 40 feet of a mature tree or within 60 feet of an aspen clump.

Monitoring:

1. A geospatial location for each clump will be provided to the Government for inspection.

The type of clump (i.e., medium or large) will be embedded with the geospatial data.

Data will be furnished to the Government on a weekly basis. How the data will be furnished will be agreed upon prior to work commencing.