BLM OR/WA Snag Creation Effectiveness Monitoring

Project ID: L19AC00030

Federal Agency: Bureau of Land Management

Partner Institution: Oregon State University

Fiscal Year: 2019

Initial Funding: $100,000

Total Funding: $200,000

Principal Investigator: Rivers, James

Abstract: Objective(s): The BLM has been creating snags under the Northwest Forest Plan since 1997 to provide wildlife habitat that is lacking because of extensive timber harvest. Under the 2016 Range Management Plan, the BLM will create large numbers of snags to benefit wildlife. Despite many years of snag creation, the BLM has not evaluated previously created snags to determine whether previous efforts resulted in snags that are used by wildlife as designed. Additionally, snag creation can be done using a variety of methods at different costs, but there has not been follow-up to determine whether some methods are more effective in creating snags that are used by wildlife than others.
Federal Award Performance Goals
1. Conduct surveys of 15-year old snags created by the BLM Coos Bay District to evaluate how creation methods and local conditions influence snag use by wildlife
2. Evaluate suitability of available data by constructing a database of created snags, locations, and characteristics using harvest plan records in the BLM Cascade Field Office