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Water From Colorado's Bark Beetle Forests -Scope of Work <br />Elder, Rhoades, Hubbard and Lee; USFS Rocky Mountain Research Station; 5/15/08 <br />I. PROJECT TASKS <br />Task 1. Study Site Selection -Candidate logging areas and adjacent uncut beetle-killed <br />stands have been identified in the upper portions of the North Platte and Colorado River <br />Basins. In several locations, management units have already been selected and unit <br />boundaries established by CSFS and USFS timber staffs. A final list of candidate study <br />areas will be assembled during fall 2008 in anticipation of a summer 2009 projected start <br />date for field sampling activities. Because of uncertainties in planning and completion of <br />contract logging operations, we will review additional sites to ensure an adequate number <br />of site replicates (e.g. 8 logging units). Site selection will be conducted by Rhoades, Lee, <br />Hubbard and Elder. Deliverables will be mapped study area boundary, delineated <br />transects and plot locations. <br />Task 2. Pre-harvest Site Characterization -Plots (5 hectare) will be installed during <br />summer 2009 to characterize the pre-harvest stand, snowpack and soil conditions (n = 8). <br />Field crews will visit sample transects to the summer months to conduct initial stand <br />inventory, seedling and soil sampling. snowpack surveys will be conducted near the date <br />of peak accumulation. Soil temperature and moisture monitoring instrumentation will be <br />installed in the 5 ha plots designated as No Action treatment areas. Work will be <br />completed by Rhoades, Lee, Hubbard, Elder, afull-time technician, and seasonal <br />employees. Deliverables will be establishment of database and archive for collected data <br />and this will serve as a template for the remaining project. <br />Task 3. Forest Management Plot Establishment -Each set of management <br />comparisons will consist of three manipulative treatments (Fuels Reduction, Forest <br />Regeneration, Watershed Protection) that will be established within a harvest unit that is <br />paired with a No Action plot located in an adjacent uncut stand. Harvesting activities <br />will occur between late summer 2009 and summer 2010. Winter logging is common in <br />Colorado lodgepole pine salvage operations, and we anticipate much of the logging to be <br />completed before spring break-up in March 2010. The two different slash options <br />(Whole Tree Harvest and Lop and Scatter) will be implemented as part of normal logging <br />operations. Soil scarification for the Forest Regeneration treatment will be conducted at <br />the onset of snow-free, dry conditions. Lee will be responsible for contract monitoring <br />on State Forest lands. Rhoades will be the liaison with the USFS timber sale <br />administrator for study plots on the Routt and Arapaho-Roosevelt National Forests. <br />Task 4. Field Measurements: Snow, Soil, Water and Tree Seedlings -Post-harvest <br />measurements of snow depth and water equivalence measurements will be made <br />beginning April 2010 and will be conducted at or near the date of peak accumulation <br />each year thereafter. Temperature and moisture monitoring instrumentation will be <br />installed each active management treatment plot after mechanical activities are finished. <br />Soil nitrogen measurements will be conducted monthly between June and September <br />each year of the study. Potential net mineralization and nitrification samples will be <br />collected and incubated annually. Seedling density and understory cover estimates will <br />occur in September of Years 1, 2 and 3 and a subset of seedlings will be harvested in year <br />three to quantify biomass and nutrient content. Over-winter resin bags will be installed in <br />late September each year and retrieved in late May/early June after snowmelt. We plan