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Ponderosa pine stands are almost entirely (91 percent) in the sawtimber
<br />class. (Acreages are truncated at the decimal point in all tables).
<br />The data presented in table 2, describing current forest stand condition in the
<br />North Platte River Basin are consistent with the stand configuration data
<br />summary for Colorado and Wyoming presented in the USDA Forest Service
<br />1997 RPA Assessment of the Nations Forests. (Draft tables dated 10/15/99).
<br />The draft RPA Assessment does not allow partitioning of the data with the
<br />specificity of table 2, but the spatial relationship between species and stand
<br />class appears consistent with the data in table 2.
<br />Table 2: Area of Forest Cover by Specie and Size Class on National
<br />Forest Land in the North Platte River Basin -- Year 2000.
<br /> Acres
<br />Species Non- Seedlings/
<br />Stocked Saplings Poles Sawtimber Total
<br />Spruce-Fir 3,478 32,622 39,958 230,051 306,108
<br />Lodgepole Pine 6,533 91,504 257,940 271,986 627,963
<br />Ponderosa Pine 3,816 1,086 2,994 79,953 87,849
<br />Douglas Fir 102 132 2,819 9,203 12,257
<br />Limber Pine 24 303 6,594 4,625 11,546
<br />Aspen 1,614 7,946 29,126 23,182 61,869
<br />Total 15,567 133,593 339,430 619,002 1,107,593
<br />Note: Spruce-Fir, Lodgepole, and Aspen have a high degree of younger stands (non-stocked and seedlings
<br />and saplings). Ponderosa pine, Douglas Fir, and Limber pine are more heavily weighted to pole and
<br />sawtimber classes.
<br />Characterization of historical stand condirion on National Forest land started
<br />with the current condition and worked backwards, in 20-year increments, to
<br />1860.
<br />?lumerous assumptions were made in the assessment process. First, we
<br />assumed that t e average age of the forest, by stand size class, was a
<br />reasonable estimate of inean age for that size class. Individual plot data
<br />provided by the U.S. Forest Service, indicated that individual trees within
<br />the stands could be much older, for example than the 150-year mean age for
<br />lodgepole pine `sawtimber, as indicated in figure 12a. Personal
<br />communication with Dr. Wayne Shepperd (Research Silviculturalist, Rocky
<br />Mountain Research Station, Fort Collins, CO) supported our assumption.
<br />Stands in the North Platte River Basin have been impacted by natural
<br />disaster and human intervention more than many other places in Region 2,
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