In June, Elwha Legacy Forests coalition and Center for Responsible Forestry co-sponsored a forest field survey training class with Joshua Wright of member organization Legacy Forest Defense Coalition.
Day 1 was a Zoom session to go over the strategy behind surveying forests to determine if they meet our criteria as legacy forests, and how to determine if they contain any rare or endangered animals, plants or plant communities.
On Day 2, 14 of us joined Joshua to take the field portion of the survey training in the proposed ‘Baker’s Dozen’ legacy timber sale in Port Angeles, WA. With Joshua’s help, we discovered an example of a rare plant community made up of Western Red Cedar / Grand Fir / Sword Fern (Thuja plicata – Abies grandis / Polystichum munitum). This plant community is considered globally critically imperiled (G1 conservation status)!
Joshua taught us how to do variable area plot sampling using a basal area factor (BAF) angle gauge to determine tree distribution and how to do point line intercept transect sampling for determining the makeup of the understory. Joshua also taught the group how to measure the diameter-at-breast-height (DBH) of trees using DBH tape.
Under DNR’s own policy and Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) requirements, DNR cannot log rare plant communities. But, DNR often still includes these protected areas in timber sales. It’s been up to citizen surveyors to find these special places and bring them to DNR’s attention. Joshua and other experienced surveyors have found rare plant communities and as a result have saved several legacy forests in Clallam County, including Power Station, TCB23 and the legacy portion of ‘Dungeness and Dragons’. Our goal is to increase the number of local community members that can act as citizen surveyors, in order to discover and save these rare plant communities before they are wiped out by logging!
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Photos by Scott McGee / Forest2Sea.com
