Virtual Field Trip Tour of Smith Creek
As part of Wednesday’s program, we will take a virtual tour of Smith Creek Research Site, a whitebark pine restoration site to discuss the current issues of restoring high five tree species, especially under a future of changing climates.
The Smith Creek area is located directly west of Victor, Montana on the Bitterroot National Forest (US Forest Service), Stevensville Ranger District. This is the same site that was visited for the 1998 Whitebark Pine Symposium, but much has changed since then. The clearcut in 1998 is now populated with sapling- and pole-sized trees of many different species including whitebark pine. The mature stands of timber that surrounded the clearcut have been dramatically affected by wildland fire. The combinations of growth, disease, and wildland fire provide instructive contrasts for whitebark pine restoration strategies now and into the future.
The program will consist of a general overview of the area and history of events since the 1998 field trip. The virtual tour will rotate through six stations staffed by subject matter experts.
The stations planned are:
- Restoration strategies – local, regional, and range-wide strategies for restoration
- Interacting disturbances – how mountain pine beetle, fire, timber harvest, etc. act to influence H5 pine dynamics into the future under climate change – mortality, resilience, resistance
- Smith Creek Lessons Learned – What actually happened on the Smith Creek research site that was not anticipated twenty-two years ago
- Wildland fire – High elevation fire regimes, restoration treatments with fire (Rx, wildfire, WFU), and climate change
- Management issues and challenges – regulations, laws, barriers, funding and oversight of local to international management of high mountain resources including the grizzly, wilderness, lynx, etc.
- Blister rust and resistance – new innovations for improving rust resistance in natural high elevation five needle pine communities
Photo this page: Smith Creek Field Trip site, photo by Bryan Donner (featured image)
