Financial results of ponderosa pine forest restoration in southwestern Colorado

From 1996 to 1998, the Ponderosa Pine Partnership conducted an experimental forest restoration project on 493 acres of small diameter ponderosa pine in the San Juan National Forest, Montezuma County, Colorado. The ecological basis and the financial analysis for this project are discussed. Specific financial results of the project including products sold, revenues collected, harvesting costs incurred, and profits or losses realized are reported. Restoration costs are also compared with fire suppression costs experienced both in Colorado and nationwide. Using data collected since the conclusion of the project, the future potential for financing forest restoration in southwestern Colorado is explored. Introduction ____________________ This paper presents specific financial results from a forest restoration project conducted by the Ponderosa Pine Partnership in southwestern Colorado. This Partnership was created by a group of organizations to explore potential benefits of forest restoration and includes Montezuma County, San Juan National Forest, Ft Lewis College, Colorado Timber Industry Association (CTIA), Colorado State Forest Service, College of Natural Resources, and Cooperative Extension at Colorado State University (CSU). The Partnership was formed because the County and the San Juan National Forest were concerned about several problems present in the 183,000 acre ponderosa pine forest northeast of Cortez, CO. These problems included: • Potential for insect and disease outbreaks • Risk of catastrophic forest fires • Decline of small forest product businesses • Recognition that ponderosa pine forests in this area are not within their range of natural variability and are probably not sustainable in their current condition (Romme 1999). Dr. William Romme, professor in the Department of Biology at Ft Lewis College, Durango, CO, had principal responsibility for ecological data collection, development of an ecological prescription for this experimental forest restoration project, and subsequent monitoring. In his previous research in southwestern Colorado (Montezuma, La Plata, and Archuleta Counties) Romme (1999) reached generally similar conclusions as research from Arizona and New Mexico (Cooper 1960; Covington and others 1997; Dahms and Geils 1997; Fulé and others 1997). He found that in this forest area there were seven times more trees per acre today than in 1900. Specifically, there are 280 to 390 trees per acre today versus 40 to 50 trees per acre in 1900. Stands were characterized in 1900 by clumps of trees. These clumps were typically one-tenth to one-quarter acre in size, while today the clumped pattern of stands has largely been lost. Stump diameters of trees living in 1900 averaged 27 inches and ages were likely to reach 300 years. Today 95 percent of the trees are 16 inches in diameter at breast height or smaller and 110 years or less in age. Additionally, less than 20 percent of today’s stands have pine regeneration. Mortality is also disproportionate, occurring in the very young and oldest trees. He also discovered that fire frequencies have changed. For example, in the forest area, of which this study is a part, he found that during the period 1685–1872, the interval between fires ranged from 5 to 20 years, with a median of 12 years. In another part of the area he found that between 1729 to 1879 the range in fire frequency was 2 to 31 years with a median of 10 years. Since 1879, there has not been a fire that created a fire scar in most of the area. On the basis of his research, Dr. Romme suggested that the current forest could be modified and restored to conditions similar to pre-1870 structure and processes. He designed an ecological prescription that retained large trees, developed the clumped nature of tree groups within the forest, developed glades and parks between tree clumps, reduced shrub understory while increasing the grass-forb component, and reintroduced low intensity fire as a process. A dominant concern of this study was to ensure that the ecological prescription controlled implementation. It was also obvious that forest restoration could not proceed unless costs were paid. As previously stated, no government money was available to implement this study. Further it was highly unlikely that tax dollars would be appropriated to pay for forest restoration in any situation except, perhaps, those most severely threatening to life and property. Even then, the material to be removed would have to be disposed of in some way. Leaving thinning slash in the forest would only increase fuel loading and the probability of intense fires. Sackett (2000) commented that prescribed burning alone has been unable to remove the volume of existing material in the Chimney Springs, AZ, area forest to a healthy state, let alone presettlement conditions. Recent catastrophic fires in the Southwest also attest to the danger associated with the use of prescribed fire alone. Therefore, this financial