UMRS Forest Resources Inventory and Analysis

Forest resource data collection and data analysis is necessary in order to develop forest management objectives at a stand, management area, river reach, and river system scale. Information gained from this project will be utilized to assist in making forest management decisions and assess changes in forest resources. An initial forest resource survey has been completed for all of the Rivers Project Office lands and a second inventory completed for Pool 24. A comprehensive analysis and comparison of the two iterations of data has also been completed for Pool 24. Year 1 of this project will focus on additional forest inventories in Pool 25 of the Mississippi River. Year 2 will focus on additional forest inventories as well as a similar comparative analysis of the two iterations of forest inventory data in Pool 25. There is the potential requirement for additional forest inventories to take place to aid with data analysis, focusing on Mississippi River Pools 25, 26, and the Open River and the lower Illinois River.

Monitoring forest conditions following forest management actions is important to evaluate their effectiveness. Forest management has been conducted by USACE on the UMRS for over 30 years, but follow-up monitoring has been lacking. Completed forest management actions include reforestation, interplanting, timber stand improvement (TSI), prescribed burning, and invasive species treatment. This project will include conducting forest management actions and evaluating the effects of those actions on forest stand health, composition, and regeneration.

This project will also take advantage of lessons learned from recent forest management projects to refine and enhance the Upper Mississippi River Systemic Forest Stewardship Plan (Guyon et al., 2012). This plan is the guiding document used by USACE foresters on the Upper Mississippi River in developing synchronized forest management plans and prescriptions. Revision of this plan will include more detailed R&D to develop desired forest conditions for different floodplain forest communities and stand structure and how this will meet the habitat requirements of species of concern. Identification of specific wildlife habitat requirements will be needed for species of concern to ensure that wildlife management objectives are being met through an active forest management program.

Invasive species are one of the largest threats to habitat integrity of the floodplain forest resource. One example of these threats is Japanese hops. It is an annual invasive species that has greatly expanded its dominance in the floodplain over the past ten years. Hops grows rapidly and will completely dominate a forest canopy gap, greatly reducing natural reforestation. This project will look to identify innovative and economically feasible means to quickly reforest canopy gaps to reduce the impact of invasive species such as Japanese hops or reed canary grass. This project will also describe the current and projected impact of the Emerald Ash Borer on green ash, the second most dominant tree within RPO management areas. The objective will be the development of a Special Status Report that describes the impact following the loss of green ash from floodplain forests and potential for Japanese hops or other invasives to dominate the resulting canopy gaps.