When an area has been deforested, whether by fire, disease, or cutting, the name of the game is to get the forest back. That is how Director Robin Rose (Forest Science) describes the purpose of the Vegetation Management Research Cooperative. To get the forest back, researchers conduct applied research on young plantations, from seedling establishment through crown closure, emphasizing management of competing vegetation. In contrast to many projects that seem to polarize commercial timber and environmental interests, the Vegetation Management Research Cooperative seeks to maximize survival, wood-crop biomass, and growth while protecting public resources.

They accomplish this by bringing together the best of what is known about seedlings with the best of what is known about vegetation control and the best of what is known about fertilization. The largest current project is the Ò2 meters in 2 yearsÓ study. Using slow-release fertilizer, researchers grew Douglas-fir to 2 meters tall in the first 2 years. Trees in the tests were given fertilizer for their first year or their first and second years (or, for the control, not at all). Competing vegetation was controlled in the first 2 or the first 3 years. The method has been demonstrated at six plots so far, in Rainier, Belfair, Forks, Cathlamet, and Mossyrock, Washington, and in Drain, Oregon; more plots will be established next year in Glenwood, Washington, and Fort Bragg, California.

These demonstrations have important implications. Current reforestation laws throughout the Pacific Northwest require that lands ravaged by fire, insects, disease, or cutting be successfully regenerated in 6 years. Specifically, the laws require that, before cutting can commence on a piece of land, adjacent cleared lands must have seedlings at specified ages or sizes. Improving seedling quality and advances in vegetation control are the ways growers have for making that happen.

Faster growth, as in the 2 meters in 2 years study, means less need for herbicide. Oregon law stipulates that trees must be Òfree to growÓ within 6 years of harvest. That requirement means the tree must have out-competed weed species sufficiently to eliminate the need for herbicide or other means of vegetation removal. This demonstration shows that trees may be free to grow in 2-3 years, rather than 6 years, which is a boon for the state for reducing herbicide use. And the project's implications are not just for corporate forestry. Faster growth against competing vegetation would also aid Christmas tree farming, reclamation after fires, and restoration of riparian zones. With additional testing (and different formulations), Rose expects the same method can also be used with native plants. Furthermore, fertilizer is applied right in the root zone and very little is needed per acre, because it is not broadcast over wide areas and not washed off. Thus pollution can be reduced.

Since its establishment in 1993, the cooperative has conducted work in a variety of environments. The research stands range from the dry east side of the Cascades to the wet west side and from high to low elevations, extending from northern Washington to central California. Rose anticipates that the next step will be to take the research worldwide. Growers in Chile hope to use it on their Douglas-fir plantations. In Taiwan, it may be used to create monkey habitat in disturbed areas. In Africa it might help growers establish firewood lots. Firewood must be dense, but dense woods are often the slowest to grow Ð faster growth could allow more recovery. It could help in places like Thailand, where in the past bulldozers were used to remove competing vegetation, and with it much of the topsoil. Thus the information developed by the cooperative can be used internationally for conservation biology or restoration ecology; it serves both timber and environmental interests.

Other cooperative projects are more specific to the Pacific Northwest. One such project is the ongoing synthesis of information about the autecology of common problematic plants. For each species, researchers conduct a literature review and compile all that is known about how it grows and how it responds to different kinds of management. For instance, attempts to remove vine maple mechanically in fact spread it farther, because the stems take root wherever they touch the ground. This compilation of the science of vegetation management will be published as a book that will surely be a standard reference for land managers. By consulting it, someone who suffers a fire in an area where manzanita is common will know to replant trees quickly to beat out invading manzanita and thus avoid fighting it off after it has had a chance to establish itself. The two volumes drafted so far cover 10 species each, and another is planned that will cover 15 species. These volumes have been distributed to members of the cooperative, as one more benefit of membership.