Colorado Statewide Forest Resource Assessment

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Forest TypeAcres for Wood Products / BiomassAvailableNot AvailableNon-forest 39,441,421.45 2,730,957.08Spruce-Fir 1,521,925.97 3,049,239.68Lodgepole 928,660.82 734,125.38Aspen 3,080,156.35 1,985,231.37Mixed Conifer 1,127,144.66 656,634.12Ponderosa Pine 2,004,500.77 523,214.11Montane Riparian 671,674.90 263,011.48Piñon-Juniper 4,170,849.82 1,007,188.88Oak Shrubland 2,012,238.33 353,811.51Plains Riparian 245,462.97 1,035.47Introduced Riparian 108,232.68 8,669.17Total 15,870,847.27 8,582,161.18Table 22a – Forested Areas Available for Management by Forest Type(acres)OwnerAcres Suitable for Wood Products/BiomassUSFS 4,841,279BLM 3,164,335NPS 14,982USFWS 12,958DOD 47,682Federal-Other 8,705State 536,691Tribal 365,908Local Govt. 135,076Private 6,728,994Total 15,856,610Table 22b – Forested Areas Available for Management by Owner (acres)Data Gaps• Need a state-level assessment of biomass supply for both woodproducts and renewable energy.• Need completed stand-level vegetation data for state and private landsstatewide.• The CSFS is completing a map that ranks the relative availability oflands capable of producing biomass.54
Protect, Conserve and Enhance Wildlife and Fish HabitatOverview: Colorado’s forests support a rich variety of wildlife species,including birds, mammals, fi sh, reptiles, amphibians, insects and plants.Wildlife fi nd essential food, water and cover in the state’s forests and, inturn, play a key role in shaping and rejuvenating the forest ecosystem. Theabundance and diversity of wildlife species in any given forest changes andshifts as the forest moves through its natural successional stages. Presenceof specifi c wildlife depends on forest age, structure, size and speciescomposition. Tree density, canopy height, percent of canopy closure and thenumber of standing and fallen dead trees are among the structural featuresthat affect habitat quality. When managing forests for wildlife, it is importantto begin by identifying the specifi c habitat requirements and managementsensitivities of any target species.In Colorado, forests provide primary habitat for 65 of the CDOW’s Speciesof Greatest Conservation Need, as well as 20 of the state’s rarest plants(CDOW 2006 and CNHP & TNC 2008). Among these species are the Mexicanspotted owl, Pawnee montane skipper, Canada lynx and several otherspecies that have been federally designated as Threatened or Endangered. 43Forested habitats also are important for a number of more common speciesof economic signifi cance to the state for hunting and fi shing, including elk,moose, mule deer and trout. In assessing Colorado’s forested habitats, theCDOW identifi ed ponderosa pine as a high priority and indicated that amongforested habitats, piñon-juniper and ponderosa pine forests are in poorestcondition due to habitat degradation and altered fi re regimes. The CDOWalso identifi ed habitat loss due to climate change as a threat to the state’shigh-elevation forests, and altered fi re regimes and excessive browsing asthreats in Colorado’s aspen forests.Perhaps the greatest threat to all of the state’s forest-dependent wildlifeis habitat loss due to fragmentation and development (CDOW 2006).Forest fragmentation occurs when large, intact forest patches are dividedinto increasingly smaller tracts. Fragmentation results from many causes,including housing and other development or oil and gas extraction. Increasingland values, coupled with reduced income that landowners can derive fromtheir property triggers much of this fragmentation. Such fragmentation offorested habitats can result in species loss due to predation and parasitism,and can reduce the genetic diversity of isolated populations. Birds that dwellin the interior of forests and wide-ranging carnivores such as lynx, wolverineand black bear are particularly affected.Conservation of large forest patches will become increasingly important asmanagers anticipate the impacts of climate change. When fragmentation offorests is unavoidable, it is important to maintain connectivity and corridorsbetween the remaining patches.Analysis: Careful management of forest habitats, including avoidance ofdisturbance when warranted, can improve overall conditions for target wildlifespecies. To identify forested habitats of importance for wildlife, CSFS workedwith TNC, the Colorado Natural Heritage Program (CNHP) and the CDOW todevelop priority habitat data layers for species of concern and economicallyimportant species. Both layers then were combined with data on future risk43A complete listing of Colorado’s federally listed Threatened and Endangered species is available from the U.S.Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) at http://ecos.fws.gov/tess_public/pub/stateListingAndOccurrenceIndividual.jsp?state=CO.55
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Colorado Statewide ForestResource A
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Table of ContentsI. Executive Summa
Page 6 and 7:
II.BackgroundThe Colorado Statewide
Page 8 and 9: National Guidance for Statewide For
Page 10 and 11: III. Overview of Colorado’s Fores
Page 12 and 13: Spruce-Fir 9Spruce-fi r is among th
Page 14 and 15: Mixed Conifer 14The mixed conifer f
Page 16 and 17: Oak ShrublandsOak shrublands cover
Page 18 and 19: Windbreaks, shelterbelts and their
Page 20 and 21: Owner Spruce-Fir Lodgepole Aspen Mi
Page 22 and 23: forest management costs per acre ha
Page 24 and 25: include standard ownership data and
Page 26 and 27: The second metric is an estimate of
Page 28 and 29: Map 4 - Colorado Forest Legacy Area
Page 30 and 31: NATIONAL THEME: Protect Forests fro
Page 32 and 33: Map 7 - Wildland Fire Susceptibilit
Page 34 and 35: Map 8 - Wildland Fire Intensity Ind
Page 36 and 37: ot (CSFS 2001 and 2002). Some insec
Page 38 and 39: Map 10 - Insect and Disease Mitigat
Page 40 and 41: is legally mandated, as well as dal
Page 42 and 43: change, including species extinctio
Page 44 and 45: transport of materi als that can ad
Page 46 and 47: Map 15 - Post-Fire Erosion RiskMap
Page 48 and 49: environment, many homes and other s
Page 50 and 51: Owner 0.5 mile 1 mile 2 mile TotalU
Page 52 and 53: Map 18 - Wildland-Urban Interface w
Page 54 and 55: Map 20 - Wildland-Urban Interface w
Page 56 and 57: They also are important partners in
Page 60 and 61: of fragmentation to help forest man
Page 62 and 63: Forest Type Low Moderate High Very
Page 64 and 65: Map 25 - Important Habitat for Econ
Page 66 and 67: ACRESImp. Habitat for Econ.Imp. Spe
Page 68 and 69: Forest Type Low Moderate High Very
Page 70 and 71: Map 28 - Community Forestry Opportu
Page 72 and 73: Enhance Public Benefits from Trees
Page 78 and 79: VI. ReferencesAlexander, K. [Intern
Page 80 and 81: Neely, B., Comer, P., Moritz, C., L
Page 82 and 83: VII. Statewide Assessment Steering
Page 84 and 85: APPENDIX A - Colorado Statewide For
Page 86 and 87: • Identify and conserve high prio
Page 88 and 89: assessments and resource strategies
Page 90 and 91: National Theme: Protect Forests fro
Page 92 and 93: Protect, conserve, and enhance wild
Page 94: States are encouraged to draw from
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Colorado Statewide Forest Resource Assessment

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