Incorporating water goals into forest management decisions at a local level

Abstract

Silvicultural practices are important factors in determining water yield and quality from forested watersheds. Similarly, goals for water yield and quality significantly influence the acceptability of various silvicultural practices. Developed through a process of consulting experts in various subspecialties of natural resource management, the NED 1 NED is a simple, easy-to-remember name for a group of software products. Originally it was used as an acronym for the northeast decision model. However, since the software is no longer restricted to the northeast and is not truly a model, the name is technically no longer an acronym, but has been retained as a mnemonic device because of its simplicity and name recognition. 1 decision support software is designed to provide a structure for project-level analysis of management alternatives based on identified goals. Using this software, one can analyze forest conditions in the northeastern United States with respect to water, wildlife, timber production, visual quality, and general ecological goals. Water quantity goals include increasing water flow, maintaining a minimum flow, and limiting peak flow. Water quality goals include intensive watercourse protection, wetlands protection, riparian area management, cold-water fish habitat, and warm-water fish habitat. In all cases, a minimum goal of obeying the law by following statutory best management practices (BMPs) is implied, whether or not one selects another water goal. Given a set of goals, a user of the NED system can analyze which goals are met under alternative silvicultural prescriptions or other activities and resolve which goals may or may not be compatible with each other.