Assignment task: The Multiple Use Sustained Yield Act established policy that National Forests must be managed for a variety of uses including timber, water, recreation, livestock grazing, and fish and wildlife values.
1. What are some challenges you might expect in managing public land for all of these uses?
2. Who are some of the potential users (human stakeholders and other organisms) you would expect for the various habitats, both natural and man-made, on POW?
3. Why do you think ecologists classified endemic animals using this specific term? What are the benefits, in general, of classifying objects in the natural word? What are the ecological, conservation, and management implications for the classification "endemic"?
4. Based on the average age of the young-growth stands (30-60 years), when do you think the young-growth stands will be ready for commercial thinning? What is the difference between pre-commercial thinning and commercial thinning that may impact how wildlife use those treated stands? What do you think would be the benefits of commercial thinning for the endemic species on POW?