profdant139 wrote:
ppine, why is there a difference in forest management practices between west and east? That is an interesting fact!
Meteorology has a lot to do with it. Moist air masses come off the Pacific and are forced to rise by orographic lifting over the Cascades. The West Side is cooler, wetter, and has a long growing season. Douglas fir, western hemlock, western red cedar, red alder and bigleaf maple are the dominant species.
On the East Side, in the rainshadow of the Cascades, is much drier and warmer due to compressional heating. Ponderosa pine needs around 18-20 inches of precip to survive above the rangeland. With increasing altitude, species like Douglas fir, aspen, grand fir coexist in mixed conifer stands. Englemann spruce occurs much
Further east near the Rockies. There is little hemlock.
The timber types are managed much differently. As I mentioned before, clearcutting is only used on the West Side of the Cascades and in the Olympics, not east of the Cascades except under unusual conditions. WA and OR both have State Forest Practices Acts which are more stringent than the USFS requirements.
