Research and Monitoring Projects

Exploring Links Between Science and Management

The majority of projects that the Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and its research partners undertake in the Olympic Experimental State Forest (OESF) are focused on silvicultural techniques, wildlife habitat development, and riparian and aquatic monitoring to intentionally learn how to meet multiple objectives in a working forest. Click on the following links to explore current and past projects.

Status and Trends Monitoring of Riparian and Aquatic Habitat in the OESF

Project goal: Characterize changes in riparian and aquatic habitat conditions across the OESF as the State Trust Lands Habitat Conservation Plan is implemented.

Principal investigator: Teodora Minkova (DNR)

Funding: Provided by DNR

Cooperator: USDA Forest Service Pacific Northwest Research Station

Start date: August 2012

Project status: Habitat sampling begain in 2013 in 50 managed and 4 unmanaged (reference) watersheds and the first habitat status report was published in 2016. Eight additional reference sites have been added since 2017.

Project documents and scientific publications:

• Drivers of Forested Riparian Microclimate on the Olympic Peninsula of Washington State
• Status and Trends Monitoring of Riparian and Aquatic habitat in the Olympic Experimental State Forest 2013-2020 Results
• Biological Response to Stream Nutrients, a Scientific Synthesis for the OESF (Chapter 12, pages 283 to 371 of General Technical Report PNW-GTR-981) (2021)
• Heed the Data Gap: Guidelines for Using Incomplete Datasets in Annual Stream Temperature Analysis (2021)
• Watershed Characteristics Influence Winter Stream Temperature in a Forested Landscape (2021)
• Paired Air-water Annual Temperature Patterns Reveal Hydrogeological Controls on Stream Thermal Regimes at Watershed to Continental Scales (2020)
• "Beauty and Function: Watershed Restoration in the Working Forest," The Learning Forest (Spring 2019)
• Monitoring protocols (2022 revision)
• First habitat status report (2016)
• Hydrology report on developing rating curves for 14 gaged streams (2015)
• Quality control report on 33 habitat metrics (2016)
• Progress reports for 2012, 2013, and 2014 Study plan (2012)

Riparian Validation Monitoring in the OESF

Project goal: Evaluate the cause and effect relationships between DNR management, riparian forests, streams, and salmonids in the OESF as described in the State Trust Lands Habitat Conservation Plan.

Principal investigator: Kyle Martens (DNR)

Funding: Provided by DNR

Cooperators: USGS, USDA Forest Service Pacific Northwest Research Station, and NOAA Fisheries

Start date: July 2016

Project status: The pilot fish survey was conducted in 2015, the study plan was completed in 2016, and field work began in 2016. Field work includes sampling 62 managed and unmanaged (reference) stream reaches through electrofishing and redd surveys

Project documents and scientific publications:

• 2023 Annual Report
• 2022 Annual Report
• Pool Formation and the Role of Instream Wood in Small Streams in Predominately Second-growth Forests (2023)
• 2021 Annual Report
• 2020 Annual Report
• Evaluating Coexistence of Fish Species with Coastal Cutthroat Trout in Low Order Streams of Western Oregon and Washington, USA (2020)
• Linking Instream Wood Recruitment to Adjacent Forest Development in Landscapes Driven by Stand-Replacing Disturbances (2020)
• Understanding Cause and Effect: Riparian Validation Monitoring," The Learning Forest (Fall 2019)
• 2019 Annual Report
• 2016-2018 Status Report Stream Conditions after 18 Years of Passive Restoration in Small Fish-bearing Streams (2018)
• 2017 Annual Report
• 2016 Annual Report
• OESF Riparian Validation Monitoring of Salmonids: Study Plan (2016)

Using Passive Acoustic Monitoring to Evaluate the Sustainability of Forest Management

Project goals: Evaluate the responses of birds to habitat changes resulting from forest management. The project is organized as a citizen science project, with support from Earthwatch.

Principal investigator: Teodora Minkova (DNR)

Funding: Provided by DNR, the University of Washington, and a grant from Earthwatch

Cooperators: University of Washington, Omfishient Consulting

Start date: 2020

Project status: Grant was provided for three years (2020-2022), study plan was developed in 2020, acoustic and habitat sampling started in 2020; analysis of acoustic surveys are in progress

Project documents and Scientific Publications:

• Reimagining Prison, Part 1: Acoustic Birding and Sustainability, June 21 BirdNote podcast (2023)
• Using Passive Acoustic Monitoring to Evaluate the Sustainability of Forest Management: Study Plan (2021)
• The Sound of Science: Acoustic Monitoring and Occupancy Modeling of Songbirds in the Olympic Experimental State Forest (2021)

T3 Watershed Experiment

Project website

Project goals: Test the ability of different management strategies to improve the wellbeing of the forest and nearby communities.

Principal investigators: Bernard Borman (University of Washington), Teodora Minkova and Bill Wells (DNR)

Funding: Provided by the Washington state Legislature, DNR, University of Washington, and research grants; currently seeking additional funding.

Cooperators: University of Washington, Washington State University, Oregon State University, Colorado State University, University of California San Diego, Yale University, NOAA Fisheries, USDA Forest Service Pacific Northwest Research Station, Omfishient Consulting, and Earthwatch

Start date: 2016

Project status: The study proposal was completed 2016, stakeholder meetings and research workshops were held in 2017, experimental watersheds were designated in 2018, and work on the overall study plan began in 2018. The riparian and acoustic monitoring study plans were completed in 2021 and the upland study plan is under development. 

Project documents and scientific publications: 

• Tree Species Classification Based on Upper Crown Morphology Captured by Uncrewed Aircraft System Lidar Data (2024)
• Modeling Stream Food Web Response to Riparian Prescriptions in the OESF (2024)
• 2016-2023 Implementation Report (2023)
• Uplands study plan (2022)
• Perspectives: Ethnoforestry, Ecosystem Wellbeing, and Collaborative Learning in the OESF (2022)
• Project fact sheets
• Study leadership and participants
• Overview plan (2021)
• Riparian study plan (2021)
• “Care for the Land, Care for the People: A Fresh Look at Sustainability in Forest Management,” The Learning Forest (Spring 2018)
• Study proposal (2017)

Mind the Gap: Developing Ecologically Based Guidelines for Creating Gaps in Forest Thinning on the Olympic Peninsula

Project goal: Better match silvicultural gap treatments with the late-successional forests they aim to emulate.

Principal investigator: Daniel Donato (DNR)

Funding:  Provided by DNR

Cooperators: None

Start date: April 2014

Project status: Experimental treatments have been implemented, post-treatment measurement data are being processed, and the next measurement is planned for 5 to 10 years after treatment (roughly 2021 to 2026).

Project documents and scientific publications:

• Update (2018)
• “Minding the Gap, Mimicking Nature in the Managed Forest,” The Learning Forest (Fall 2017)
• Project summary (2014)

Influence of Repeated Alternative Biodiversity Thinning Treatments on Coastal Forests

Project goal: Quantify the effects of alternative pre-commercial thinning treatments and subsequent thinning on stand complexity and growth. Information gained from this project will inform DNR decisions about the value of different treatment options in meeting multiple management objectives under the biodiversity pathway management approach.

Principal investigator: Warren Devine (DNR)

Funding: Provided by DNR

Cooperators: None

Start date: April 2014

Project status: Phase I (pre-commerical thinning) and Phase II (commercial thinning) experimental treatments have been implemented; 1, 5, 10, and 15 year post-treatment measurements have been completed; and data analysis is in progress.

• Update (2018) 
• “Rethinking Pre-commercial Thinning,” The Learning Forest (Fall 2018)
• Project summary (2014)

Forest Structural Development Following Severe Windstorm Damage on the Olympic Peninsula

Project goal: Understand how late-successional forest structure develops from even-aged hemlock stands that developed after the most common type of natural disturbance in the region.

Principal investigators: Robert Van Pelt Pelt (University of Washington), Daniel Donato (DNR)

Funding: Provided by University of Washington and DNR

Cooperator: University of Washington

Start date: May 2009

Project status: Six 1921-origin stands have been sampled with permanent plots; establishment of plots in 2007, 1990s, and other origin-year stands is ongoing; and periodic mortality checks in existing plots are occurring approximately every two to five years.

Project document: Establishment report

Experiment in Long-term Ecosystem Productivity

Project goal: Compare a variety of new silviculture systems that include different species compositions and structures (alders, thinning, and downed wood) against no-action controls and standard Douglas-fir monoculture.

Principal investigators: Bernard Bormann (University of Washington)

Funding: Provided by University of Washington, USDA Forest Service Pacific Northwest Research Station, and DNR

Cooperators: University of Washington, USDA Forest Service Pacific Northwest Research Station, and Western Washington University

Start date: 1995

Project status: Treatments were implemented in 1995 and post-treatment measurements began in 1996. A series of post-harvest measurements have been taken on tree growth, understory regeneration, soils, biomass, and leaf litter.

Project websites: Project overview, Sappho Collaborative

Project documents and scientific publications: 

• Using Airborne LiDAR to Map Red Alder in the Sappho Long-term Ecosystem Productivity Study (2022)
• Project summary (2014)

Is DNR’s Habitat Conservation Plan Increasing Forest Complexity?

Project goals: Examine trends in forest height, canopy cover, and structural complexity across several large, managed landscapes; and to determine if broad-scale trends in these parameters over time appear to be meeting the intent of the State Trust Lands Habitat Conservation Plan.

Principal investigators: Joshua Halofsky and Dan Donato (DNR)

Funding: Provided by DNR

Cooperators: None

Start Date: August 2014

Project status: Preliminary data analysis conducted in 2018, final data inputs expected in 2021, final data analyses expected in 2022

Project document: Project summary

Past Projects

Silviculture and fish research has been conducted on state trust lands on the western Olympic Peninsula since the 1970s. After the OESF was designated in 1992, research intensified and was broadened to include forest and wildlife ecology, geology, riparian management, and other topics. Most  research and monitoring activities completed prior to 2008 are described in DNR’s OESF Research and Monitoring Catalog. Following are projects that were completed more recently.

 

Developing Improved Methods for Forest Land Planning in the OESF

• Project goal: Provide integer programming techniques (formulating and solving techniques) that will improve forest estate models used in forest land planning for state trust lands in the OESF. 
• Principal investigators: Weikko S. Jaross (LandVest), Dr. Sandor Toth (University of Washington), Kai Ross (Cramer Fish Sciences), and Erin Crosland (DNR) 
• Duration: September 2012 to 2018 Funding: Provided by DNR
• Scientific Publication: “Forest Harvest Scheduling with Endogenous Road Costs,” Informs Journal on Applied Analytics (2018)

 

Climate Change, Land Management, and Potential Northern Spotted Owl Habitat in Coastal Washington

• Project goal: With stakeholder input, this project examines trends in socio-ecological values under different climate and management assumptions across all lands in coastal Washington.
• Principal investigators: Jessica Halofsky (University of Washington), Dominique Bachelet (Conservation Biology Institute), David Conklin (Common Futures), Joshua Halofsky (DNR), Miles Hemstrom (Institute for Natural Resources) 
• Funding: Provided by American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, Northwest Climate Science Center, and DNR
• Duration: January 2013 through 2016
• Project document: Final report 

 

Literature Database on Natural Disturbance Regimes on the Western Olympic Peninsula

• Project goal: Identify and evaluate existing sources of information on natural disturbance regimes on the western Olympic Peninsula and develop an electronic literature database.
• Principal investigators: Steven Wondzell and Alex Foster (USDA Forest Service Pacific Northwest Research Station)
• Funding: Provided by the USDA Forest Service Pacific Northwest Research Station
• Duration: April 2010 to May 2011
• Database: Database is available upon request. Refer to the database description for more information.

 

Providing Long-term Hydrological and Meteorological Data for the OESF

• Project goal: Make long-term data on temperature and stream flow from local monitoring stations available through a central data portal. 
• Principal investigator: Teodora Minkova (DNR)
• Duration: Continuous transfer of data between 2010 and 2020; the data transfer process was developed in 2010 and revised in 2012 and 2015. The data portal was discontinued in 2020.
• Funding: Provided by USDA Forest Service Pacific Northwest Research Station and DNR
• Data: Data were updated monthly through an automated process managed by DNR. Data from this process was used in a peer-reviewed nationwide study on stream flow responses to climate change. Data can be found at this link.