Lick Creek Demonstration/Research Forest | Northern Rockies Fire Science Network

The Lick Creek Demonstration/Research Forest (Lick Creek) is located on the Darby Ranger District of the Bitterroot National Forest (BNF) in western Montana. Although the area's management and research activities go back to 1906, the Lick Creek was only officially established in 1991 when the Intermountain Research Station and the BNF entered into a formal agreement of cooperation on innovative management and multiple use methods for various resource outputs. Lick Creek is home to the longest running fuel treatment and restoration study in the western United States, including a photoseries dating back to those original 1906 harvests.

Ecology

The elevation range of Lick Creek is 1300 to 1500 m with south-facing slopes of 0–30% and shallow to moderately deep soils classified as Elkner Gravelly Loam, coarse-loamy, mixed, frigid, Typic Cryochrepts originating from granitic parent materials. The climate is characterized by generally dry summers, between 27 and 50% of the average 400mm of precipitation falls as snow during the winter with most of the remaining precipitation falling in the spring and fall. The mean annual temperature is 7 ◦C.

Climax forest types include Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) on dry sites and grand fir (Abies grandis) on moist sites at the lower elevations. Subalpine fir (A. lasiocarpa) is common at the higher elevations. Seral species common after disturbances include ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) on dry, low-elevation sites and lodgepole pine (P. contorta) and Douglas-fir on wetter and higher elevation sites.

Documents

2021 Seeing the Big Picture: Long Term Studies at Lick Creek Demonstrate How Fuel Treatments Impact a Changing Forest Nehalem C. Clark
2021 Lick Creek: Lessons learned after 20+ years of fuel treatments in Ponderosa pine Sharon M. Hood et al.
2021 Native and non-native understory vegetation responses to restoration treatments in a dry conifer forest over 23 years Woongsoon Jang et al.
2020 Forest restoration treatments in a ponderosa pine forest enhance physiological activity and growth under climatic stress Alan J. Tepley et al.
2020 Fuel treatment longevity in ponderosa pine-dominated forest 24 years after cutting and prescribed burning Sharon M. Hood et al.
2019 Lick Creek Demonstration-Research Forest: 25-Year Fire and Cutting Effects on Vegetation & Fuels Christopher R. Keyes et al.
2017 Long-term effects of fuel treatments on aboveground biomass accumulation in ponderosa pine forests of the northern Rocky Mountains Kate A. Clyatt et al.
2012 Experimental forests and climate change: views of long-term employees on ecological change and the role of Experimental Forests and Ranges in understanding and adapting to climate change Laurie Yung et al.
2008 Reproductive output of ponderosa pine in response to thinning and prescribed burning in western Montana Gregory D. Peters et al.
2007 Ten-year responses of ponderosa pine growth, vigor, and recruitment to restoration treatments in the Bitterroot Mountains, Montana, USA Alex Fajardo et al.
2005 Physiological response of ponderosa pine in western Montana to thinning, prescribed fire, and burning season Anna Sala et al.
2000 Influence of fire on native nitrogen-fixing plants and soil nitrogen status in ponderosa pine-Douglas-fir forests in western Montana J. A. Newland et al.
2000 Effects of selection harvest and prescribed fire on the soil nitrogen status of ponderosa pine forests Thomas H. DeLuca et al.
1999 80 years of change in a ponderosa pine forest Helen Y. Smith et al.
1999 Antelope bitterbrush and Scouler's willow response to a shelterwood harvest and prescribed burn in western Montana Donald J. Bedunah et al.
1995 Restoring fire-dependent ponderosa pine forests in western Montana Stephen F. Arno et al.
1985 A summary of ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) management activities in the Lick Creek Drainage of the Bitterroot National Forest James P. Menakis
1980 Forest fire history in the Northern Rockies Stephen F. Arno

Visit the Lick Creek Demonstration/Research Forest website

Black and white image of a forest with mature conifers, very little underbrush, several men, and horses

Recorded Media

Apr 29, 2021

Lick Creek: Lessons Learned after 20+ Years of Harvesting and Prescribed Fire in a Ponderosa Pine Forest