To address management questions involving riparian and late-successional coniferous forests, the Tahoe National Forest developed a proposed habitat management program for vertebrate species associated with these communities. This management program will be part of a comprehensive management strategy for all resource values. The proposal includes an overall landscape design and desired structural conditions for late-successional forest and riparian habitats. Our recommended landscape design consists of blocks of late-successional forest within an interconnected late-successional forest network centered on riparian areas and joined over ridges to adjacent watersheds. The objective of the habitat blocks is to maintain viable populations of wildlife that are associated with interior late-successional forest conditions. The width of the late-successicnal forest network increases with stream size. Network areas along small streams and in the ridgetop connectors provide wildlife travelways. Along large streams and rivers, network areas provide travelways and yearlong or seasonal habitat for associated vertebrate species. The desired structural condition in the late-successional forest areas is the maintenance of the key habitat elements most often associated with terrestrial vertebrates: large trees, large Snags, large down logs, and multi-layered canopies. The goal for riparian zones is to provide all key habitat elements needed to maintain functioning riparian and stream ecosystems over time. The recommended management program is offered as a set of testable working hypotheses.
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