In response to the 2002 fire season's fatal aircraft accidents, the USDA Forest Service and USDI Bureau of Land Management (BLM) jointly established an independent, five member Blue Ribbon Commission (the panel - Appendix A) to identify essential information for planning a safe and effective future aviation program. On August 15, 2002, the Chief of the Forest Service and Director of the BLM asked the panel to identify weaknesses and fail points in the current aviation program, focusing on safety, operational effectiveness, costs, sustainability, and strategic guidance. Assuming an integrated approach, the agencies tasked the panel to address these five areas as they relate to the operation and supervision of air tankers, lead planes and air supervision modules, helicopters, and air attack platforms (Appendix B). Within a 90-day period, the panel held town hall meetings in Atlanta, Portland, Salt Lake City, Denver, Albuquerque, and Sacramento, soliciting comments and ideas from those with an interest in the federal firefighting aviation program. The Federal Aviation Administration, National Transportation Safety Board, California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, and Canadian and United States air tanker operators, Conair and Aerounion, respectively, also provided special briefings to the panel. Verbal and written remarks were received from aerial firefighting-industry officials, air tanker contractors, aircraft manufacturers, fixed-wing and helicopter pilots, private-sector consultants, and concerned people. In addition, the panel heard commentary from representatives of state and federal agencies responsible for fighting wildland fires. The massive amount of material and brief time for analysis forced the panel to address, for the most part, only major considerations. Possibly the single largest challenge now facing leaders of these federal agencies is to foster cooperation and collaboration among working-level staffs, contractors, and states to raise the standards of aerial wildland firefighting in the United States. This report presents eight key findings, which the panel believes are critical for planning a safe and effective future firefighting aviation program. The panel relied significantly on the knowledge, experience, and judgment of its members to develop its findings, which are strong inferences rather than deduced certainties. The panel's mandate was to identify problems, not advocate solutions or make recommendations.

The purpose of this Change Management and Implementation Guide is to provide the US Forest Service's Fire and Aviation Management with pertinent information to help build a strategy when faced with an operational change. This includes change to the agency, a particular program or any other change that has potential to significantly impact personnel or operations whether originating from inside or outside the agency. As directed from the Chief's Safety Policy, "The prevention of accidents can only occur if we commit to safe work practices, continually assess our changing environment, refuse to assume unacceptable risks, and continually address unsafe conditions." Change often introduces hazards that are unknown or unforeseen due to the fact that something different has been introduced into a known and familiar method. In an attempt to proactively expose these hazards, a processed approach to introducing Change and managing people and systems through the transition period is a critical strategy for success. This plan is dynamic and should be utilized to best meet the scope and scale of each change process. It should also be updated as better practices are identified. Knowledge gained through implementation as well as reviews during continuous improvement processes must contribute to additional versions of this plan. Revision control should be annotated on the Revision Control log within the US Forest Service Safety Management System Guide.

Whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis) forests are declining across most of their range in North America because of the combined effects of mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae) outbreaks, fire exclusion policies, and the exotic pathogen Cronartium ribicola, which infects five-needle white pines and causes the disease white pine blister rust. The loss of this high-elevation tree species poses serious consequences for upper subalpine ecosystems, both in terms of impacts on biodiversity and losses in ecosystem processes; whitebark pine is now a candidate species for listing under the Endangered Species Act. Large, nutritious seeds produced by whitebark pine are an important food for many bird and small mammal species, as well as grizzly (Ursus arctos horribilis) and black bears (Ursus americanus), and whitebark pine communities provide habitat for many additional wildlife species. Whitebark pine seed dispersal by Clark's nutcrackers (Nucifraga columbiana) combined with hardy seedlings results in early whitebark pine community development after fire and other disturbances; whitebark pine seedlings survive on harsh, arid sites and may act as nurse trees to less hardy conifers and vegetation. Whitebark pine at higher elevations, where it is common in many regions, helps regulate snow melt and reduce soil erosion. For these collective functions, whitebark pine is considered both a keystone species for promoting community diversity and a foundation species for promoting community stability. Since more than 90 percent of whitebark pine forests exist on public land in the United States and Canada, it is important that government natural resource management agencies play an important role in ensuring future presence of this tree species by initiating concerted, coordinated, and comprehensive restoration efforts. This is best accomplished through a coordinated, trans-boundary restoration strategy that includes shared infrastructure and expertise for conserving seeds, growing blister rust-resistant seedlings, protecting trees, restoring ecosystem processes, and promoting natural regeneration. We detail a multi-scale strategy for restoring whitebark pine across its range in the western United States and Canada. The strategy was compiled by researchers, land managers, and resource specialists for use as a reference for prioritizing, designing, and implementing successful whitebark pine restoration activities across many scales from stands to landscapes to its entire range. The whitebark pine restoration strategy consists of the following principles: (1) promote rust resistance, (2) conserve genetic diversity, (3) save seed sources, and (4) employ restoration treatments. These guiding principles are then used to implement the whitebark pine restoration strategy using a set of possible actions: 1. assess condition, 2. plan activities, 3. reduce pest impacts, 4. gather seed, 5. grow seedlings, 6. protect seed sources, 7. implement restoration treatments, 8. plant burned areas, 9. support research, and 10. monitor activities. The strategy is also organized by six spatial scales of analysis and organization: 1. range-wide, 2. region (National Forest Region or Provincial Regions), 3. forest (National Forest, National Park, and Canadian Forest District), 4. landscape (watershed or landform), 5. stand, and 6. tree. At each scale, we present four important factors in the restoration strategy: (1) assessment, (2) restoration actions, (3) management concerns, and (4) an example. Strategic restoration plans are presented for the coarse-scale strategies, while illustrated examples are presented for the finer scales (tree, stand, and landscape).

Most experienced trail crews try to avoid wetlands because of the construction and maintenance problems they pose. Little has been published on wetland trail construction, and materials that are available are often outmoded or are too regionally focused. By pulling this information together from our experiences, we hope to answer questions you didn't even know you had. In this manual we have described the common techniques for building a wetland trail. We have also included information on some of the more unusual materials and tools. Some of the techniques and tools we describe are suitable for wilderness situations where mechanized equipment cannot be used. Others are suitable for urban greenbelts where a wider range of techniques, material, and equipment can be used. Somewhere in between are the back-country sites where machines are permitted, but access and logistics are challenges. Although this book is written for wetland trails, the techniques described can also be used for correcting other poorly drained low areas in existing trails. The manual is written for those who are untrained and inexperienced in wetland trail construction, but those with experience may learn a few things, too.

CONTENTS Progress through Cooperation John R. McGuire Seven Years of Growth Gene W. Grey RESOURCES, UTILIZATION, AND MARKETING Timber Demand and Use James E. Blyth Changing Resource and Utilization Glenn A. Cooper, Eugene F. Landt, Ronald D. Lindmark, and Harold A. Stewart Evaluation of Selected Wood Properties in Relation to Soil-Site Conditions H. E. Wahlgren Federal Trade Commission Guides and Their Effects on the Consumer Donald H. Gott Forest Products Regulatory Legislation John A. Sester The Significance of Log and Tree Grading Systems Robert Massengale SILVICULTURE Culture: Past, Present, and Future F. Bryan Clark Selecting the Best Available Soils Craig K. Losche Establishment and Early Culture of Plantations Robert D. Burke and Robert D. Williams Weed Control W. R. Byrnes, J. E. Krajicek, and J. R. Wichman Managing Immature Trees for More High-Quality Logs and Related Products Robert E. Phares Tree Culture in the Southeast Warren Giles Boyette TREE IMPROVEMENT Genetics and Tree Improvement David T. Funk Genetic Variation and Selection Calvin F. Bey Vegetative Propagation: Problems and Prospects R. E. Farmer Tree Improvement Action Programs-The Missouri Story Eugene L. Brunk NUT CULTURE AND PRODUCTION Utilization and Marketing of Nuts R. Dwain Hammons Utilization and Marketing of Shells Clarence C. Cavender Orchard Establishment in Arkansas Max D. Bolar Vegetation Management Increases Production in Nut Orchard Harvey A. Holt and Jack E. Voeller Bluegrass Sod and Trees Jack Weeks Forage and Trees Alan King PROTECTION Diseases Frederick H. Berry Insects as Related to Wood and Nut Production William E. Miller ECONOMICS Evaluating Economic Maturity of Individual Trees Gary G.Naughton Cost and Income Treatment on Small Woodlands Steven E. Lindsey Returns from Two Systems of Multicropping Richard C. Smith Information and Services Available to the Landowner Burl S. Ashley and John P. Slusher