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COLLEGE OF NATURAL RESOURCES RESEARCH CENTERS
The College operates five research centers, two of which are centrally involved with forest resources, (Center for Forestry and CAMFER). The other three are statewide research units (IHRMP, Wildland Resource Center, and the Forest Products Lab).
Center for Forestry
Co-Directors Rick Standiford and Robert Heald
This Center was established in 1996 to coordinate research, extension, and public service on forestry-related issues throughout UC's statewide system. Approximately 50 UC faculty and Cooperative Extension (CE) advisors and specialists are involved (see list on page 2, Forestry at UC Berkeley). The Center's mission is to facilitate the sustaining of forest land systems through scientific inquiry of forest ecosystem processes, human interaction and value systems, management systems, and silvicultural practices. Details are provided on the web at http://www.cnr.berkeley.edu/forestry
Current projects include:
- An analysis of cumulative watershed analysis procedures on the North Coast of California (funded by CDF).
- Minimize losses to the Pine Pitch Canker in the state (funded by the California State Legislature).
- Evaluation of Large Woody Debris Restoration Strategies for Salmonid (funded by CDF).
- Establishment of an annual Blodgett Forest Research Symposium and a spring Forest Research Colloquium.
- A collaboration among CDF, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and Humboldt State University to develop a "Forest Learning Center" within a State Forest Research and Demonstration Center.
The establishment of UC's Center for Forestry has been enthusiastically embraced by both the broad group of campus faculty working on forestry issues and by the state's forestry community. It has attracted substantial funding and is actively addressing pressing issues facing our forest lands.
CAMFER: Center for Assessment and Monitoring of Forest and Environmental Resources
Co-Directors Peng Gong and Nina Maggi Kelly
The goals of CAMFER are to conduct studies in wetland monitoring and modeling, atmospheric emissions, forest biometrics, and watershed modeling. The Center currently consists of two faculty co-directors, 7 faculty affiliates, 13 graduate students, staff and post-docs, and 4 visiting scientists. The Center is housed in Room 111 Mulford Hall. Cooperating groups that support the Center through grants include NOAA, NASA, California Air Resources Board, UC's GISCenter, Canada's Centre for Remote Sensing, and the USDA Forest Service's Fire Sciences Lab. Detailed information on the Center can be found on the Center's website at: http://camfer.cnr.berkeley.edu
Three examples of CAMFER projects are:
The Integrated Hardwood Range Management Program (IHRMP)
Director Doug McCreary
IHRMP was founded in 1986 to evaluate the condition of foothill woodlands and their capacity to regenerate. The program is funded by the California State Legislature and, initially, five area specialists were hired and located in different regions of the state. Program personnel consist of Program Manager Doug McCreary at the Sierra Foothill Research and Extension Center in Yuba County; Rick Standiford on the Berkeley campus, Tom Scott on the UC Riverdside campus, Bill Tietje at the Cooperative Extension office in San Luis Obispo County, and Adina Merenlender at the Hopland Research and Extension Center in Mendocino County. In addition, Farm Advisors Neil McDougald in Madera County, Bill Frost in El Dorado County, and Greg Giusti in Lake and Mendocino Counties contribute to the program. The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CDF) and the California Department of Fish and Game (CDFG) are partners in this program.
In the past 14 years IHRMP's competitive grants program has resulted in over 250 scientific articles. Numerous outreach programs have contributed to increasing landowner awareness and knowledge of oak woodland issues. The types of new knowledge include:
- Why are oaks regenerating poorly and how to overcome this?
- What are the impacts of tree removal on wildlife use, forage production, erosion and water yield?
- Can wildlife ranching and other enterprises supplement incomes and reduce owners being forced to subdivide?
- Can strategies such as regional multiple species habitat conservation plans help promote long-term conservation of hardwood rangelands?
New issues include the expansion of vineyards into oak woodlands (team led byAdina Merenlender), and "sudden oak death" (team led by Rick Standiford), which has killed numerous coast live oaks and tanoaks, especially in Marin, Sonoma, and Santa Cruz counties.
Wildland Resource Center (WRC)
Director Rick Standiford
The WRC is a statewide UC program that supports research and extension programs in wildland ecology and management and collaborates with county Cooperative Extension offices, Research and Extension Centers, the UC Natural Reserve System, and various state agencies. For the past several years, the WRC has been combined with the Water Resources Center and administered on the Davis Campus. On its return this year to the Berkeley Campus an independent mission and set of projects will be established with the guidance of a twelve-person Policy Board.
The major WRC goals are:
- Develop methods to sustain, restore, manage, and extend information on wildland ecosystems.
- Reference statewide information about trends, condition and extent of wildlands.
- Maintain a statewide directory of expertise of UC academics working on wildland issues.
- Establish a WRC web page.
The WRC has three on-going research contracts:
- Wildland fire and monitoring (CDF).
- Conservation, management, monitoring of resources in Lake Tahoe watershed (Tahoe Conservancy).
- Analysis and support for statewide monitoring and policy analysis for natural resources (California Environmental Resources Evaluation System, CERES).
Forest Products Laboratory (FPL)
Director Frank Beall
Since July 1995, the Laboratory has operated as a Statewide Special Program under UC's Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources (DANR). The Lab's next annual Open House will be on September 7, 1-4 p.m. Come to see the latest work in all of our research and extension efforts! For more information see http://www.ucfpl.ucop.edu
Four areas of research emphasis are:
- Biomass utilization (John Shelly) - ethanol production, drying of small diameter softwoods, and products from waste materials.
- Urban-Wildland Interface Fire Mitigation (Ken Blonski) - development of test protocols for structures, effects of intumescent coatings as a fire barrier, and heat release of building materials.
- Wood Durability (Steve Quarles) - effect of treatments on weathering of siding and roofing materials, performance of oriented strandboard as sheathing, and decay and termite detection.
- Nondestructive Evaluation (Frank Beall) - curing of composites during pressing, novel drying control of lumber, and surface roughness measurement.
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