Lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta Loud.) is a major asset of the United States and Canada. Where other tree species do not prosper, this species is thrifty in spaced even-age stands. When grown to diameters 25 cm or to tree ages 80 years, lodgepole pine is at risk of mortality from beetle attack and wildfire. Stands are best maintained by precommercial cleaning of regeneration, intermediate commercial thinning, commercial and clear-cut harvesting before...

Forest stand structure, understory composition, and tree seedling composition are described for eight permanent tenth-hectare plots established in Engelmann spruce/subalpine fir, western larch, and interior Douglas-fir forest cover types in northwestern Montana. Sites have been protected as examples of old-growth stands since the establishment of the Coram Research Natural Area in 1937. Plot data clearly illustrate a successional trend toward shade-tolerant...