Hemlock Project - Phase 2 - 0 views
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MiamiOH OARS on 05 Apr 18OVERVIEW When approved, this Award of $235,250 will fund the second phase of investigation for the Hemlock Forest Restoration Project Study (aka Hemlock Project). This Project is the first of-its-kind comprehensive, quantitative assessment of the water-cycle consequences (both positive and negative) of forest restoration in a Sierra Nevada mixed-conifer forest. The 12,000-acre landscape-restoration project site known as the Hemlock Project is located in the Stanislaus National Forest and Mokelumne River basin, which is an area that Congress has authorized the Bureau of Reclamation to investigate for water storage and improved water-management reliability in the Mokelumne River basin. The Hemlock Project is being managed with the involvement and cooperation of the Stanislaus National Forest who expects that the Hemlock Project's forest modifications will restore watershed functions by creating different forest-stand structures and densities. These modifications have multiple benefits including reducing the forest's susceptibility to insect, disease, and drought-related mortality; reducing surface fuels, increasing the height to canopy, and decreasing crown density; retaining large, fire-resistant trees; maintaining and enhancing wildlife habitat; enhancing the extent and connectivity of aspen stands; and improving resource and watershed conditions. These actions will also enhance water-supply reliability by restoring the fraction of precipitation that leaves the basin as runoff versus evapotranspiration; guard against erosion, water-quality problems and snowpack losses associated with wildfire; and maintain water and forest health as the climate warms and evaporative demand increases. This application is for the second phase of funding, generally representing years 3 through 4 of the proposed 10 year period of investigation for the Hemlock Project Study