Conclusions

Four primary conclusions may be drawn from this study:

1. The FOTE spatial approach to assessing threats to the contributions of private forest lands produces useful, visual information that is relatively easy to obtain. The only serious impediment is the difficulty in obtaining or constructing nationally consistent data layers that depict the contributions and threats of interest.
2. The watersheds making the greatest private forest contributions to water quality, timber supply, at-risk species, and interior forest are generally the watersheds with the greatest percentages of private forest land, (i.e., those in the Eastern U.S., particularly New England and the Southeast, and some watersheds in the Pacific Northwest). Two exceptions are noted. Some watersheds in western California and Florida do not have large amounts of private forest but do have large numbers of at-risk forest-associated species. In addition, some watersheds in eastern Texas, the Southwest, and Washington State also do not have large amounts of private forest but do have high proportions of private forest classified as interior forest.
3. Watersheds with the greatest development threat to the contributions to water quality, timber supply, at-risk species and interior forest are also generally the watersheds with the greatest percentages of private forest land. The exceptions for at-risk species and interior forest noted in the previous paragraph apply here as well.
4. The CC surrogate for wildfire depicts the greatest threats to watersheds in the central part of the Eastern U.S. and the Pacific Northwest (although watersheds in the central part of the U.S. have relatively small percentages of private forest land). Percentile rankings of watersheds based on wildfire threat to private forest contribution to water quality and timber supply follow this pattern as well.

Future Forests on the Edge work will include assessment of additional contributions and risks intersections and the construction of an Internet-based system that permits users to select particular contribution and threat layers, options for combining them, and options for depicting the results. In addition, an assessment of national forests and grasslands most likely to experience increased pressures from housing development on adjacent lands is nearing completion. For more information on Forest on the Edge, go to our website at: www.fs.fed.us/openspace/fote.