The USFS awarded a grant to SEI to provide overall coordination of these forestry projects. Dr. Peyton Owston, an SEI Associate Scientist with experience in the RFE, is serving as the coordinator and as a technical specialist in reforestation aspects of the projects.

The USFS began its cooperation with the FFSR in the 1960’s, but it was not until after the break-up of the Soviet Union that significant, on-the-ground activity has taken place. The objectives have been to help get Russian forest management “back on its feet” after the break-up as well as to help protect an important global resource. An additional benefit has been to improve mutual understanding between citizens of the two countries.

One of the major reforestation activities is a demonstration project in the mixed hardwood/conifer forests of southeastern Russia. These productive, biologically diverse forests are home to most of the last remaining Siberian tigers and other threatened and endangered species of both animals and plants. The objective of the demonstration is, through planting, to increase the proportion of Korean pine (Pinus koraiensis) to historic levels in what are now scrub hardwood stands. The large seeds of Korean pine play a part in the tigers’ food chain, but over-harvesting for its timber has significantly reduced its presence in the forest.

A second reforestation demonstration is further north, in the true taiga. Vast areas of this forest are lost to fire and windstorms every year, and the objective of this project is to demonstrate reforestation technology in burned areas where conifer seed source is lacking. This entailed planting of pine, spruce, and larch seedlings at various densities and using both manual and machine methods. Most of the seedlings came from greenhouse nurseries built cooperatively by the SFSR, USAID, and the USFS in the mid-nineties.

Contact Dr. Pete Owston for further details.

USFS Russia Program
Details of the USDA Forest Service program, including those activities in which Dr. Owston is not serving as a technical specialist.

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