The State Conservation Department has started a study that few people alive today will survive to see finished. The Department is learning how its forest management agencies affect the forests and the creatures that live in them. The study consists of a series of tests that will be spread through 100 to 150 years. It’s already 12 years old. By about 2150, test cuts will have been done on thousands of acres and scientists will have watched what happens as each of those areas was cut, regenerated, and regrew. Resources Science Supervisor Eric Kurziefski says some short-term lessons already have been learned. So far, it appears there’s no significant change in nesting success rates after an area is harvested. And, Kurziefski says they’re learning the same thing is true about small mammals, reptiles and amphibians. But he expects some of the results to change as more information is accumlated during and beyond our lifetimes.
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