CFRP Long Term Monitoring - New Mexico Forest and Watershed Restoration Institute

The Community Forest Restoration Act (Title VI, Public Law 106-393), which established the Collaborative Forest Restoration Program (CFRP), calls for monitoring of “the short- and long term ecological effects of the restoration treatments” for at least 15 years. In 2008, 20 CFRP projects were identified for long term monitoring. The criteria and methodology used to identify those projects are described in Derr, et. al., Monitoring The Long Term Ecological Impacts Of New Mexico’s Collaborative Forest Restoration Program, New Mexico Forest Restoration Series Working Paper 5.

While the NMFWRI through its federal work plan is responsible for the re-measurement of CFRP long-term monitoring projects, the Institute generally does not collect the baseline (year 0) data for these projects and does not certify the quality of those data. It should be noted that, for some attributes, the standard deviation exceeds the mean (i.e., the coefficient of variation is greater than 100 percent), and sampling errors for some estimates exceed 100 percent. As a result, long-term monitoring data should be used and results interpreted with appropriate caution.

In addition, while the NMFWRI is responsible for long-term monitoring and plot re-measurement at years 5, 10, and 15, it generally does not have responsibility for or authority over data collected during the actual CFRP project (year 0 plot establishment and measurement) and, therefore, cannot vouch for the quality of the original, baseline reference data or the adequacy of sampling intensity and plot location for each long-term CFRP project.

Reports

Investigating CFRP’s Ecological Legacy

NMFWRI has been responsible, as part of its Federal Workplan, for long-term vegetation monitoring of selected CFRP projects since 2007, and as of 2018 had gathered data on 35 CFRP projects. In 2018, NMFWRI began a 10-year review of available CFRP data to investigate the program’s success in meeting its ecological objectives. This newsletter-style summary is intended for managers, landowners, legislators and the interested public. This report includes a brief overview of the CFRP program, the need for restoration in New Mexico’s forests, and the ecological strengths and weaknesses of CFRP over the past 15 years. An update and integration of this ecological review along with social and economic reviews is underway and is expected to be available in 2021.

August 7, 2020