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Euro-American settlement of the Inland West has altered forest and woodland landscapes, species composition, disturbance regimes, and resource conditions. Public concern over the loss of selected species and unique habitats (e.g., old-growth) has caused us to neglect the more pervasive problem of declining ecosystem health. Population explosions of Wees, exotic weed species, insects, [Hawonh co-indemng cnuy noel: "H~storeal and Antlclptcd Changes m Forest Ecosystems of rhc Inland Wcrt of rhc Un~ted Slates." Covlnnton. W. Wallax el al Cppubllshcd s~muhaJvously m lhc Journnl of Susroinable Farrsfry (Thc ~a k o r ( h Rcss, I n .

Snag numbers and decay class were measured on a chronosequence of 26 wildfires (ages 1-81 years) on the east slope of the Cascade Range in Washington. Snag longevity and resultant snag densities varied spatially across burns in relation to micro-topographic position. Longevity of snags < 41cm dbh was greater for thin-barked Engelmann spruce (Picea engelmannii), subalpine fir (Abies lasiocarpa) and lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta) than thick-barked Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) and ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa). With larger diameter snags, however, Douglas-fir persisted longer than Engelmann spruce. The time period required for recruitment of soft snags > 23 cm dbh was estimated to exceed snag longevity for ponderosa pine, Englemann spruce, lodgepole pine, and subapline fir, causing an “on-site gap” in soft snags for these species. Snags of Douglas-fir ≥ 41 cm dbh stood for a sufficient time (40% standing after 80 years) to potentially overlap the recruitment of soft snags ≥ 23 cm dbh from the replacement stand. Providing continuity in soft snags following stand-replacement events would require a landscape-scale perspective, incorporating adjacents stands of different ages or disturbance histories. Results suggest that standards and guidelines for snags on public forest lands need to be sufficiently flexible to accomodate both disturbance and stand development phases and differences in snag longevity among species and topographic positions.

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