NEAR-VIEW SCENIC BEAUTY OF PONDEROSA PINE FORESTS (LANDSCAPE, PERCEPTION, COST, ARIZONA).

Abstract

Measurement of relative near-view scenic beauty and prediction of changes in scenic beauty with timber stand management, grazing, and downed wood management are necessary to integrate scenic beauty into the multiple use decision-making framework. Although traditional landscape quality assessment procedures are of limited use in measuring or predicting the relative scenic beauty of near-view forest scenes, extension of psychophysical methods to measurement of forest scenic beauty offers an approach to effectively incorporate scenic beauty into forest management. Biological and physical variables were inventoried at sites within ponderosa pine timber stands in northern Arizona. Four color slides, also taken at those sites, were later rated for scenic beauty by groups of people, and the ratings were scaled to provide scenic beauty estimates per site. Highly significant multiple regression models, expressing scenic beauty as a function of the biophysical variables, accounted for up to 60, 50, and 80 percent of the variance in scenic beauty for pre-harvest sites, post-harvest sites, and pre-harvest timber stands, respectively. It seems possible at this point to specify a general ponderosa pine model, to be calibrated for specific damage-free areas within the Southwest. Herbage and large ponderosa pine contribute to scenic beauty, while numbers of small pine trees, mechanical ground disturbance, and downed wood, especially as slash, detract from scenic beauty. Areas of northerly aspect, lower overstory density, and less tree clumping were preferred. Moderate harvest tends to improve scenic beauty once the stand has recovered from obvious harvest effects. The recovery period can be greatly reduced by slash cleanup. Grazing can seriously detract from scenic beauty. Up to a point, over the range of practical timber stocking levels, increasing stocking results in greater net present worth from timber, forage, and water yields minus management costs, and lower scenic beauty. Beyond that point both net present worth and scenic beauty decline.