A wood stake study will be established in the Miller Creek Demonstration Forest as part of a Flathead National Forest study to determine the suitability of fire and/or thinning to promote the development of old-growth stand characteristics in subalpine fir (Abies lasiocarpa/Larix lasiocarpa) forests in northwestern Montana. Two treatment plots will be studied: 1) prescribed underburning, and 2) thinning to a 25 cm diameter limit. One plot will also be established in an uncut old-growth stand adjacent to the treatment area. Two microplots will be established around soil moisture and temperature data collectors in each treatment plot.

Mineral soil - twenty-five stakes (2.5 x 2.5 x 30 cm) of loblolly pine and aspen will be installed in the mineral soil at each microplot - for a total of 300 stakes (25 stakes x 2 species x 3 treatment plots x 2 microplots x 1 replicates). Five stakes of each species will be removed from each microplot every six months.

Litter layer (forest floor) - fifty wood stakes (2.5 x 2.5 x 15 cm) of each tree species will be installed at each microplot - 25 stakes at the forest floor/mineral soil interface, and 25 stakes placed on the litter layer surface for a total of 600 stakes (25 stakes x 2 species x 3 treatment plots x 2 microplots x 2 litter layer locations x 1 replicates). Temperatures will be measured at the mineral soil/litter interface and at the soil surface.

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