During 1984, a demonstration project was established on the Crow and Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservations to determine the effectiveness of basal area cutting in second-growth ponderosa pine stands to reduce losses to the mountain pine beetle. This project will help develop management strategies for susceptible stands in eastern Montana. Four treatments, replicated twice on each Reservation, will be implemented: reduction of existing basal area through partial-cutting to 50, 65, and 80 square feet/acre and no-cutting (control). After treatment, each block will be monitored yearly for the first 5 years, then at 5-year intervals for 20 years.