By: Chris Duncan, BMP Forester (Ret.), Texas Forest
Service
Q: A few months ago you mentioned that
there was a new logger training workshop focusing on forest roads. I have
attended both the stream crossing workshop as well as the traditional BMP
workshop several years ago. I would like to attend the new workshop when time
will allow. In the meantime are there any pointers you could give my company in
regards to forest roads?
A: Glad to know that you have attended both
the BMP and Stream Crossing workshops. I hope that the information you learned
at the workshops has benefited you on your logging operations since then. We
should be having another forest roads workshop in the near future. I would be
glad to give you some helpful information in the meantime. Over the next few
months I will talk about the planning, construction and maintenance of forest
roads.
The planning process of any forestry activity is extremely
important. This stage allows you to
layout your operations in the most productive, economical, and environmentally
sensitive manner possible. The time
spent on planning road design and layout will prove to be invaluable to your
business. The following tools discussed
below should be used when available, and are available for your use at little
or no charge.
Aerial photographs can be extremely helpful in viewing the
entire landscape before any work is done.
These tools can show you the location of existing roads, streams,
structures, land uses, and even timber types.
It is important to remember that aerial photographs are a snapshot in
time, and are only as good as the date they were taken. This means that some features on a photo may
change in the future, however roads and streams usually remain constant. These photos are available at the Texas
Forest Service, tax assessor’s office, and the Internet.
Topographical maps are also important to use during this
process. These maps show changes in
elevation through a series of contour lines.
This can be helpful when laying out the road systems, estimating BMP
costs, and avoiding wet areas and steep slopes. Blue line streams are also
easily designated on these maps, taking some of the guesswork out of
determining if stream crossings can be avoided.
You can obtain these maps from hunting stores, state and federal
agencies, and the Internet.
Soil surveys are another tool that can provide a lot of
information to contractors. These books,
published by the NRCS, classify the different soil types that are found in an
area. A general description of each soil
type is included, along with many charts that contain more detailed information
regarding flooding frequency, duration, equipment operability, and much
more. Knowing and understanding the soil
type of the property that you are working on can be a tremendous help. For
information about ordering or obtaining information about reference copies
(CD-ROM or paper copy), contact: tx-nrcs-soils@tx.usda.gov.
You can also get soil data from the Web Soil Survey website at: http://websoilsurvey.nrcs.usda.gov/app/HomePage.htm.
Of course nothing beats actually visiting the site in
person! Use the above mentioned tools to
get an idea of what you may encounter at the site, and use that information to
help you plan your road layout.
For more information on forest road and other BMPs visit the
Texas Forest Service webpage at http://texasforestservice.tamu.edu/water,
contact me at (903) 297-3910.
* This article was published in the August 2009 issue of the Texas Logger
