Saturday, October 1, 2011

BMP Trivia Question

Streamside Management Zones (SMZs) are buffers maintained on perennial and intermittent stream to protect water quality during forest operations. The minimum width of an SMZ is 50 on either side of the stream to allow runoff water to be filtered before entering the stream. The minimum tree density of the SMZ is based on a measure called "basal area" and recommends that a mimum of 50 square feet of basal area be evenly distributed across the SMZ. If an SMZ was made up entirely of 7” DBH trees and nothing else, how many trees per acre would it take to meet the minimum recommended guideline of at least 50 Sq. Ft of basal area within the SMZ? (Hint: Refer to the chart on page 109 in the bluebook)

A. 36 trees per acre

B. 92 trees per acre

C. 187 trees per acre

D. 306 trees per

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