FEDERAL WATER POLLUTION CONTROL ADMINISTRATION
NORTHWEST REGION
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INDUSTRIAL WASTE GUIDE
on
LOGGING PRACTICES
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Federal Water Pollution Control Administration
Northwest Region
501 Pittock Block
Portland, Oregon 97205
February 1970
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PREFACE
Logging is an industrial activity which takes place in the
commercial forest lands covering 40 percent of the land area of
the Pacific Northwest. Logging can—and at many locations does--
degrade the quality of water in the streams draining the forest
lands. There is an urgent need for improvement of logging practices
in the Pacific Northwest. This publication, Industrial Waste
Guide on Logging Practices, is dedicated to the logging practices
which must be adopted by the logging industry if water quality is
to be protected in the streams of the Pacific Northwest.
By its very nature, logging must disrupt the complex and
delicate equilibrium of the forest environment. This is particularly
true in clear-cut logging, a method of logging which is appropriate
on certain types of forests. Yet trees must be cut to provide the
wood products our growing economy demands.
How the logging is done has immediate and long-term impacts
on water quality. Well-planned and properly executed logging
operations will keep water quality degradation to the minimum. But
such careful logging operations may add significantly to the cost
of cutting and removing logs from the forests. It is a cost which
the forest land owners and the logging industry must recognize as
a necessary cost to protect the quality of the waters originating
on and flowing through the forests of the Pacific Northwest. It is
a cost which is paid in the end by the consumers who purchase the
many useful products manufactured from wood.
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IV
The logging practices required to prevent degradation are as
significant as—and in the same category as—the requirements
placed upon pulp and paper mills, chemical plants, and municipalities
which are required to treat their wastes to prevent degradation of
water quality and the resultant restriction in the use of the waters
of the receiving streams.
Logging is a widely dispersed industrial activity. The Atlas
of the Pacific Northwest I/ points out that the Pacific Northwest
contains "45% of the Nations's total saw timber volume, 54% of its
softwood timber, and in addition millions of acres of young, vigor-
ously growing trees that will provide timber for future generations."
The text of the Atlas continues: "The value of this resource extends
beyond the provision of wood. Forests are the principal vegetative
cover protecting the headwaters of the' rivers of the entire region.
. . .the forests provide much of the summer range for cattle and
sheep, as well as year-round shelter for deer, elk, and other big
game. They keep the mountain streams cool and clear as a suitable
habitat or 'highway' for fish. . . . Much of this forest land
contains scenery of a beauty and grandeur ranking with the best in
the United States."
I/ Highsmith, Richard M. (Editor), 1968, 4th Ed., Atlas of the
Pacific Northwest Resources and Development, Oregon State
University Press, Corvallis, Oregon, p. 53.
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V
The portion of this quotation which reads, "They (the forests)
keep mountain streams cool and clear as a suitable habitat or
'highway1 for fish," is generally true. Yet, with about 1,000,000
acres of forest land being cut each year (360,000 acres of this by
clear-cut logging) in Oregon and Washington alone, there is far
too much evidence of improper, low-cost logging operations resulting
in debris-clogged streams running turbid with silt-smothered
spawning gravels and banks stripped of the shade to protect the
cool waters.
Carefully planned and managed logging operations must be the
unvarying rule if water quality is to be protected.
The first step toward this objective is a cogent statement
on the logging practices which must be followed. The Industrial
Waste Guide CM Logging Practices is that statement.
The second step is full-scale adoption of these logging prac-
tices by forest land owners and a logging industry which recognizes
their responsibility to the citizens of the Pacific Northwest.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The information presented in this report has been drawn from
many sources. Much has been extracted from the policies, rules,
and regulations developed through the years by the agencies
responsible for administering the uses of public waters as related
to land use and land management. Special recognition is made of
the assistance received from the United States Forest Service, the
Bureau of Land Management, the Pacific Northwest Water Pollution
Control Council, the Pacific Logging Congress, the School of
Forestry of Oregon State University, Oregon Department of Environ-
mental Quality, Washington Water Pollution Control Commission,
and various private logging companies.
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CONTENTS
Page
PREFACE iii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS vii
INTRODUCTION 1
Forest Land Uses 1
Water Quality Considerations 2
Sedimentation 3
Thermal Effects 5
Organic Leaching Products 5
Water Quality Standards 6
Forest Land Owners 7
Logging Plans 9
LOGGING ROADS 11
Road Location 11
Road Design 13
Road Construction 18
Road Maintenance 20
TREE CUTTING 23
LOG YARDING 25
BUFFER STRIPS 29
Perennial Streams 29
Intermittent Streams 31
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Page
WATERSHED RESTORATION 33
Logged Areas 33
Roads, Skid Trails, Landings, and Firelines . 34
Permanent Roads 34
Temporary Roads 34
Skid Trails 34
Landings 36
Firelines 36
Slash Handling 37
MUNICIPAL WATER SUPPLY WATERSHEDS 39
ILLUSTRATIONS 41
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LIST OF TABLES
Table Page
1 A Comparison of Random and Systematic Logging
Road Layouts (H. J. Andrews Experimental
Forest) 12
2 Relative Erosion Hazard of Logging Areas in
Relation to Site Factors 14
3 Recommended Seed Mixtures West of the
Cascade Divide 35
4 Recommended Seed Mixtures East of the
Cascade Divide 35
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INTRODUCTION
Forest Land Uses
The forest products industries are a cornerstone of the economy
of the Pacific Northwest States. The raw materials for this
continually growing group of industries are extracted from the
forest lands by the activities collectively referred to as "logging."
Logging is an activity as widespread as the 70,200,000 acres of
commercial forest lands in the Pacific Northwest. Logging operations
will continue on an expanding scale as forests are cut and regrown
to be cut again under systematic cropping and harvesting of trees
to meet the nation's needs for wood products.
Forest lands of the Pacific Northwest are much more than a
source of raw wood for industry, important though that forest land
use is. The forests which blanket the highlands and mountain zones,
where rain and snowfall are the heaviest, are the source of Pacific
Northwest rivers. Small streams flow from the forest lands where
the heavy vegetative cover conserves and slowly releases runoff to
the streams. These small streams combine with many others on the
way to the sea to form the large rivers of the Pacific Northwest.
Even though relatively small in size, the clear, cold forest streams
are essential to the propagation of the region's numerous anadromous
and resident species of fish which are of major value as the basis
of the commercial and sports fisheries.
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The forest lands and the streams they support have great value
for recreation. They provide sites of scenic beauty for picnicking,
camping, boating, swimming, fishing, hunting, and hiking. In short,
they constitute a locale offering opportunities for outdoor re-
creation needed by the increasingly urban population of the Pacific
Northwest.
Forest lands provide habitat for a wide variety of wildlife,
summer grazing of livestock, and sites for dams and reservoirs.
The very nature of forest lands makes them lands of many uses.
Hence, the concept of multiple use has been established and
implemented in the management of forest lands, particularly, but
not exclusively, for forest lands in Federal ownership. It is a
concept rooted in the conviction that forest lands can and should
be managed to preserve a balance among, and a place for, all forest
land uses.
The cutting and removal of logs from forest lands is one of
the many forest land uses. But, how logging operations are carried
out has impacts on all the other uses. Not the least of the adverse
impacts of improper logging operations is the degradation of the
quality of water in streams originating in the forest lands.
Water Quality Considerations
Logging operations all too frequently result in serious deg-
radation of water quality, which, in turn, results in adverse
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impacts on many other multiple uses of forest lands, as well as on
the uses of the waters of those streams far downstream from the
logged areas—even to the estuaries where rivers enter the sea.
Sedimentation
The most obvious and most serious impact of improper logging
on water quality is the greatly increased sediment load caused by
erosion of the mineral soils from the surface of logged-over areas
and from logging roads. Measurements have been made of the sediment
loads resulting from accelerated soil erosion in logged-over areas
and from undisturbed forest lands. Under natural conditions, sediment
loads in the streams measured 10 parts per million (ppm) or less.
By comparison, suspended sediment concentrations in a stream imme-
diately downstream from an improperly logged area exceeded 70,000
ppm--a measured increase of 7,000 times the natural sediment
content (Fig.lb.).-/
Such sediment concentrations in forest streams of initially
high quality cause a degrading effect felt for many miles downstream.
The multiplicity of logged areas with high sediment inputs from
many small streams results in pollutional sediment loads of large
magnitude in the main stem rivers which these small streams feed.
The damaging effects of excessive sedimentation are numerous and
widespread.
2/ All illustrations are assembled in numerical order at the end
of this report.
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The fresh water habitat for resident and migratory fish is
significantly damaged with reduction in the number, size, and
general health of fish. Sport fishing opportunities are interrupted
by extended periods of excessive turbidity. Sediment loads seriously
reduce propagation of fish by the silting of spawning gravels and
the smothering of fish eggs and fry (Figs. 2 and 3). This is a
consideration of particular significance in small headwater streams.
Suspended sediment increases the cost of treatment of water
withdrawn for municipal water supplies and causes excessive wear on
turbines, pumps, irrigation sprinklers, and the like, with increased
expense to water users.
The deposition of sediments in rivers and estuaries increases
the need for, and the costs of, dredging to keep channels open for
water-borne transportation. Such sedimentation also can signifi-
cantly alter the environment in, and productivity of, estuarine
areas which are known to be more productive of a high protein food
supply per acre than most agricultural land.
Turbid, silt-laden streams impair the beauty of forest lands
so that people are deprived of a suitable streamside environment
for recreational use.
Beyond these instream and downstream effects, there is funda-
mental concern for the soil losses from logged-over areas. Such
soil losses forecast inevitable reduction in the capability of the
land to produce growth of forests for future harvesting.
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Thermal Effects
Logging of all trees to the water's edge exposes the stream
to the full impact of heating by the sun with increases of water
temperatures to levels damaging to the cold water fisheries (Fig. 4)
Water temperature increases are particularly damaging in small
spawning streams in the summer months when the sun is highest in
the sky, cloudless days more frequent, and stream flows lowest.
Measurements of summer temperatures in small streams flowing
through logged and unlogged forest areas show water temperature
increases of 14-16 degrees Fahrenheit in the unprotected stream
(Fig. 5). Temperature increases of this magnitude produce stream
temperatures which are far in excess of optimum and are even in the
range of temperatures known to be damaging to resident and anadro-
mous fish which spawn, grow, and migrate in the small forest streams
Organic Leaching Products
Improper logging operations leave organic debris and litter
in and adjacent to stream channels in the logged area. As these
organic materials, in contact with surface and percolating waters,
go through the long-lived process of decomposition, measurable
increases in dissolved chemicals and plant nutrients occur in the
forest streams. Of particular concern are the wood sugar products
readily released by leaching.
The direct evidence of such water quality degradation is the
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growth of bacterial slimes and algae which thrive on the materials
released by organic decomposition. Also evident is the reduction
of dissolved oxygen in the intra-gravel waters of the spawning beds
in small streams. Measurements reveal reduction of dissolved oxygen
from saturation levels of 12 milligrams per liter (mg/1), through
debilitating levels, to lethal levels for fish of 2 mg/1.
Water Quality Standards
Most of the forest land waters directly affected by logging
operations are intrastate streams. The States of Idaho, Montana,
and Oregon have established water quality standards for their
intrastate streams. In 1967, Oregon established General Water
Quality Standards covering all intrastate streams and is now
proceeding with setting Special Water Quality Standards for specific
intrastate waters. The State of Washington is also in the process
of setting intrastate stream standards on quality.
Implementation of intrastate water quality standards, with
regard to degradation of water quality by widespread land use
activities, such as logging operations, presents much more difficult
problems than the implementation of the treatment of point sources
of wastes from industrial plants and municipalities. In this
connection, the implementation plans for the Special Water Quality
Standards now being established by the State of Oregon for intra-
state streams includes the following statement on logging operations:
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In cooperation with the logging industry and other interested
agencies and institutions, develop programs to keep logging
activities out of streams, leave undisturbed streamside veg-
etative cover for cooling shade and thereby also minimize
resulting vegetative debris and eroded earth in streams.
The Federal agencies involved in the management of forest land
areas, including the harvesting of trees, not only must abide by the
water quality standards established by the states and the Federal
government for interstate waters, but also should abide by the
standards set by the states for intrastate waters. As a practical
matter, this means that all Federal agencies having administrative
jurisdiction over commercial timber lands should incorporate pro-
visions into their timber sales contracts which would prevent
pollution of streams through the logging operations over which they
have control.
Some 60 percent of the commercial timber lands in the Pacific
Northwest are in Federal ownership and under Federal management.
Therefore, it is imperative that the Federal agencies utilize their
authority to promptly implement procedures which would assure
protection and enhancement of water quality through uniform
application of proper logging practices.
Forest Land Owners
The role of forest land owners is the key to adoption of logging
operations which will prevent, or hold to an acceptable minimum,
the degradation of water quality in streams traversing forest lands.
The forest land owners own the logs which are to be harvested. They
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are in a position to control logging operations. It is reasonable
to assume that logging firms will carry out the kind of logging
operations which they are required to do and for which they receive
adequate compensation.
About two-thirds (46,000,000 acres) of the 70,200,000 acres of
commercial land in the Pacific Northwest (Washington, Oregon, Idaho,
and western Montana), is in public ownership. About 60 percent, or
41,600,000 acres, is in Federal ownership. Of this amount, 36,000,000
acres of Federally owned commercial forest land are in the National
Forests. Bureau of Land Management lands account for 3,200,000
acres, and Indian lands managed by the Bureau of Indian Affairs,
2,400,000 acres. About 4,400,000 acres are in non-Federal, public
ownership—state, county and municipal.
About 34 percent, or 24,200,000 acres of commercial forest land,
is in private ownership. Of this total, it appears that about one-
half is owned by the forest industries, such as the lumber companies,
pulp and paper companies, and the like. Sizeable acreages are owned
by the railroad companies.
In summary, something approaching 85 percent of the commercial
forest land in the Pacific Northwest is owned by public agencies,
forest industries, or the railroads. By and large, it would seem
that these entities would retain ownership of the forest lands
over long periods of time and, therefore, be most concerned regarding
the long-range productivity of those forest lands. Sedimentation,
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which causes degradation of the quality of water in forest land
streams, also indicates significant soil erosion and losses of the
relatively thin mineral soils of the sloping forest lands with the
inevitable reduction in the long-range productivity of future
forests grown on those lands. Hence, increased efforts by these
owners to prevent or minimize water quality degradation are most
desirable, not only to prevent damage to fishery, recreational, and
aesthetic values which the general public holds in high regard,
but also in the interest of the future economic welfare of the wood-
products industries of the Pacific Northwest.
With the remaining 15 percent of commercial forest lands
owned by miscellaneous private landowners, it is essential that
understanding be developed among this group regarding the significance
of the effect of logging practices on water quality and the need
to prevent soil erosion on forest lands.
Logging Plans
Many factors contribute to the impacts of logging on water
quality, such as steep slopes, different exposures, inherent soil
credibilities, rates of vegetative recovery following logging, and
climatic factors. The relation between topography and rainfall
intensity is especially important. Full application of today's
conservation knowledge in all phases of timber harvesting can reduce
water quality degradation. To do this, each forested area must be
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carefully logged using a specific plan so tailored for that area
that all tangible and intangible losses and all water quality deg-
radation will be kept within tolerable limits.
An adequate tree harvesting plan includes maps, sketches, or
pictures of the area to be harvested. It gives specifications for
the building, use, and maintenance of a well-designed transportation
system. It specifies the manner in which the trees are to be cut and
the way the logs shall be delivered to the transportation system
from the point on the watershed where they are felled. It identifies
the areas along perennial and major intermittent streams which should
be left as buffer or filter strips. It specifies the measures which
should be taken to leave the logged area in a repaired condition to
prevent undue erosion of the area during the period of regrowth.
Compiled in the remainder of this volume are detailed recom-
mendations for controlling the adverse impacts on water quality
which can be caused by logging operations.
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LOGGING ROADS
Proper planning, location, design, construction, use, and main-
tenance of all logging roads--main roads, secondary roads, spur roads,
and skid trails—will reduce soil erosion problems in forest water-
sheds. The following recommendations, pertaining to logging roads,
have been assembled under four headings.
Road Location
1. Locate all roads to avoid, or design them to counteract,
unstable soil areas. Select the gradient which will provide for a
stabilized road prism with proper drainage. Fit road locations
to the topography so that minimum alterations of natural conditions
will be necessary. Use systematic rather than random layouts
(Figs. 6, 7 and 8). An analysis comparing random road layouts
with systematic road patterns reveals that substantial savings in
cost and increased efficiency in logging operations are realized by
use of the systematic patterns (Table 1).
2. Locate roads on natural benches, ridge tops, and flatter
slopes to minimize harmful disturbances of the terrain and to enhance
3/
the stability of the roads.— Use all available topographic surveys,
soil-type maps, and other soils and geologic information to select
3/ SILEN, Ray R., 1955, "More Efficient Road Patterns for a Douglas-
Fir Drainage:" The Timberman, Vol. LVI, No. 6, pp. 82-88.
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TABLE 1
A COMPARISON OF RANDOM AND SYSTEMATIC LOGGING ROAD LAYOUTS
(H. J. ANDREWS EXPERIMENTAL FOREST)
Item
Road Pattern
Random —' Systematic —'
Road density, total in planned system--
miles per square mile
Road density, amount actually constructed-
miles per square mile
Area needed for road construction, acres
per square mile of watershed
Area outside optimum yarding distance
(400 - 900 feet), acres per square mile
Less than 400 feet
More than 900 feet
Total
Percent of road system having grades
of—
8 to 12 percent £/
4 to 8 percent
0 to 4 percent
Adverse: 0 to 4 percent —'
5.59
1.95
93
64.4
19.0
83.4
51.4
10.9
26.2
11.5
4.97
1.99
68
38.6
10.6
49.2
14.0
40.6
36.1
9.3
a/ Basis: 38.53 miles of road in layout of 3,273 acres.
b/ Basis: 42.98 miles of road in layout of 5,534 acres.
c_/ A few short stretches of road with favorable grades
above 12 percent or reverse grades above 4 percent were
built to avoid obstacles and are included in these
classes.
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locations which avoid steep slopes and unstable soils. Field ob-
servation and evaluation is advisable in problem areas. Give full
consideration to soil strength and cohesion to determine the proper
cut-and-fill slope ratios and to specify spacing for relief-drainage
culverts.
3. Locate roads on stable areas well away from streams (Figs.
9 and 10). Avoid routes through the bottoms of steep narrow canyons;
through slide areas; through steep, naturally dissected terrain;
through slumps; through marshes or wet meadows; through ponds; or
along natural drainage channels. Where alternative locations
through stable areas are not available, incorporate corrective
stabilization measures into the road design.
Road Design
Prescribe for each road those design specifications that are
best adapted to the given slope, landscape, and soil materials
(Table 2 and Figs. 11 and 12). Use a balanced design or provide
waste or borrow areas that will produce a minimum of damage to soils
and water. Cross streams where channel and bank disturbance will
be minimal. Avoid excessive sidehill cuts and fills, especially
near stream channels. Design spur roads to follow the contour as
closely as possible. Plan for retaining walls or riprap where
needed to increase the stability of fill embankments and cuts and to
protect fill embankments from water erosion (Fig. 13).
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TABLE 2
RELATIVE EROSION HAZARD OF LOGGING AREAS
IN RELATION TO SITE FACTORS
Site Factors
High
Erosion
Hazard
Moderate
Erosion
Hazard
Low
Erosion
Hazard
Parent rock
Acid Igneous
Granite, diorite,
volcanic ash,
pumice, some
schists
Sedimentary and
Metamorphic
Sandstone, schist
shale, slate,
conglomerates,
chert
Basic Igneous
(Lava rocks)
Basalt,
andesite,
serpentine
Soil
Light textured,—'
with little or
no clay
Medium textured,
with considerable
clay
Heavy textured,
largely clay and
adobe
Mantle
Stability
Slope
Unstable mantles
(cutbank stabil-
ity Class V)
Steep
(Over 50%)
Mantles of ques-
tionable stabil-
ity (Cutbank sta-
bility Class IV)
Moderate
(20 - 50%)
Stable mantles
(classes I, II,
and III)
Gentle
(0 - 20%)
Precipitation
Heavy winter
rains or intense
summer storms
Mainly snow
with some rain
Heavy snow or
light rain
Vegetation
and other
organic matter
on and in the
soil
None to
1i ttle
very
Moderate
amounts
Large
amounts
a/ Soil texture refers to the size and distribution of the mineral
particles in the soil, the range extending from sand (light
texture) to clay (heavy texture).
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1. In critical situations, design for full-bench construction
rather than part bench and part uncompacted fill. End haul all
excavated waste material to safe bench or cove locations or use
it in "through" fills by raising their elevation.
2. Reduce backslope sloughing by rounding the tops of cut
slopes.
3. Design fill at an angle less than the normal angle of
repose.
4. Clear trees and other vegetation for only the minimum
essential width required for construction and maintenance of the
road and choose the design alignment and minimum road width
necessary to serve traffic needs.
5. Divert or otherwise dispose of all drainage so that it does
not pass over or collect in new cuts, fills, borrow areas, or waste
dumps. Do this by providing bridges or adequate culverts at all
natural water courses both for permanent and temporary access or
haul roads. Avoid channel changes and stabilize the fill material
of the approaches with riprap or abutments. Where culverts must be
installed in large fills, use concrete or heavy riprap headwalls
and wingwalls to prevent erosion of the fill and to help direct the
passage of debris through the major culverts. To prevent disturbance
of stream channel, use riprap, gabions (wire baskets full of large
rocks), or other structures where needed to protect roads that
must be constructed in canyon bottoms.
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6. Design culverts or bridges large enough to carry at least
a 25-year frequency storm. West of the Cascades, use a 24-inch or
larger diameter culvert for all live stream crossings to minimize
fish migration blockages.
7. In order to reduce fish passage problems and pipe abrasion,
design to use bridges or "true-arch" (bottomless) culverts on
steep slopes (Figs. 14 and 15). In locations where bridges or
bottomless culverts are impractical, design for culverts with in-
stalled baffle plates to provide for fish passage through the
culvert. Orient culverts with natural stream channels and extend
them beyond the fill slopes. For anadromous fish passage, provide
an entrance pool at least 3 feet deep and 12 feet long at the out-
flow end of the culvert. Stabilize the pool with barrier logs to
prevent erosion (Fig. 16). Place the logs so there is no impassable
drop between the culvert and the stream.
8. Provide an adequate drainage system that will reduce both
the runoff concentration in the roadway and the saturation of poorly
drained soils (Fig. 17). Where justified by the volume of traffic
or the type of soil the road crosses, use roadside ditches and
culverts. Give each relief culvert a minimum slope of one percent
and provide a sediment-catching basin at the entrance. Use down-
spouts and other slope protection measures to avoid erosion of fill
areas (Fig. 18).
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9. Provide dips, water bars, and cross drains in order to
prevent water accumulations from eroding and gullying skid trails
(Fig, 19). Put such structures close enough together so the
collected water will be small in amount and can easily be diverted
off the road into safe spreading areas.
10. Design temporary roads to drain by outsloping wherever
possible. On long slopes, space dips in the road to assure diversion
of runoff from the road surface. For fills with culverts, place
a dip at the downgrade approach so that in the case of a flood or
plugged culvert, the excess water may flow over the road at that
point. Use fords or other low level crossings for small streams
that have a high upstream debris hazard (Fig. 20).
11. Prevent muddy and turbid waters from draining off the
roadbed and into streams. Where necessary, make provisions to build
up the surface of dirt roads with rock. Pave, or otherwise stabil-
ize road surfaces in order to minimize subgrade failures, road
surface erosion, and road maintenance grading. For temporary paving,
use emulsified asphalt where applications of oil or sulfite-waste-
liquor type dust inhibitors could possibly wash into and contaminate
receiving waters.
12. Obtain all road rock and gravel from dry quarries or from
dry channels that are provided with adequate protection against
sediment production. Do not "wet" mine such road rock or gravel
from live stream channels (Fig. 21).
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Road Construction
In many places, careless and improper construction of a high
mountain logging road can nullify all the effort expended in well
considered design and location. Numerous mud-rock slides and land
slumps have started at the edge of such roads and, once started,
have carried through hundreds of feet of forested slopes. Poor
construction and inadequate drainage have triggered land slumps in
watershed after watershed and have resulted in the most serious
form of accelerated erosion that occurs during timber harvesting.
High quality road construction should be insisted upon by
the land owner or his representative. Regular inspections should
be made during construction by a qualified engineer with authority
to assure that road construction meets design requirements.
Therefore, during all phases of road construction, protect
water quality by using every possible and applicable soil and water
conservation measure.
1. Where the road design calls for full bench construction,
make the full cut, end-haul excess excavation from the cut, and
deposit it in stable locations well above the high water level. Do
not deposit waste materials directly into any stream channel. Where
necessary, compact all fill material to reduce the entry of water
and to prevent the fill material from settling. Do not place any
woody or other organic debris in the fill of any road.
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2. Collect all construction-area drainage and keep it out of
the streams. Use seepage pits or other confinement measures to
prevent diesel oil, fuel oil, or other liquids from running into
streams. Use drip collectors on oil-transporting vehicles. Divert
water for sprinkler trucks a sufficient distance from the source
to the filling point to prevent overflow spilling or flushed tank
water from reaching the stream.
3. Keep soil disturbances to a minimum by constructing roads
only when soil moisture conditions are favorable. Rough grade a
new road only as far as that road can be completely finished during
the current construction season. Finish ditches and drainage in-
stallations on the section being worked upon before opening up
another section or before shutting down construction for the season.
4. Fully backslope each graded section except where vertical
cut banks are more stable than sloping ones. In critical slump
areas, grade large cuts to slopes of not more than 1.75 to 1 and
use horizontal drain pipes. Also, protect all large fill areas
with surface drainage diversion systems. Place culverts so as to
cause the minimum possible channel disturbance and keep fill
materials away from culvert inlets and outlets. During road con-
struction do not permit earth moving activities when the soils are
saturated. Allow road machines to work in streambeds only for laying
culverts or constructing bridge abutments. Divert streamflow from
the construction site whenever possible in order to prevent or min-
imize turbidity.
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5. Clear drainage ways of all woody debris generated during
road clearing or construction. Windrow the clearing debris and
crush it outside the road prism except where burning of the debris
is necessary to reduce the fire hazard, prevent insect infestations,
or to improve the aesthetics.
Road Maintenance
Fully and thoroughly maintain all portions of the road system
to prevent water quality degradation from accelerated erosion during
heavy rainstorms. This includes the regular maintenance of drainage
diversions, such as cleaning culvert inlets before and keeping them
clean during the rainy season to diminish the danger of clogging
and the possibility of washouts. It also includes the inspection
of revegetation on obliterated spur roads, and reseeding where
necessary. As specified for construction activities above, end-haul
and deposit all excavated material in safe bench or cove locations
well above the high water level. Never deposit such material
directly into flowing streams (Fig. 22).
1. On all spur roads that outslope, cross drain them and re-
move all berms on the outside edge except those intentionally
constructed for the protection of road grade fills.
2. Retain outslope road drainage by performing proper main-
tenance grading. This precludes both the undercutting of newly or
partially stabilized cut slopes and the leaving of a berm (except for
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21
fill protection) along the outside edge of the road which might
concentrate drainage on the road (Fig. 23). Before spring runoff
begins, remove all ice and snow berms created on winter haul roads,
3. Use extreme caution in the selection and application of
herbicides for controlling brush encroachment along road edges.
Do not let any such chemicals drift or run off into streams to
cause objectionable tastes or odors in the waters or to create
adverse conditions for aquatic life or human consumption. Use
mechanical equipment in preference to herbicides for control of
roadside brush.
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TREE CUTTING
The total annual amount of wood harvested from the combined
States of Oregon and Washington approximates the equivalent of
16,000,000,000 board feet. It is harvested from an estimated
1,000,000 acres of land of which about 360,000 acres are clear-cut.
The harvesting of any crop leaves an unused residue. In the case
of trees, this residue is made up of foliage, branches, bark, rotten
material, roots, and wood that is too small or of too low a quality
for any present day use. In Douglas-fir forests the average weight
of the logging wastes is about 40 tons per acre, and it constitutes
a serious threat to the quality of the water which runs off the
cutover land (Fig. 24).
The complex tannin and humic-acid solutes leached from logging
slash are a prevalent source of chemical pollution of the water.
Hemlock trees, for instance, have a high tannin content in leaves
and bark. Leachates from hemlock slash and alder leaves often dis-
color streamflow. Large pieces of the coarse logging slash can
cause debris dams in channels and give rise to changes in the
physical nature of the stream course by causing accelerated erosion
and deposition. Fine^organic material exerts a biochemical oxygen
demand that causes dissolved oxygen deficiencies. Wood sugars
begin to leach from any piece of new wood, regardless of its size,
as soon as it comes in contact with water. Singly or in combination,
the above factors pollute many streams in the Pacific Northwest.
Such pollution should be prevented.
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24
1. Base the size, shape, and location of clear-cut blocks on
an analysis of such things as forest regeneration, logging economics,
fire control, wildlife production, soil protection, aesthetic appeal,
and water quality maintenance.
2. Reduce soil damage by using a flexible logging plan. Build
roads well in advance of tree felling in order to allow flexibility
in choice of logging conditions, such as high elevations and northern
exposures for summer when the snow has disappeared. Also, reserve
marshy ground and steep slopes for summer, low elevations and
southern slopes for winter, and the opportunity to select different
tree species for harvest during any part of the year.
3. Consult with State and Federal fishery and game agencies
to determine the value of each stream as habitat for either resident
or anadromous fish. If the watershed contains critical fisheries
which would be irreparably damaged by present day logging practices,
classify the drainage as unharvestable until suitable logging
techniques can be utilized.
4. Limb all logs before yarding in order to minimize dis-
turbance of soil and damage to reproduction and water quality
(Fig. 25).
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LOG YARDING
Plan thoroughly and then yard the logs carefully in order to
prevent soil disturbances and other water pollution hazards along
skid trails, on landings, and over the watershed in general.
1. Correlate all skid trail locations with cutting areas,
topography, soil types, and climatic factors. Locate such trails
carefully and drain them adequately so that muddy and turbid waters
will be kept out of stream channels. Keep all skid trails out of
stream channels and off stream banks. Use temporary log or metal
culverts wherever such trails must cross stream channels, and keep
the number of such crossings as few as possible. Use each skid
trail only a small number of times in order to avoid soil gouging
and compacting and the channelizing of runoff.
2. Avoid tractor yarding on all saturated areas and on all
slopes steeper than 30 percent (Fig. 26). On critical soils, limit
crawler-tractor yarding to slopes of less than 15 percent (Fig. 27).
3. Suspend tractor logging during rainy days and for a day
or so thereafter. Store logs ahead of the loading operation to
allow for yarding shutdowns on bad days.
4. Rather than having many long skid roads coming to only one
landing within the logging area, utilize a number of landings and
service each one with a well constructed road.
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26
5. Locate log landing areas on firm dry ground away from live
stream channels wherever possible. Widening of the logging road
will permit this in some places. Borrow the material for the extra
fill from a long stretch of road rather than from a single spot,
thus keeping the cut slopes reduced in extent. Use cull or un-
merchantable logs and chunks to form a cribbing on the downhill
side to support the fill for the landing and thus minimize the
borrow excavation and help control slumping and erosion.
6. Wherever possible, yard logs by lifting them free of the
ground. Where this cannot be done, yard them uphill by high-lead
cable (Fig. 28) or by fixed or swinging skyline (Fig. 29). Protect
all stream banks and channels by bridging or at least by lifting
the logs over streams rather than dragging them through the streams.
Avoid disturbing steep slopes and shallow soil areas immediately
adjacent to stream channels. Avoid undue disturbances of accumulations
of decaying vegetation which can wash into and befoul the streams
during rainstorms.
7. Minimize logging road construction on very steep slopes or
fragile areas by using skyline or balloon yarding systems (Fig 30).
8. Consider the use of helicopters, balloons, or modified
cable systems for logging of areas that would have high conventional
yarding costs or for fragile, sensitive areas
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27
9. Take all possible care to avoid damage to the soils of
forested slopes, and to the soil and water of natural meadows as
well. Minimize this damage by operating the logging equipment only
when soil moisture conditions are such that excessive damage will
not result.
10. Avoid servicing tractors, trucks, and similar equipment
on forest lands adjacent to roads, lakes, streams, or recreational
facilities. Permit no contaminants to remain in the logging area
following completion of operations.
11. Maintain in a clean and sanitary condition all improvements
such as camps, mills, quarries, and the grounds adjacent thereto
that are used in connection with the timber harvesting process.
Locate all buildings, toilets, garbage pits, and other structures
in those places that will prevent pollution of the water in streams,
ponds, or lakes.
12. Conduct all operations so as to preclude interference with
the resident or migratory fisheries of the area. Do not divert the
water out of any stream without the written approval of the state
fishery biologist who has jurisdiction over the area involved and
the state engineer who is concerned with the administration of
water rights.
13. Cooperate with research groups in developing improved
methods of timber harvest that will reduce soil disturbance, lower
the cost of timber removal, and develop more complete utilization
of logging slash.
-------
BUFFER STRIPS
Soil erosion on, and logging debris from, roads, landings,
skidways, and slopes disturbed by yarding activities during a logging
operation can seriously damage streams. Much of this damage can be
prevented by using all reasonable means and alternatives that will
keep every road and logging activity as far from the stream courses
as possible.
Perennial Streams
Logging can cause increased water temperatures in perennial
streams. Such increased temperatures make possible the rapid growth
of trash fish, slime bacteria, and algae. However, these higher
stream water temperatures tend to decrease with time due to stream
shade recovery.
Therefore, leave buffer strips of native vegetation, including
an overhead canopy, between roads or logged areas, and any perennial
streams they parallel (Fig. 31). Buffer strips not only reduce the
quantity of sediment and logging wastes that reach the streams, but
also help prevent stream water temperature increases and loss of
natural stream beauty. Thus, they assist with the preservation of
water quality and the attainment of temperature objectives for fish
management.
1. Leave all hardwood trees, shrubs, grasses, rocks, and
natural "down" timber wherever they afford shade over a perennial
stream or maintain the integrity of the soil near such a stream.
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30
2. Carefully and selectively log the mature timber from the
buffer strip in such a way that shading and filtering effects are
not destroyed. Protect the buffer strips by leaving stumps high
enough to prevent any subsequently-felled, up-slope trees from
sliding or rolling through the strips and into the streams.
3. Neither an optimum nor a minimum width can be set arbi-
trarily for buffer strips. It is recommended, however, that a
minimum width of 75 feet on each side of the stream be used as a
guide for establishing buffer strips. At the same time it must be
realized that the necessary width will vary with steepness of the
terrain, the nature of the undercover, the kind of soil, and the
amount of timber that is to be removed.
4. For effective filtering of sediment, buffer strips should
be wide enough to entrap the material that will be eroded from the
road or the logged area above. Under some conditions and with care-
ful control in adjacent logging areas, a relatively narrow strip may
suffice. On the other hand, where road building or logging allows
land slips to occur, the buffer strip may have to be much wider and
other precautions may have to be taken to eliminate adverse effects
on the stream water quality.
5. One modification of the buffer strip plan calls for the
removal of only dead, dying, mature, and high risk trees from strips
at least 75 feet wide on medium sized or larger streams. It provides
also for removal of all merchantable trees from within a 15-foot
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31
strip along each bank of the stream. Such removal relieves pressure
on stream banks and prevents weakening of the support for larger
trees and thus prevents stream bank destruction.
6. Where old growth timber must all be removed because it is
subject to windthrow (for example, pure western hemlock) and where
it is difficult to leave full-width buffer strips of timber to
shade the stream, plan to re-establish cover along the stream after
cutting is completed. Fast-growing deciduous species will be re-
quired to restore shade as quickly as possible. In the meantime,
leaving the understory vegetation as undisturbed as possible will
result in the filtering of the runoff and the stabilizing of the
soil.
Intermittent Streams
Many relatively small tributary streams flow only during the
wet season of the year; however, they often produce substantial
flows which carry heavy sediment loads during intense or prolonged
periods of rain. Therefore, along the channels of intermittent
tributaries, preserve adequate widths of undergrowth vegetation as
filter strips to prevent washing of sediment into a perennial
stream below.
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WATERSHED RESTORATION
Watershed restoration is the intensified reclamation or improve-
ment of land and vegetation that has been so disturbed that acceler-
ated erosion with soil losses and stream sedimentation will retard
or prevent the regrowth of a protective cover. A good restoration
program will re-establish this protective vegetative cover to renew
the hydrologic balance by retarding and dispersing runoff. It will
conserve the basic soil resource by reducing soil erosion and
providing soil stability. It will deter rapid runoff and reduce
flood damages by lowering streamflow peaks. It will minimize the
amount of sediment carried into the stream. And it will enhance
the aesthetic considerations and recreational use of the watershed.
Logged Areas
Clear-cut logging and yarding operations, and the handling and
disposal of logging slash, disturb drastically the land surface
of steep mountain slopes.
1. Control the erosion at its source on such disturbed areas
by hastening their reforestation.
2. Seed or plant adapted species and, where necessary, use
terracing, composting, mulching, and fertilizing.
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34
Roads, Skid Trails, Landings, and Pipelines
A full restoration program will provide for herbaceous vege-
tation to be established quickly on such severely disturbed areas
as roads, skid trails, landings, and firelines. Seed and plant
native vegetation to the fullest extent possible. However, where
sufficient seed of native vegetation cannot be obtained, mixtures
as shown in Tables 3 and 4 have often been used with success, although
other mixtures may be utilized on specific sites.
Permanent Roads
1. Revegetate all road cut and fill slopes (Fig. 32). Use such
measures as matting, mulching (Fig. 33), fertilizing, seeding, and
planting.
2. Inspect all treated cut, fill, and disturbed areas frequently
and apply immediately whatever additional soil stabilization measures
may be necessary in order to prevent anticipated soil erosion.
Temporary Roads
1. Obliterate, blockade, and stabilize all temporary spur
roads when no longer needed for logging operations (Fig. 34).
Skid Trails
1. Restore stream channels by removing temporary skid-trail
crossings.
2. Obliterate and stabilize all skid trails after logging
the watershed.
-------
TABLE 3
RECOMMENDED SEED MIXTURES
West of the Cascade Divide
Species Seed Per Acre
Orchard Grass 2 Ibs.
Timothy 2 Ibs.
Alta Fescue 2 Ibs.
Perennial Ryegrass 2 Ibs.
Total per acre 8 Ibs.
TABLE 4
RECOMMENDED SEED MIXTURES
East of the Cascade Divide
Species
Siberian Wheatgrass
Nordan Crested Wheatgrass
Pubescent Wheatgrass
Durar Hard Fescue
Topar Pubescent Wheatgrass
Intermediate Wheatgrass
Greener Intermediate Wheatgrass
Total per acre
Inches
0-9
5 Ibs.
5 Ibs.
10 Ibs.
Seed Per Acre
of (effective) precipitation
9-12 12-15 15-18
6 Ibs. 6 Ibs.
6 Ibs. 6 Ibs.
8 Ibs.
4 Ibs.
8 Ibs.
8 Ibs.
12 Ibs. 20 Ibs. 20 Ibs.
18-25
4 Ibs.
8 Ibs.
8 Ibs.
20 Ibs.
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36
3. If necessary, build special drains on abandoned skid roads
to protect stream channels or side slopes.
Landings
1. Locate log loading or log storage areas (landings) along
ridge tops, on other areas having gentle slopes, or along widened
road areas.
2. Place landings in the channels of intermittent streams only
in those emergency situations where no safe alternative locations
can be found (Fig. 35). Adequately drain any landing that must be
placed in such channels. Immediately after completing all log
loadings from these landings, clear the channel to its full ca-
pacity, spread the fill material in areas where it will remain
stable, and reseed those areas to herbaceous vegetation.
3. Upon abandonment, "erosion-proof" all landings by adequately
ditching or mulching with forest litter, as needed. Establish
a herbaceous cover on those areas that will be used again in repeated
cutting cycles and restock to coniferous species those landings,
located in clear-cut areas, that will not be reused for a long
time, if ever.
Firelines
1. Limit tractor-built firelines to areas where they will not
involve problems in soil instability.
2. Adequately "cross-ditch" all firelines at time of construction
and revegetate them with adapted grasses and legumes.
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37
Slash Handling
When planning the harvesting of timber, give full consideration
to the disposal of slash to prevent adverse effects on water quality,
Avoid creating large continuous areas of heavy slash and facilitate
handling and disposal of slash by suitable methods (Fig. 36).
Encourage the reduction of debris, which could potentially
become a destructive agent during high streamflow, by insisting on
an aggressive salvage and prelogging program, fostering relogging
where a market exists, and setting clear, realistic criteria for
satisfactory stream clearance. In preparing these guidelines
utilize estimates of how much of the area will be flooded so that
high hazard areas can be designated, avoided, and protected.
Fit residue treatment to the need, area by area. Extract all
large, sound residues and mechanically treat the remainder, if
possible, in lieu of burning.
1. Carry out slash disposal and regeneration programs con-
currently with logging operations in order to provide maximum
protection to the disturbed areas.
2. Treat all slash and logging debris in such ways as may be
appropriate in order that the facilities available may provide the
same or a better degree of fire protection for the cutover area
than that which was available for it prior to logging. Reduce the
volume of the debris as much as possible by utilization of the woody
portion. Also, incorporate into the soil as much of the finer
-------
38
portion as possible (Fig. 37). This will, by natural means, improve
the soil structure and replace, at least in part, the plant nutrients
for the next crop, some of which might otherwise find their way into
the streams.
3. Provide for soil protection in all slash reduction plans.
If burning is the only practical means of debris disposal, do it
in such ways and at such times that the organic litter and the soil
surface is not totally destroyed.
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MUNICIPAL WATER SUPPLY WATERSHEDS
Undisturbed forested watersheds yield high quality water. In
some places in the Pacific Northwest, the water from such areas can
be used directly for drinking purposes. In many other locations, the
water is suitable for municipal supplies after a simple chlorination
treatment.
Some forested watersheds in the Pacific Northwest have been
set aside as closed watersheds for the sole purpose of producing
municipal water supplies. Access to such areas is carefully con-
trolled. Soil disturbances and other potential water quality de-
grading activities are kept to an absolute minimum.
Many municipalities rely on water supplies from multiple-use
watersheds because they have not been able to wholly or even
partially control man's activities on the watersheds that produce
their municipal water supplies. Also, a few other communities that
do have complete control of their watersheds have contracted to
have them logged in order to harvest the renewable, natural timber
resource which they support. The logging roads that have been built
are considered to be an asset because they permit access to the
watershed for the purpose of fighting wildfires.
Special precautions are needed for road building and logging
in municipal water supply watersheds.
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40
1. Permit tractor skidding only at locations specified in an
approved plan. Do not allow log skidding across live streams or
along paths that are parallel to a stream and that are closer than
100 feet of the stream. Use bridges or culverts for all stream
crossings.
2. Divert water used for filling truck brake reservoirs or
for truck washing a sufficient distance from the source to the
filling point to prevent spilling of overflow or waste from reach-
ing the stream.
3. Locate contractor camps completely out of municipal water-
sheds.
4. At landings and other areas where crews are located,
provide sanitation facilities that comply with those Federal, state,
or local regulations that are the most stringent.
5. On domestic water supply watersheds, use well maintained
chemical toilets for disposing of body wastes and remove all garbage
for disposal elsewhere.
6. Provide buffer strips to protect municipal water collection
and conveyance facilities.
7. Discourage soil scarification by crawler tractor, but if
exposing the mineral soil is the best method for preparing a site
that is to be seeded, disturb the soil as little as possible,
windrow the cleared material along the contour, limit the cleared
area between windrows to 75 to 100 feet of slope distance, and
scarify not more than 60 percent of the area.
-------
ILLUSTRATIONS
-------
V
FIGURE la. An early-spring sample of water taken from a creek a short
distance upstream from its confluence with a small tributary.
The water from the creek is used as a municipal water supply. Ordinarily,
its quality is so high it needs only chlorination. This sample contained
zero parts per million (ppm) of suspended solids.
-------
FIGURE Ib. This sample was taken from a small tributary where logging in
the stream channel was in progress a short distance upstream
from the sampling point. The sample had a total solids concentration of
70,192 ppm. The suspended solids settled out rather rapidly into a 1.5-
inch dark layer in the bottom of the jug.
-------
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FIGURE 2. Effect of turbidity on the
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4/ U. S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest
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p. 48.
-------
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FINE SEDIMENT IN SPAWNING BED, percent
FIGURE 3. The proportion of salmon alevins
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tive amount of fine sediment in the gravel
beds increases.§/
5/ Ibid., p. 49.
-------
FIGURE 4. Removal of trees and all other vegetation along Needle Branch
eliminated the shading effect and permitted peak stream water
temperature increases up to 16°F. Needle Branch is a small tributary of
Drift Creek, which flows into the Alsea River in Oregon. Photo courtesy
Bureau of Land Management, U. S. Dept. of the Interior, Nov. 1966.
-------
70
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NEEDLE BRANCH
(logged)
1966 |
AFTER CLEARCUTTING ,
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(not logged)
1965
BEFORE CLEARCUTTING--)
0000 0600 1200 1800
TIME OF DAV
2400
FIGURE 5. Water temperature in Needle Branch in Oregon, varied only some
2°F. during an average summer day before the trees were remov-
ed by the clear-cut logging method. It fluctuated about 15°F. (58 and 73
degrees) after logging. In Flynn Creek, a control (unlogged) watershed
nearby, the water temperature was 5 to 7 degrees cooler than in Needle
Branch even before Needle Branch was logged. The water temperature in
Flynn Creek remained about the same throughout the study because this
watershed was not logged.§/
Optimum temperatures for fish life are considered to be:
Resident situations (trout):
Winter: 42 - 58°F.
Summer: 45 - 68°F.
Migration routes (anadromous salmonoids):
45 - 60=F.
Spawning areas (resident and anadromous salmonoids):
45 - 55°F.
Rearing areas (resident and anadromous salmonoids):
50 - 60°F.
6/ Ibid., p. 49.
-------
FIGURE 6. The general characteristics of a random road pattern serving a
number of clear-cut logging units in the H. J. Andrews Experi-
mental Forest in central, western Oregon, in a view eastward toward the
summit of the Cascade Mountains. Photo courtesy Forest Service, U. S.
Dept. of Agriculture.
-------
Present Roads
Reserve Setting Roads
Projected Roads
Present Cutovers
FIGURE 7. The roads on the south side of Lookout Creek in the H. J. And-
rews Experimental Forest were located in "random" fashion and
built far enough each year to permit an annual cut of 20 million board
feet. The roads were constructed according to the best customary prac-
tices, utilizing a thorough knowledge of the terrain, a balance of
economic yarding distances, and good watershed management principles.
However, since a systematic approach was not followed, steep grades were
prevalent, road density was high, and the yarding coverage was relatively
poor. Drawing courtesy Forest Service, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture.
-------
Present Roads
Reserve Setting Roads
Projected Roads
Present Cutovers
FIGURE 8. A systematic road pattern was used on the north side of Look-
out Creek on the H. J. Andrews Experimental Forest. This
pattern has distinct road levels, a minimum length of climbing road, a
relatively low road density, and good yarding coverage. Drawing courtesy
Forest Service, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture.
-------
„*"
FIGURE 9. Stable roads capable of supporting heavy loads can be located
and constructed on steep slopes. Note the added safety pre-
caution illustrated here of having the heavily loaded truck driving on
the inside of the road when going out of the watershed and the unloaded
truck using the outside of the road when coming into the watershed. This
gives rise to the driving axiom for some private forest roads of: "out-
side in. and inside out." Photo courtesy Bureau of Land Management, U. S,
Dept. of the Interior.
-------
FIGURE 10. Generally, a stream (lower right) should be separated from an
access road (upper left) by filter strips of living vegetation.
Unfortunately, this temporary road, built during an emergency timber sal-
vage program, did not utilize road construction practices necessary to
protect the stream. Photo courtesy Forest Service, U. S. Dept. of Agri-
culture.
-------
FIGURE 11. Sometimes topographic features allow for little choice in the
location of a road. In those cases, special drainage and other
stability features must be built into the road in order to prevent its
being washed out during heavy storms. This junction of the Esmond Creek-
Roman Nose Mountain roads (Sec. 29, T 19 S, R 8 W, Willamette Base and
Meridian) required much searching for a suitable location plus much care
in construction. Photo courtesy Bureau of Land Management, U. S. Dept. of
the Interior.
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FIGURE 12. Esmond Creek-Roman Nose Mountain road junction after 10 years
of use. Continued stability of a difficult location such as
this requires constant, complete maintenance, especially of the drainage
system. Note the regrowth of vegetation on the fill material and evidence
of erosion around the end of the culvert. For full protection of the road
fill, this culvert should be provided with a downspout (Fig. 18) or protec-
tive riprap. Photo courtesy Bureau of Land Management, U. S. Dept. of the
Interior.
-------
FIGURE 13. Where feasible, safe, alternate locations through stable areas
cannot be found, incorporate corrective stabilization measures
into the road design. Use those measures that will increase the stability
of fill embankments and cuts and provide fill embankments with protection
against water erosion. Logs and posts are serving as effective protection
barriers for the stream in this difficult location where a protective fil-
ter strip or a better location for the road did not exist. Photo courtesy
Forest Service, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture.
-------
FIGURE 14. The water flows through this well-placed, pipe-arch culvert
as though it were a part of the natural stream. Fish can
pass through it easily because nonnegotiable pools were not formed and
the velocity of the water was not increased. Photo courtesy Forest Service,
U. S. Dept. of Agriculture.
-------
FIGURE 15. A poor culvert installation can block fish migrations even
though the culvert is otherwise well-designed, of adequate
size, and expensive to construct. Photo courtesy Oregon State Game
Commission.
-------
FIGURE 16. Pools formed behind barrier logs installed below a culvert
assist fish passage during migrations. Photo courtesy Forest
Service, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture.
-------
FIGURE 17. Inadequate design (culvert too small), improper placement (fill
not compacted or not protected), insufficient maintenance (cul-
vert clogged with debris), or a combination of these faults, often results
in erosion of the fill material and expensive repair bills. Photo courtesy
Forest Service, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture.
-------
FIGURE 18. Concentrations of road drainage require spec-
ial disposal precautions. For instance, this
well-anchored, half-round downspout protects a loose road
fill from a culvert's concentrated discharges. Note the
steel posts with the twisted wire binding which form a
secure fixed point for the metal channel. Photo courtesy
Forest Service, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture.
-------
FIGURE 19. At the conclusion of a logging operation, block off all traf-
fic and build water bars across all temporary roads. Do this
before the first period of heavy precipitation occurs and while the neces-
sary equipment is still in the area. Photo courtesy Forest Service, U. S,
Dept. of Agriculture.
-------
A concrete ford.
A temporary bridge of standard design.
FIGURE 20. Concrete "fords" or easily removed, temporary bridges of
standard design may be useful on unstable streams having
a high upstream debris hazard such as is indicated by these cobbly
stream channels. Photo courtesy Forest Service, U. S. Dept. of Agri-
culture.
-------
FIGURE 21. "Wet" mining road rock or gravel directly from live streams
creates excessive turbidity, which can be avoided by using
"dry" quarry mines. Photo courtesy Forest Service, U. S. Dept. of Agri-
culture.
-------
FIGURE 22. Waste material picked up during culvert cleaning or other
road maintenance work should be dumped only in safe bench or
cove locations so as to protect stream water quality. Dumping it in streams,
as shown here, seriously degrades stream water quality.
-------
^-^J-N \t, ^^
*
FIGURE 23. Well-stabilized roads should be kept fully maintained without
undercutting the inside slope or building up a berm on the
outside edge. On this road, the berm on the outside extended for several
miles and kept the precipitation channeled on the road during an early
fall rain. This caused washing away of portions of the tread. The berm
was subsequently spread across the full width of the road. Photo courtesy
Forest Service, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture.
-------
FIGURE 24. Huge quantities of organic debris are left on the ground after
clear-cutting, limbing, and bucking of a dense stand of old-
growth timber. Any such organic debris that falls into, is dragged into,
or washes into streams immediately begins to degrade the water quality.
Photo courtesy Forest Service, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture.
-------
FIGURE 25. Smaller log sections with the limbs cut off cause the least
soil gouging and thus minimize soil erosion and stream water
quality degradation during the skidding operation. Photo courtesy Bureau
of Land Management, U. S. Dept. of the Interior.
-------
FIGURE 26. Indiscriminate use of tractors on steep hillsides causes exces-
sive soil erosion. Crawler-tractor yarding should not be
allowed on any slope steeper than 30 percent. Photo courtesy Forest Ser-
vice, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture.
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FIGURE 27. Yarding logs can often be done economically with track-laying
tractors. However, on critical soils, crawler-tractor yarding
should be limited to slopes of less than 15 percent. Photo courtesy
Bureau of Land Management, U. S. Dept. of the Interior.
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FIGURE 28. Yarding the logs uphill will help disperse rather than concen-
i • j u u6 overland flow of runoff. When logging is completed and
logging debris has been fully utilized, or otherwise disposed of this
area needs to be reforested to ensure a new timber crop and to protect
the quality of inflow to streams. Photo courtesy Forest Service U S
Dept. of Agriculture. ' '
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FIGURE 29. Swinging skylines with grapples are a fairly recent log-yarding
innovation. They are more mobile than fixed skylines, but cause
more soil disturbance because the heavier logs may be dragged most or all of
the way to the landing. They are similar to high-lead log-yarding systems,
but have the big advantage of being able to maneuver the logs past stumps or
other obstructions. Swinging skylines can help reduce stream water degrada-
tion during the logging operation. Photo courtesy Pacific Logging Congress.
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FIGURE 30. Balloon logging may eventually replace some of the older meth-
ods. It or helicopter logging may also permit timber harvest-
ing to proceed on fragile areas that should not be logged even by use of
today's best systems and equipment. Photo courtesy Lennen & Newell/Pacific,
Portland, Oregon.
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FIGURE 31. Buffer strips of live vegetation between roads, clear-cut areas,
and streams help protect water quality. This vertical aerial
photo of an area on the Gifford Pinchot National Forest has an approximate
scale of 4 inches to the mile.
Pertinent points are:
A. Areas clear-cut logged about 1945-1951 are now well stocked with
coniferous trees that are 10-15 feet tall.
B. Areas clear-cut about 1964.
C. Uphill cable yarding trails on recent clear-cuts.
D. & F. Main timber access roads.
E. Canyon Creek.
G. Narrow, fairly short, dark area is strip of timber left to protect
stream from road fill. Gray-white areas at either end of buffer
strip are places where rocky soil and steep slopes prevented leav-
ing a protective strip of adequate width.
H. Tractor logging trails.
I. Spur roads to landings.
J. Scar in clear-cut area caused by off-road, downhill movement of yard-
ing equipment.
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FIGURE 32. Seeded grass gives protection to roadside cuts and fills and
reduces the rate of accelerated erosion.
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FIGURE 33. Mulching with straw or other organic matter and seeding to
adapted plant species helps stabilize raw road slopes. The
four-man crew on the mulching machine in operation on this newly construct-
ed road includes a truck driver, supply man (on truck), machine feeder, and
nozzle operator. Photo courtesy Forest Service, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture.
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FIGURE 34. This temporarily used, now abandoned, log-hauling road was
stabilized by seeding to perennial grasses after the road
had served the purpose for which it was constructed. If needed later,
this well-preserved road could be easily renovated. Photo courtesy
Forest Service, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture.
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WHEN Use
F/H/SHCO-
/HIT/ILL CULVSK.T re
HstHPLE 3T%.EAW FLOW
AKE
BIG crtac/sH for? WIHTEH
AMD SPRJNS FLOW
FIGURE 35. When there is no other alternative, a log loading and
storage area may have to be placed in a valley location.
Such log landings should be planned carefully, drained during use,
and obliterated or stabilized after use.5/
5/ U. S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, California Region.
1954. A Guide to Erosion Reduction on National Timber Sale Areas.
p. 16.
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FIGURE 36. Douglas-fir seed germinates best in mineral soil. Disposal by
suitable method of most of the small-sized logging slash facili
tates the reseeding and replanting of a Douglas-fir clearcut area. Photo
courtesy Bureau of Land Management, U. S. Dept. of the Interior.
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FIGURE 37. A protective mat of organic matter on and in the soil helps
reduce the sediment load washed into streams. Chopping up
the logging debris with a brush or slash cutter will help produce such
a protective mat. Photo courtesy Bureau of Land Management, U. S. Dept.
of the Interior.
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