FNR 88
forestry & natural resources
ENVIRONMENTAL FORESTRY 
Forestry and Water Quality: Pollution Control Practices
P. E. Pope, Assistant Professor of Forestry
Control of water pollution resulting from forestry activities using the best management practices (BMP) approach will generally involve a combination of prevention and reduction measures which are built into the interrelated activities of the access system, the harvest system, the crop regeneration methods, and the other intermediate activities. These prevention and reduction practices modify some aspect of the interactions among land capability, silvicultural activity, created conditions, natural mechanisms, and the associated pollutants.
Due to the complexity of the interaction among all the variables and among the various practices themselves, experienced natural resource managers should make recommendations to develop a feasible BMP for the solution of a particular water quality problem and for the prevention and/or reduction of pollution. Blanket prescriptions are not safe. A practice or mix of practices that could be a feasible solution to a potential pollution problem in one situation may not be feasible in another, or may even aggravate the problem. Therefore, a feasible, implementable BMP must be determined on a site-by-site basis with full consideration for overall management objectives.
Prevention Practices
Pollution prevention practices should be carefully thought out during the planning stage rather than relying on adaptive techniques developed during the actual silvicultural operation. These practices can be applied under a wide variety of management alternatives to meet a number of objectives.
The following is a list of the general type of prevention practices. (No priority should be attached to the order of the listing.) Particular
attention is paid to how these practices relate to water quality or water pollution control.
1. Correlate road and harvest plans to obtain the combination that will minimize the potential for non-point source pollution.
2. Locate access routes to avoid, to the extent possible, high hazard areas such as those known to contain a potential for landslides, highly erodible soils, and unstable stream channels. This is the most effective of all practices since the effects of poor location often cannot be overcome through project design or use of reduction practices.
3. Time the construction of stream crossings to minimize direct impact on the stream.
4. Design roads to minimize large cuts and fills immediately adjacent to stream channels. That is, make the roads fit the topography.
5. Provide for adequate surface and subsurface water control.
6. Provide for adequate reduction measures where high hazard areas cannot be avoided.
7. Select the proper operational methods and equipment for the specific site conditions.
8. Locate and lay out timber harvest areas to minimize the intensity of activities and the use of high hazard areas, particularly those immediately adjacent to stream channels.
9. Schedule activities in both time and space to control the amount of disturbance in any given watershed at any one time.
10. Minimize use of pesticides and other chemicals, and carefully analyze their need before application.
11. Minimize the use of practices which increase infiltration or the concentration of water in areas where mass soil movement (landslides) is a hazard.
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