Publication Summary

This study to evaluate the effectiveness of certain forest road and timber harvest best management practices (BMPs) is being conducted as a part of the Timber/ Fish/Wildlife Cooperative Monitoring, Evaluation and Research Program. The purpose of this first Interim Report is to describe the sampling design for the study, the study sites established to date, survey methodologies employed, and to present our field survey protocols.

This study to evaluate the effectiveness of certain forest road and timber harvest best management practices (BMPs) is being conducted as a part of the Timber/ Fish/Wildlife Cooperative Monitoring, Evaluation and Research Program. The purpose of this first Interim Report is to describe the sampling design for the study, the study sites established to date, survey methodologies employed, and to present our field survey protocols.

The project is employing a case study approach to evaluating BMP effectiveness. A total of 75 to 90 examples of typical BMPs, implemented under varying degrees of landscape hazard, will be selected from six of the nine physiographic regions of Washington. General BMP categories targeted in the study include road construction practices, road maintenance practices, and timber harvesting practices. A number of qualitative and quantitative survey techniques are being employed to assess erosion and sediment delivery to streams, aquatic habitat conditions, and biological communities. In most cases, two or more survey techniques are applied to each BMP example studied. The different survey techniques will provide different kinds of evidence on forest practice effects, leading to a weight-of-evidence approach to determining BMP effectiveness. Thirty-six study sites have been identified so far in the project, at which 79 specific BMP examples are being evaluated. These include 37 harvesting BMPs (tractor/wheeled skidding, Riparian Management Zones, and Riparian Leave Tree Areas), 38 new road construction BMPs (road drainage design, culvert installation, and construction techniques), and four road maintenance BMPs (active haul road maintenance). Six physiographic regions of the state are represented in the sample.