Riparian Management Practices in the Eastern U.S.: A Summary of State Timber Harvesting Guidelines

Blinn, Charles R.; Kilgore, Michael A.

doi:10.1023/b:wafo.0000012819.24003.16

Cited by 68 publications

(104 citation statements)

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“…Reviews of BMP guidelines for states in the southern U.S. have reported differences related to forestry activities (Blinn and Kilgore, 2001;Grace, 2002c;Thompson, 2000, 2001). Perhaps the greatest difference in BMP programs pertains to legislation for BMPs.…”

Section: Role Of Bmpsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Forest Operations and Water Quality in the South

Grace¹

2005

Transactions of the ASAE

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n recent years, nonpoint-source (NPS) pollution has been identified as perhaps the greatest threat to the nation's water quality (USEPA, 2003). The Clean Water Act (CWA) of 1977, a result of amendments to the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (FWPCA) of 1972, has two primary goals for the achievement of objectives set forth in the CWA: eliminate discharge of pollutants into the nation's waters, and achieve water quality levels in the nation's waters that are fishable and swimmable. Today, the majority of the nation's waters meet water quality levels set forth in the goals of the CWA. The CWA established the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as the chief agency responsible for permitting, enforcing, and administrating the law to states. Section 208 of the CWA identified timber harvesting and silvicultural activities as NPS pollution sources. In Section 208, states were required to establish best management practices (BMPs) for forestry related activities to reduce NPS pollution.Section 303(d) of the CWA also established the Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) program in an attempt to achieve "Cleaner Waters across America." The mission of the program is to ensure healthy watersheds and public health protection. The TMDL program identifies impaired waters, determines pollution reductions required for health, and ensures corrections to reduce NPS pollution. As of 1999, 20,000 of the nation's water bodies, including 300,000 river and shore miles and 5 million lake acres, were identified as polluted (USEPA, 1999). The reduction of runoff through more efficient use of water, fertilizer, and pesticides is an action suggested by the EPA for cleaner waters while TMDLs are developed. Within watersheds on 303(d) lists, many nonpoint sources are extremely difficult to pinpoint, measure, and control due to the intertwined land use categories within a given watershed. Possible nonpoint sources of sediments in managed forested lands include harvesting, roads, log decks, skid trails, and site preparation.Intensive management practices have been reported to influence water yield and quality. The use of intensive management practices in the South has made the region one of the most productive in the world (Prestemon and Abt, 2002). The use of intensive management practices in combination with the abundant water resources in the region increases the potential for water quality impacts. In this context, the South would likely be the optimal region to evaluate the extent and nature of the water quality impacts of forest operations. The objective of this article is to provide a review of the watershed research on the nature and extent of NPS pollution attributed to forest operations, specifically harvesting, site preparation, fertilization, and road construction and maintenance, in the South. This article also explores the role of BMPs in NPS issues related to forest operations.

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Section: Role Of Bmpsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Forest Operations and Water Quality in the South

Grace¹

2005

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“…In the USA a summary of 49 States forest riparian guidelines by Blinn and Kilgore (2001) shows that most States recommend widths below the above mentioned range. Just less than two-thirds specify widths of 7.515 m, while some 25% set widths in the range 1530 m. Swedish guidelines (Skogsstyrelsen, 2000) set widths of 1030 m depending on site sensitivity, while the Irish Forestry and Water Quality Guidelines (Forest Service, 2000) recommend minimum widths of 1020 m for moderate and very steeply sloping ground, and 1525 m for highly erodible soils.…”

Section: Salmo Salar Salmo Trutta Thymallus Thymallusmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For example, the FC Forests and Water Guidelines recommend that 50% of the water surface should be under dappled shade (FC, 2003) and this specification falls within the range of desirable light regimes suggested by other authors. A summary of State guidelines in the USA by Blinn and Kilgore (2001) noted that almost half of those specifying a proportion of trees to be left in the riparian zone following harvesting, recommended leaving 50% of the original canopy or basal area intact.…”

Section: Buffer Structurementioning

confidence: 99%

The effects of riparian forest management on the freshwater environment: a literature review of best management practice

Broadmeadow

Nisbet

2004

Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci.

284

237

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National Forests and Water Guidelines require the establishment of riparian buffers to help protect the freshwater environment from disturbance by silvicultural operations on the adjacent land. The main functions of the riparian buffer are considered to be sediment removal and erosion control, protection of water quality, moderation of shade and water temperature, maintenance of habitat structural diversity and ecological integrity, and improvement of landscape quality. This review paper assesses how these functions are affected by the design and management of the riparian forest zone, with a focus on the width of the buffer, the structure of the vegetation and species choice. It is not possible to specify a definitive riparian buffer width that will protect the freshwater environment from every potential threat. Forestry agencies usually recommend widths between 10 and 30 m. Buffer widths towards the lower end of this scale tend to protect the physical and chemical characteristics of a stream, while the maintenance of ecological integrity requires widths at the upper end. In terms of structure and species, the benefits are greatest where the riparian buffer replicates native riparian woodland with an open canopy of mixed species of varied age class. The optimum level of shade is difficult to quantify but limited work suggests that a good balance is achieved where around 50% of the stream surface is open to sunlight and the remainder covered by dappled shade. Within the management of riparian woodland there is a need to consider a streams sensitivity and intrinsic value. Some sites will benefit from active intervention such as thinning, coppicing or pollarding, while others will be favoured by a hands-off approach. Long-term continuity of management is important to ensure that the potential benefits to the freshwater environment are realised.

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“…Retention of trees along riparian corridors has been suggested as an important management practice (Swanson and Franklin 1992). Retaining such buffer strips have mostly been motivated from a water quality perspective, targeting aquatic biota such as fish and their food (Castelle et al 1994, Blinn andKilgore 2001). Recently, their importance for terrestrial biota has also been stressed (Hibbs and Bower 2001, Pearson and Manuwal 2001, Cockle and Richardson 2003, even if the rationale from the perspective of natural disturbance dynamics has been questioned (Macdonald et al 2004).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Substrate Form Determines the Fate of Bryophytes in Riparian Buffer Strips

Hylander

Dynesius

Jonsson

et al. 2005

Ecological Applications

117

123

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Substrate form determines the fate of bryophytes in riparian buffer strips.Ecological Applications, http://dx.doi.org/10.1890/04-0570Access to the published version may require subscription. N.B. When citing this work, cite the original published paper. Abstract. Studies on the effectiveness of forest buffer strips left along streams after logging have long overlooked the biota of the buffers themselves, despite their high species richness. We investigated mosses and liverworts (bryophytes), abundant and species-rich groups in boreal forests, before and 2.5 years after logging along 15 small streams. In each site, two 1000-m 2 (20 ϫ 50 m) plots along the stream were inventoried; one plot in an area subjected to clear-cutting, and another in a buffer strip (10 m wide on each side of the stream). Ten plots along small streams in forest reserves in the same region were used as references. We found that less than half as many bryophyte species per plot disappeared after logging in the buffer strips compared to the clearcuts. The changes in bryophyte cover and in species composition were smaller in the buffer strips, and the species that were negatively affected in the clearcuts were less affected in the buffer strips. However, there was a significant change in species composition in the buffer strips compared to the references. Substrate form and taxonomic group were important factors in understanding this turnover. Many species growing on substrates with a convex form (e.g., logs, tree bases, and mesic ground) decreased or disappeared, while species on concave substrates were rather unaffected. This held for both mosses and liverworts, although liverworts were generally more sensitive than mosses. The difference in response of assemblages on convex vs. concave substrates makes changes in microclimate due to logging a likely explanation. The species in most need of protection (i.e., the red-listed species) were among the ones with strongest declines in the 20 m wide buffer strips. In order to function optimally for bryophyte conservation, forests along small streams need to be protected from high windthrow frequency and strong edge effects. Increasing the width of buffer strips at sites with known or potential values (e.g., large amounts of woody debris or boulders) should be considered a better strategy than using narrow buffer strips with a fixed width.

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Riparian Management Practices in the Eastern U.S.: A Summary of State Timber Harvesting Guidelines

Cited by 68 publications

References 1 publication

Forest Operations and Water Quality in the South

Forest Operations and Water Quality in the South

The effects of riparian forest management on the freshwater environment: a literature review of best management practice

Substrate Form Determines the Fate of Bryophytes in Riparian Buffer Strips

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