Terms of Forest Management
Access road — A temporary or permanent access route for vehicular traffic.
Barrier — An obstruction intended to restrict pedestrian, horse or vehicular traffic to a specific location.
Bedding — A site preparation technique, usually in wet areas, whereby a small ridge of soil is formed as an elevated planting or seedbed.
Best management practices (BMPs) — Forest management practices developed to minimize or prevent non-point source water pollution.
BMPs, 15 Mandatory — See "15 Federally Mandated BMPs for Roads."
Borrow pit — An area that has been excavated for earthen material.
Broad-based dip — A surface drainage structure specifically designed to drain water from an access road while allowing vehicles to maintain normal travel speeds.
Buffer strip — A relatively undisturbed section of forest adjacent to an area requiring special attention or protection, such as a stream or lake.
Channel — A natural stream that conveys surface runoff water within well-defined banks.
Chemical site preparation — The use of herbicides to control plant competition to prepare an area for the establishment of a future forest either by artificial or natural means.
Chopping — The flattening of vegetation remaining after harvest in order to concentrate it near the ground.
Clearcutting — The total removal of a merchantable tree crop from an area.
Contour — An imaginary line on the surface of the earth connecting points of the same elevation.
Contour line — A line drawn on a map connecting points of the same elevation.
Corduroy — Placing small poles side by side, perpendicular to the roadway, usually over a mat of woody vegetation.
Culvert — Pipe made of metal, plastic or other suitable material installed under roads to transmit water from the roadway or side ditches, storm runoff, seeps and drains.
Cut and fill — Process of earthmoving by excavating part of an area and using the excavated material for adjacent embankments or road fill areas.
Disking — Tilling soil to enhance site preparation.
Diversion ditch — A drainage depression or ditch built across a slope to divert surface water from that slope.
Ephemeral stream — A watercourse generally without a well-defined channel that flows only in response to rainfall. These streams flow less than 20% of the year during normal rainfall conditions.
Erosion — The detachment and transportation of soil particles.
Filter strip — A vegetated area of land separating a water body from forest management activities.
Firebreak (fire lane) — Naturally occurring or man-made barrier to the spread of fire.
Fireline — A barrier used to stop the spread of fire, constructed by removing fuel or rendering fuel inflammable using water or fire retardant.
Ford — A natural or paved stream crossing suitable for shallow streams with stable bottoms.
Forest practices — An activity related to the growing, protecting, harvesting and processing of forest tree species.
Forestry — The science, the art and the practice of managing and using for human benefit the natural resources that occur on and in association with forest lands.
Grade — The slope of a road, usually expressed as a percent.
Gully — An eroded channel at least 12 inches deep.
Harvesting — The removal of merchantable tree crops from an area.
Herbicide — Any chemical or mixture of chemicals intended to prevent the growth of or promote the removal of targeted trees, bushes and/or herbaceous vegetation.
High-flotation equipment — Machinery that exerts low ground pressure.
Humus layer — The top layer of the soil formed by the decay of organic matter.
Intermittent stream — A watercourse that flows in a well-defined channel for 20-90% of the year during normal rainfall conditions.
Jurisdictional wetlands — Areas subject to the regulations of the Clean Water Act of 1987; generally, concave or low-lying topographic forms that collect, store or flow water frequently enough to favor a majority of plants that are adapted to saturated soil conditions.
Lateral ditch — A water turnout to move water from the roadway or roadside ditches. It is the same as a wing ditch or diversion ditch.
Log deck — A place where logs are assembled for temporary storage, loading and transportation.
Logging — The felling and transportation of wood products from the forest to a delivery location.
Logging debris — The unused and generally unmarketable accumulation of woody material, such as limbs, tops and stumps, that remains after timber removal.
Low-water bridge — A stream-crossing structure built with the expectation that, during periods of high water or flood, water will flow over the structure.
Mineral soil — The layer of earth composed of sand, silt and clay, in varying amounts, with less than 20% organic matter in the surface layer.
Mulching — Covering an area loosely with some material to hold soil in place and facilitate revegetation. Straw, bark, hay or wood fibers are common mulches.
Natural channel — A watercourse created by the erosive forces of water moving over land.
Natural regeneration — The planned regeneration of a forest that either uses existing trees as a source of seed or encourages sprouting from stumps or roots.
Non-point source pollution — Pollution which is 1) induced by natural processes, including precipitation, seepage, percolation and runoff; 2) not traceable to any discrete or identifiable facility; 3) controllable through the utilization of best management practices.
Nutrients — Mineral elements in the forest ecosystem, such as nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, usually insoluble compounds that are present naturally or may be added to the forest environment as forest chemicals, such as fertilizer.
Organics — Particles of vegetative material in the water, which can degrade water quality by decreasing dissolved oxygen and by releasing organic solutes during leaching.
Outfall protection — A rip-rap or aggregate placed at the outlet of a culvert or water-control device to protect that area from erosion damage due to the force or velocity of the outlet of water.
Outslope road — A road along a hill constructed so that the water will flow across the road toward its downhill side.
Perennial stream — A watercourse that flows continuously (at least 90% of the year) in a well-defined channel.
Pesticides — Any chemical substance that is used to control undesirable insects, diseases, vegetation, animals or other forms of life.
Point source pollution — Sources of water pollution which can be traced to a specific place or location.
Pollution — The presence in a body of water (or soil or air) of substances of such character and in such quantities that the natural quality of the environment is impaired or rendered harmful to health and life or offensive to the senses.
Prescribed burning — The controlled application of fire to wild-land fuels under such conditions of weather, fuel, moisture, etc., which allows the fire to be confined to a predetermined area and at the same time to produce the intensity of heat and rate of spread needed to further certain planned objectives (of silviculture, wildlife habitat management, grazing, fire hazard reduction, etc.).
Permanent road — A high-specification permanent road that is maintained periodically and serves as a main artery in a network of roads.
Parallel ditch — A drainage ditch alongside and parallel to a road.
Regeneration — The young tree crop replacing older trees removed by harvest or disaster; the process of replacing old trees with young.
Residual trees — Live trees left standing after the completion of harvesting.
Rill erosion — An erosion process in which numerous small channels only several inches deep are formed. Occurs mainly on disturbed and exposed soils.
Riparian — The land adjacent to and pertaining to the banks of streams, rivers or other water bodies.
Rip-rap — Aggregate placed on erodible sites to reduce the impact of rain or surface runoff on these area.
Rutting — Tracks in the soil resulting from the passage of heavy vehicles.
Rolling dip — Cross between a water bar and a broad-based dip; it has a reverse grade but is shorter than a broad-based dip.
Salvage cut — Removal of trees that are dead or imminently threatened with death in order to utilize their wood before it is ruined by natural decay agents.
Scarify — To break up the forest floor and top soil preparatory to natural or direct seeding (or the planting of seedlings).
Secondary road — A road constructed for a particular use or single operation and normally abandoned upon completion of the operation.
Sediment — Soil material, suspended in air or water, that is being transported or moved from its original site; the material that is deposited.
Seedbed — The soil prepared by natural or artificial means to promote the germination of seed and the growth of seedlings.
Set — A place where logs are assembled for temporary storage, loading, and subsequent transportation. (also see log deck)
Shearing — A site preparation method that involves cutting brush, trees and other vegetation at the ground level using tractors equipped with angled or v-shaped cutting blades.
Sheet erosion — The removal of a fairly uniform layer of soil from the soil surface by water runoff.
Side ditch — A drainage ditch alongside and parallel to a road.
Silvicultural activities — All forest management activities, including intermediate cutting, harvest, log transportation and forest-road construction (EPA interpretation).
Silviculture — Generally, the science and art of cultivating (growing and managing) forest crops, based on a knowledge of silvics; and more particularly, the theory and practice of controlling the establishment, composition, constitution and growth of forests. (Society of American Foresters)
Site preparation — A general term for removing unwanted vegetation and other material — if necessary — and soil preparation carried out before reforestation.
Skid trail — A route over which logs are moved from the location where the trees were felled to a landing or road.
Soil productivity — The output or productive capability of a forest soil to grow timber crops.
Slope — Steepness of the land expressed as the amount (in percent) of vertical fall per 100 ft. of horizontal distance.
Soil — The unconsolidated mineral and organic material on the immediate surface of the earth that serves as a natural medium for the growth of land plants.
Soil conservation — Using the soil within the limits of its physical characteristics and protecting it from unalterable limitations of climate and topography.
Stream — A well-defined natural channel that has a flow anywhere below its headwaters greater than 5 cubic feet per second at least 50% of the time (EPA — U.S. Army Corps of Engineers). A permanently or intermittently flowing body of water that follows a defined course.
Ephemeral stream flows during precipitation events and for a short period thereafter along a course that may or may not have a well-defined channel.
Intermittent stream flows only during wet periods (20-90% of the year), in a continuous, well-defined channel.
Perennial stream flows most of the time (more than 90% of the year) and flows in a well-defined channel.
Streambanks — The boundaries of a stream which contain normal flows.
Streamside management zone (SMZ) — Also known as riparian zones, these are sensitive areas adjacent to lakes, streams and watercourses where extra precautions in carrying out forest practices are necessary to protect water quality.
Temporary road — A minimal road of short-term use, which links timberland parcels to a permanent road.
Turnout — Drainage ditch which drains water away from roads. (see wing ditch)
Waterbar — A diversion dam constructed across a road or a trail to remove and disperse surface runoff in a manner that adequately protects the soil resource and limits sediment transportation.
Water body — An area of standing water with relatively little or slow movement (pond, lake, bay, slough).
Watercourse — A definite channel with bed and banks within which concentrated water flows continuously or intermittently.
Water pollution — Contamination or other alteration of the physical, chemical or biological properties of any natural waters of the state, or other such discharge of any liquid, gaseous or solid substance into any waters of the state, as well, or is likely to create a nuisance or render such waters harmful or detrimental or injurious to public health, safety or welfare, or to domestic, commercial, industrial, agricultural, recreational, or other legitimate beneficial uses, or to livestock, wild animals, birds, fish or other aquatic life. (EPA definition)
Water quality — A term used to describe the chemical, physical and biological characteristics of water, usually in respect to its suitability for a particular purpose.
Watershed area — All land and water within the confines of a drainage divide.
Wetland — Geographic area characteristically supporting hydrophytes, hydric soils and some saturation or flooding during the growing season.
Windrow — Slash, residue and debris pushed and/or raked into rows.
Wing ditch — A water turnout or diversion ditch constructed to move and disperse water away from the road and side ditches into adjacent undisturbed areas so that the volume and velocity of water are reduced on slopes. It is the same as a lateral or diversion ditch.