Forestry Based Nonpoint Pollution: Forestry Brochure

Heavy rainfall in Louisiana rinses a variety of pollutants off the land, sending them into our canals, bayous, rivers, lakes, and estuaries. This "nonpoint source pollution"comes from scattered or diffuse sources and is not discharged from a single concentrated "point source" such as a pipe outlet. Nonpoint source pollutants are rinsed off streets and parking lots, and washed from crop fields, livestock pens, construction sites, and from lands on which some type of forestry operation is being conducted. Some of this pollution makes its way to our salt marshes, beaches, oyster beds, bays and other coastal waters. There pollutants can accumulate, threatening organisms ranging from shrimp, oysters, and redfish, to pelicans, bald eagles, ... and people.

WHAT ARE SOME EXAMPLES OF NONPOINT SOURCE POLLUTANTS FROM FORESTRY?

When forestry operations are carried out without paying attention to protecting our soil and water resources, a variety of problems can result. The main nonpoint source pollutant from forestry is sediment. Others include excessive nutrients (mainly nitrogen and phosphorus), forest chemicals (herbicides, insecticides and fungicides), and organic debris. Other negative impacts include disruption of natural drainage and increased irregularity of streamflows, and increased water temperatures. The presence and severity of these problems depend on site characteristics, weather conditions during the operations, and the forestry practices employed. We can't control the weather, but we can try to use the best practices that we have available for managing the land and its resources.

HOW IS LOUISIANA PLANNING TO ADDRESS THIS SET OF PROBLEMS?

Louisiana is developing a program to reduce pollution from "nonpoint" or widely diffuse sources that may impact coastal waters. While we can never stop all of the nonpoint source water pollution, there are a number of practices that each one of us can adopt to help protect and conserve our soil and water resources. The program will consist of menus of recommended "best management practices" (BMPs), or actions that can be taken to address specific problem issues, as well as a plan to help bring about implementation of these practices.

This Coastal Nonpoint Pollution Control Program, or CNPCP, is sometimes referred to as the "CZARA" program, the "6217" program, or the "Coastal Nonpoint Source" program. The Louisiana Dept. of Natural Resources (LDNR) is the designated lead agency coordinating its development. The CNPCP will address six major source categories: Agriculture, Forestry, Urban Runoff, Hydrology Modifications, Marinas and Recreational Boating, and Wetland Conservation. Each source category is broken down into ten to fifteen problem issues called management measures.

Management measures must use economically achievable approaches to reduce pollutants that would impact our coastal waters, applying best available technology. Louisiana is developing menus of recommended best management practices or BMPs to address each management measure. While not all of these best management practices will be appropriate for all places and situations, most of us can do at least something more or different to better manage our land and water.

Listed below are some examples of BMPs that can be used to address each management measure. A complete listing of Louisiana's forestry BMPs can be obtained by contacting LDNR.

FORESTRY MANAGEMENT MEASURES AND EXAMPLES OF BEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES

1. Preharvest Planning
   1. Analyze and plan the site preparation method with full consideration for streamside management zone (SMZ) protection.
   2. Make full use of soil surveys, topographic maps, and aerial photographs to achieve the most practical road locations.
   3. Use practices that minimize soil disturbance on highly erodible soils.
   4. Locate roads along the contour and at a distance sufficient to minimize the impact to streams. Avoid building roads in marshes, wet meadows, natural drainage channels, and in streamside management zones.
2. Streamside Management Zones
   1. Establish a zone adequate to protect streambed and streambank integrity.
   2. Generally, the larger the streams, the wider the streamside management zone (SMZ). Width also depends on amount of slope, soil texture, and density of vegetation.
   3. Locate roads and log decks outside SMZs, wherever possible.
   4. Skidding across streams should be minimized. When crossings must be made, they should be at right angles to the stream, and should take advantage of natural fords with firm bottoms, stable banks, and gentle slopes along approaches.
3. Road Construction/Reconstruction
   1. Construct a road sufficient to carry the anticipated traffic load with reasonable safety and with minimum environmental impact.
   2. Roads should be designed to drain naturally at all times, by crowning, ditching, installing culverts, and/or outsloping.
   3. Waste material and woody debris from road construction should be cleared from streams and drainage ways and deposited above the ordinary high water mark.
   4. Upon completion of operation, temporary roads, skid trails, landings, etc. may need to be conditioned to minimize erosion.
4. Road Management
   1. Inspect all roads to monitor their integrity. Restrict traffic during wet periods if necessary.
   2. Where natural vegetation is not sufficient to control erosion, seeding, mulching, and other revegetate or stabilize of exposed soil may be needed.
   3. When maintaining ditches, consideration should be given to mowing or less toxic herbicides to treat vegetation rather than exposing the soil with motor-grader or dozer.
5. Timber Harvesting
   1. Skid trails and landings should take advantage of topography to minimize disturbance to natural drainage patterns.
   2. Directionally fell trees away from water bodies and remove any debris that gets into waters, streams, or drainage courses. Leave Streamside Management Zones adequate to protect stream shading and streambank integrity.
   3. Service equipment away from streams. Oil drained while servicing equipment should be caught in a container and properly disposed.
   4. All trash generated during the operation, including maintenance or equipment servicing, should be disposed in an acceptable manner.
6. Site Preparation and Forest Regeneration
   1. Keep site preparation to the minimum necessary to control competing vegetation and establish a desirable timber stand.
   2. Generally, machine planting should follow ground contours.
   3. Soil, topography, competing vegetation, precipitation, and drainage considerations should govern methods and equipment chosen.
   4. Hand planting, direct seeding or natural regeneration should be used on protected areas adjacent to streams or on slopes too steep to machine plant.
   5. When working on slopes, mechanical operations such as bedding, ripping, shearing, etc., should follow contours. Drum chopping is an exception to this.
7. Fire Management
   1. Firebreaks on erodible steeper grades should contain waterbars or diversions at frequent intervals. Discharge water into undisturbed vegetation outside the burn, whenever possible.
   2. Presuppression firebreaks should be located on the contour as often as possible.
8. Revegetation of Disturbed Areas
   1. Upon completion of the operation, temporary roads, skid trails, and landings should be conditioned to minimize erosion.
   2. Where natural vegetation is not sufficient to control erosion, seeding, mulching, and other revegetate or stabilize of exposed soil may be needed.
   3. Landowners should take maximum advantage of prompt reforestation to reduce erosion and sedimentation.
9. Forest Chemical Management
   1. Observe all State and Federal laws and regulations that cover the purchase, transport, storage, use and disposal of chemicals.
   2. Chemicals should be applied by trained and certified licensees and label instructions followed.

HOW CAN INDIVIDUALS GET INVOLVED?

Public participation and public education/outreach will be important in the Coastal Nonpoint Pollution Control Program. The Best Management Practices or "BMPs" are the "best practices" that we know of at this time, but they can be, and will be, improved, upgraded and replaced over time as we work out even better ways of managing our resources. We welcome and encourage the involvement of all interested Louisianians in this process. Additional comments and questions can be addressed to the:

Technical and graphic support provided by LSU Agricultural Center's Louisiana Cooperative Extension Service