Tag: Best management practices

The Southern Pine Module Goes Virtual

by Jim Guldin, Southern Research Station Silviculturist  • 
In 2019, Janet Hinchee, the USDA Forest Service Regional Silviculturist for the South invited me to coordinate the Southern Pine Module, a ten day workshop for the Forest Service National Advanced Silviculture Program. The workshop is a key element of the agency’s program for National Forest land managers, especially district silviculturists, to obtain required silvicultural…  More 

Past Partial-Cutting Techniques More Beneficial Than Past Clear-Cutting

by Casey Conrad, SRS Science Communications Intern  • 
What is the most sustainable way to harvest a forest? A team led by USDA Forest Service scientists Katherine Elliott and Chelcy Miniat, along with Forest Service intern Andrea Medenblik, tries to answer this question. Data were analyzed from a long-term study looking at the biomass effects of partial-cutting versus clear-cutting in different watersheds in…  More 

Stream Crossings and Water Quality

by Stephanie Worley Firley, Eastern Threat Center  • 
In many situations, the adage “dirt doesn’t hurt” is true. One important exception is when soils erode, and rain washes the sediments into streams. Johnny Boggs, a biological scientist with the U.S. Forest Service Eastern Forest Environmental Threat Assessment Center, recently led a study on preventing stream sedimentation in forests. Sedimentation impacts water quality and can…  More 

Using Urban Forests to Manage Stormwater Runoff

by Zoё Hoyle, SRS Science Communications  • 
We’ve read a lot lately about the innumerable human health benefits provided by urban trees and forests. Urban forest systems can also function as part of a city’s stormwater control system by intercepting rainfall and regulating the flow of water to and through the soil. Forests efficiently store stormwater, return water to the atmosphere, and filter…  More 

Protecting Water Quality in North Carolina’s Neuse River Basin

by Sarah Farmer, SRS Science Delivery  • 
The Neuse River begins in the Piedmont region of North Carolina, and much of its 275-mile journey to the Atlantic Ocean is through forests that are managed for timber. A new study by U.S. Forest Service researchers evaluates Best Management Practices (BMPs) for silviculture operations to see whether water quality in the Neuse River Basin…  More 

New Report and Interactive Map Detail Best Management Practices for States

by Adapted from NASF news release  • 
In recognition of Earth Day, the National Association for State Foresters (NASF) has released a report on forestry best management practices (BMPs) for water quality, along with an interactive map detailing practices in each state. State forestry agencies have been developing BMPs since the 1970s, building a reliable set of standards that help protect local water…  More