Assessing Visual Soil Disturbance on Eight Commercially Thinned Sites in Northeastern Washington

摘要

Randomly located transects were used to assess visual soil disturbance on eight units in the Fritz Timber Sale, Colville National Forest. Equipment trails, mostly designated, accounted for about 25 percent of the total area. The cut-to-length harvester and forwarder combination with 130-foot trail spacing produced the least visual disturbance. Leaving slash on trails appeared to reduce displacement and rutting. Rehabilitation of trails, landings, and temporary roads could move seven of the eight units toward compliance with regional standards for detrimental disturbance. Validation of these regional standards is needed to determine the effects of soil disturbance on soil productive capacity.