What Do I Need to Do On My Land?
The first thing you will want to do is take a look at your Forest Management Plan.
Consider your plan from a water and soil perspective and think about what forest management activities may impact these two critical woodland elements. These could be past, present or future activities. If you have done some timber harvesting or thinning in the past, you may need to do some restoration of stream crossings, revegetation and remediation of compacted soils. If you are currently working on road construction, pruning, thinning or other intensive activities, consider the impact this may have on soil and water. And going forward, look at the activities you have planned in the coming years and strategize about how you can minimize damage to soil and water, and restore any disturbance before it causes long-term harm.
Before you get started looking at your woodland, you may want to get better acquainted with Best Management Practices in general. One place to start is your state Department of Natural Resources. Many states provide a field manual for Forestry Best Management Practices (links provided in our resource section). These manuals will give guidelines to help you plan management activities like road building, prescribed burning and timber harvesting in a way that protects your soil, streams, lakes and wetlands.
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