Reduce Rutted or Puddled Soil by Proper Operating Practices · • Reduce rutted or puddled soil by proper operating practices during forestry operations. • Quantify if it is rutted

i Reduce Rutted or Puddled Soils by Proper Operating Practices

Manitoba Sustainable Development Forest Practices

Guidebook

Reduce Rutted or Puddled Soil by Proper Operating Practices

December 2016

Valid for 2 years from approval

Reduce Rutted or Puddled Soils by Proper Operating Practices ii

Manitoba Sustainable Development Forest Practices

Guidebook


December 2016 Developed by Manitoba Sustainable Development The following organizations are acknowledged for their contributions: Tolko Industries Ltd. LP Canada Ltd. Spruce Products Ltd. Copies of this publication are available at: www.manitoba.ca/conservation/forestry/practices/guidelines.html Or contact: Forestry and Peatland Management Branch Manitoba Sustainable Development 200 Saulteaux Crescent Winnipeg, Manitoba R3J 3W3 204-232-9521 The public is encouraged to send any comments or recommendations to [email protected].

http://www.manitoba.ca/conservation/forestry/practices/guidelines.html�

mailto:[email protected]�

Reduce Rutted or Puddled Soils by Proper Operating Practices iii

Preface

Manitoba Forest Practices This guidebook has been developed as part of Manitoba Sustainable Development’s Forest Practices Initiative. Led by the Forestry and Peatlands Management Branch, this guide provides direction for resource managers, timber operators, Conservation Officers and auditors when conducting or assessing forestry activities. A primary goal of the initiative is to advance best practices using guidelines and standards for sustainable forest management activities in Manitoba. These guidelines present alternative procedures or standards that can be applied to satisfy principles the guidelines are based on. Guidelines are then used to develop prescriptions. Specific guidelines are enforceable when included as conditions of an Operating Permit or Work Permit. Forest practices guidebooks ensure all forest resource values are appropriately addressed for the full range of forest activities. Forest practices guidebooks are references available for resource managers, timber operators, Conservation Officers and auditors. Others include provincial guidelines, forest management plans, operating plans and standard operating procedures, which are developed independently by each forest industry company. Committee membership consists of members from Manitoba Sustainable Development branches, one regional resource manager, one forest industry member from each Forest Management Licensee, Spruce Products Ltd and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. Standing invitations have been extended to the Forest Industry Association of Manitoba (FIAM), representing quota holders, the Manitoba Model Forest and Ducks Unlimited. Committee members co-operate in a consensus seeking manner to develop forest practice guidebooks. Each guidebook has a complete set of guidelines for a specific forest practice, pertinent references to science, legislation, policy, agreements and licences, as well as recommendations for the planning, implementation, monitoring and enforcement of this forest practice. The recommendations, as much as possible, are:

• measurable • practical • based on scientific evidence, traditional knowledge and collective experience • flexible and applicable in a variety of ecological conditions • clearly presented for consistent interpretation and application • supported by technical terminology and definitions

Forestry practices in Manitoba are continuously monitored and appropriately amended when necessary. Guidebooks are reviewed every five years or earlier, if required. Guidebooks can be found on the Manitoba Sustainable Development, Forestry and Peatland Management Branch website: www.manitoba.ca/conservation/forestry/practices/guidelines.html

http://www.manitoba.ca/conservation/forestry/practices/guidelines.html�

Reduce Rutted or Puddled Soils by Proper Operating Practices iv

Table of Contents

Preface ........................................................................................................................................ iii Manitoba Forest Practices ...................................................................................................... iii

Reduce Rutted or Puddled Soil by Proper Operating Practices ................................................... 1 Purpose ..................................................................................................................................... 1 Defining Rutting ....................................................................................................................... 2

Operational Guidelines to Avoid Rutted or Puddled Soil ............................................................ 7 General ..................................................................................................................................... 7 Feller Buncher .......................................................................................................................... 7 Skidder-Forwarder ................................................................................................................... 8 Site Preparation ........................................................................................................................ 8 Acceptable Remedial Action of Rutted or Puddled Soil .......................................................... 8

Procedure – Once Rutted or Puddled Soil Is Identified ............................................................... 8 Small Area Method - Measuring Unacceptable Rutted or Puddled Soil ...................................... 9 Total Area Method - Measuring Unacceptable Rutted or Puddled Soil .................................... 10

List of Tables Table 1 - Acceptable Line Intersect Lengths for Cutovers ......................................................... 11 List of Figures Figure 1 - Measuring a Rut ......................................................................................................... 3 Figure 2 - An Example of Rutted Soil ......................................................................................... 3 Figure 3 - An Example of Soil that is not Rutted ........................................................................ 4 Figure 4 - An Example of Puddled Soil ...................................................................................... 5 Figure 5 - An Example of Unacceptable Rutted or Puddled Soil ............................................... 6 Figure 6 - An Example of Using Equilateral Triangles to Measure Rutted or Puddled Soil ...... 11

Reduce Rutted or Puddled Soils by Proper Operating Practices

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Purpose The purpose of this document is to:

• Proactively plan for site and soil protection — used as a means to avoid compacting soils and developing rutted or puddled soil.

• Reduce rutted or puddled soil by proper operating practices during forestry operations. • Quantify if it is rutted or puddled soil (meets parameters). • Quantify operating impacts in relation to rutted or puddled soil.

Background In Manitoba, soil compaction and rutted or puddled soil can reduce the productivity of a site, disrupt surface drainage and infiltration and contribute to sediment movement from erosion. During timber harvesting, soil compaction results from an increase in soil bulk density, primarily due to ground pressure by heavy equipment. Compaction may occur over broad areas, where it would not necessarily result in a visible depression. Compaction is the compression of the soil caused by a load (or by pressure) that exceeds the strength of the soil to resist it. For the most part, soil compaction is hard to see and measure. This guidebook will concentrate on the reduction of rutted or puddled soil. A rut is a depression made into the soil surface by the passage of a piece of heavy equipment. Rutting occurs when soil strength is not sufficient to support the applied load from heavy equipment. Early in the process, the Forest Practices Committee decided that the length of a rut had little or no bearing on the soil disturbance of a cutover.Puddled soil is the loss of macroporosity from mixing of LFH and lower soil horizons when the soil was wet. The soil structure has been become structureless due to compaction and mixing. Puddled soil occurs when the equipment used on a site churns the top organic layers with the soil below to such an extent that the soil loses macroporosity. This churning occurs in the soil structure usually after repeated travel cycles. Once dry, the puddled soil may turn into hard pan with no measurable ruts. Generally, puddled soil occurs on medium to fine textured soils. There may be some instances of unacceptable rutted or puddled soil that are not described in this guideline. Goal Avoid creating rutted or puddled soil in a forest during harvest or renewal, since damaging the soil alters normal ecosystem functions.

• Maintain normal ecosystem functions throughout the depletion area. • Actively manage the impacts of rutted or puddled soil by minimizing the damage during

timber harvesting or renewal.

Reduce Rutted or Puddled Soils by Proper Operating Practices 2

Objectives:

• to maintain natural water movement over, across, through, and within forest soils • to prevent sediment movement into riparian buffers, wetlands or water bodies • to quantify unacceptable rutted or puddled soil on a harvest block • to avoid root damage, especially in hardwood stands (best management practices) • to avoid unacceptable rutted or puddled soil incidents through proper planning and

operating techniques • to monitor unacceptable rutted or puddled soil

How this guideline will be applied

• communications as soon as someone sees rutted or puddled soil – notification to supervision- planning and permitting authority with GPS location- time and date and what follow-up occurred

• used by field supervisors to provide a baseline of current practice and evaluate acceptable and unacceptable rutted or puddled soil

• as a training tool to help operators avoid rutted or puddled soil • as a measureable evaluation rather than visual assessment • this guideline has been developed using other jurisdiction metrics and will be reviewed to

allow for required improvements two years after guidebook approval • the measurement of unacceptable rutted or puddled soil in roads and landings are

excluded from this guideline – the distance of excluded area is 30 metres from the road edge

• this guidebook applies to the authorized harvest area - no rutted or puddled soil to occur in ephemeral or intermittent drains or streams or wetlands

• when a Supervising Officer or a Forest Officer sees a cutover that appears to be approaching unacceptable rutted or puddled soil - a notification email should be sent to the Regional Forester with communications to the permit holder

• the Regional Forester will have the area measured to assess if the rutted or puddled soil in the cut is above or below the metric

Defining Rutting Rutting occurs when soil strength is not sufficient to support the applied load from timber harvesting equipment. A rut is a visible depression made into the soil surface by the passage of a piece of equipment. A rut in Manitoba is defined as:

• a 30-centimetre or greater depression of any length, measured from the original soil elevation to the bottom of the depression, created from the passage of heavy equipment (Figure 1 and 2)


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Figure 1 – Measuring a Rut

Figure 2 - An Example of Rutted Soil

Soil d

Original soil elevation

Rut depth

Rut width


Figure 3 - An Example of Soil that is not Rutted

This tire mark is not considered a rut. To be a rut, it must be 30 centimetres or more deep. Definitions Puddled soil is damaged soil structure (mixing of LFH and lower soil horizons) and the associated loss of macroporosity that results from working the soil when wet. This picture below is an example of puddled soil. There must be a minimum area of 10 square metres of puddled soil to qualify (ex: a 3-metre by 4-metre area). There must be a joint (licensee and Manitoba) inspection for puddled soil to contribute to the matrix. Generally, puddled soil does not occur in sand. Note: a puddle of water does not mean puddled soil.


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The Forest Practices Committee looked at pictures of one cutover in Manitoba that was surveyed close to 5% rutted or puddled soils. The Forest Practices Committee decided that 5% rutted or puddled soils was the maximum amount allowed. Figure 4 - An Example of Puddled Soil


Figure 5 - An Example of Unacceptable Rutted or Puddled Soil

Ruts are trenches or furrows created by equipment tires or tracks. Rutting displaces soil and damages soil structure. Rutting is caused by a single pass or repeated passes of heavy equipment when soil strength is low due to moisture saturation. Rutting occurs most easily on medium-to-fine textured saturated soils, and on organic soils with a well decomposed surface organic layer. The negative effects of rutted or puddled soil include:

• Hardwood suckering regeneration comes from sprouts on the tree’s roots. Root damage from rutted or puddled soil reduces hardwood regeneration density, height growth, and vigour.

• Tree roots are severely affected by rutted or puddled soil; roots become damaged or broken. Regenerating trees with damaged or broken roots are susceptible to disease and to toppling during high winds.

• Lateral flow of drainage water is blocked, causing a localized increase in the water table and the possibility of ponding.


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• Displacement and movement of soil particles; this results in changes to soil structure and strength

• Surface water channeling along a rut can cause soil erosion and sedimentation • Reduction in height growth and volume of crop trees. • Increased growing time for trees and stands to reach maturity (increased crop rotation). • Loss of suitable seedbeds results in lower regeneration success, or regeneration lag. • Loss of productive land. • Changes in vegetation composition and structure, resulting in changes to wildlife habitat

characteristic. • Risk of higher competition from grasses and other perennials. • Drainage of water through the soil is reduced or modified, which can result in fewer

nutrients available to tree roots. (Sutherland 2003) To summarize, rutted or puddled soil should be avoided to prevent significant impacts to overall site productivity, root damage, disruption of surface drainage and infiltration, and contributes to sediment movement into riparian buffers, wetlands or water bodies.

Operational Guidelines to Avoid Rutted or Puddled Soil General

• Training, active supervision and best management practices is the key to preventing rutted or puddled soil before it becomes a significant problem.

• Prevent ruts that channel water into, or within, 15 metres of lakes, ponds, rivers, streams or those portions of mapped non-forested wetlands dominated by open water or non-woody vegetation.

• Suspend operations or move to areas with higher strength soils if unacceptable rutting or puddled soil has occurred, until conditions improve.

• Road construction and skidding layout is important in reducing rutting or puddled soil (proactive).

• When crossing a low wet area between two higher areas, consider developing a strategy to reduce the impact and share it with the supervising officer. Where repeated passes are required, use corduroy, pipe bundles, brush matting or frozen conditions to cross soft areas.

• Ruts that are causing significant erosion, channeling water and mud flow will be repaired as soon as practical.

• No more than 50 per cent of any 1,000 square metres is permitted in ruts. Cease operations before unacceptable rutting or puddling occurs. The operator and supervisor should work on communications that avoid this metric from happening.

• In any harvest block, no more than five per cent of the total block area, minus the roads and landings (30 metres from the road edge) is permitted to be rutted or puddled soil. Harvest and site preparation activities contribute to the five per cent.

Feller Buncher

• If a real time GPS system is on the felling equipment, utilize onboard GPS navigation


equipment to outline wet areas to be avoided, especially during the night shift. • The placement and size of the bundles can help avoid unacceptable rutting by the

subsequent skidding. • Cut stumps as low as possible so that equipment bouncing is reduced. • Orient bundles towards the road to avoid excessive turning by the skidder. • Leave trees or vegetation beside ephemeral drains. Protect ephemeral drains by leaving

vegetation or trees along the drain. Residual structure will deter skidding from proceeding in unacceptable or sensitive areas.

Skidder-Forwarder

• Utilize lower ground pressure equipment for wet ground, early road development into winter areas and fringe treed swamps and heavy soils during wet summers.

• During the frost free period, attempt to schedule skidding soon after harvesting to avoid rising soil moisture. In winter, let frost penetrate prior to skidding.

• Skidders and forwarders should minimize the number of passes over the same location unless the strategy is to concentrate the disturbance on a narrow area to reduce the total impact on the entire site.

• Avoid sharp turns on soft ground areas. • If grapple skidders with full loads cause rutted or puddled soil, consider reducing the load

size taken by the skidder. Site Preparation

• Do not schedule mechanical site preparation when soil strength is low. Schedule site preparation when ground strength is sufficient to allow equipment passage without unacceptable rutting. Move site preparation equipment to a drier site or suspend the operation if the prime mover is creating rutted or puddled soil.

Acceptable Remedial Action of Rutted or Puddled Soil If the strategy to avoid rutting as stated above were not successful, then the acceptable mitigation of rutting may be implemented by one of the strategies listed below:

• Let the drying process occur prior to mitigation. • Back blade the area. • Drag bundles of tree-length over the area to level the ridges. • Backhoe the area • Plant area. • Do nothing if mitigation techniques may contribute to more rutting.

Procedure – Once Rutted or Puddled Soil Is Identified

• When an operator notices that forest management activities are affecting the soil with either rutted or puddled soil, the operator is to contact the supervisor or licensee. The


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supervisor or licensee will then suspend operations or move to an area with higher strength soils.

• The supervisor/operator/contractor will inspect the operation and develop a plan and inform the regional forester.

• When a supervising officer or a forest officer sees rutted or puddled soil that is near the metric, a notification email should be sent to the regional forester with communications (preferably verbal) to the operator. The regional forester will have the area measured to assess if this cutover is above or below the metric.

• Prior to commencing operations in the area where the soil was impacted, the plan will be endorsed by all parties involved.

• Determine acceptable or unacceptable rutted or puddled soil. • Form a mitigation/corrective action strategy. • Prior to commencing operations in the area where the soil was impacted, the plan will be

endorsed by all parties involved.

Rutting Metrics and Monitoring There are two metrics that may be used to test if a cutover has unacceptable rutting:

• small area method – an area less than one hectare has been severely rutted • the total block method – the total block has unacceptable rutting

Small Area Method - Measuring Unacceptable Rutted or Puddled Soil Tools required: flagging tape, three-metre scale stick, MC-1 scale stick, tally sheet, camera, GPS, hip chain. Personnel required: two.

• The surveyor may find an area within the harvest block with many rutted or puddled soils. • Visually assess the rutted or puddled soil area to verify that the area is at least 30 metres

by 30 metres and has many deep ruts. • Select and ribbon a starting point near the edge of the rutted area. • Compass a line 20 metres long or an appropriate distance, remembering that an equilateral

triangle should be the final outcome. • Measure and tally each length of a rutted or puddled soil that bisects the line. Position the

three-metre scale stick (at the original organic layer height) in the direction of travel and utilize the MC-1 scale stick to determine where the rut is equal to or greater than 30 cm. The length of the rut is determined by using the centimetre marking on the three-metre stick where the rut is equal to or greater than 30 centimeters deep. Utilize the hip chain to record the location of the rut or puddled soil in reference to the starting point. The length of puddled soil is measured with the three metre scale stick.

• At 20 metres, turn 120 degrees and compass another 20 metres. • Again measure and tally each length of a rut that bisects the line. • At 20 metres, turn 120 degrees and compass another 20 metres (it is not necessary to

close the triangle)


• Again measure each length of the rutted or puddled soil that bisects the line and tally. • If this small area has more than 50 per cent of the total lines in ruts or puddled soil, the

cutover is considered to be unacceptable.

Total Area Method - Measuring Unacceptable Rutted or Puddled Soil Tools required: flagging tape, three-metre scale stick, a MC-1 scale stick, hip chain, tally sheet, camera, GPS. Personnel required: two

• Visually assess the total area of the cut to verify that approximately 5 per cent of the area has rutted or puddled soil.

• Randomly select a starting point (usually a large tree) that is at least 50 metres from a road.

• Compass a line150 metres long (or a length dependent on the size or shape of the block), realizing that all three sides of the equilateral (Figure 6) triangle must be of the same length (in relation to the length passing through harvested area).

• At times the line will go through unharvested patches (which are not measured)– add the distances of the unharvested patches to the end of the line.

• Use a hip chain to determine the line placement and metre reading where the line bisects a rut or puddled soil.

• Measure and tally each length of a rutted or puddled soil that bisects the line. Position the three-metre scale stick (at the original organic layer height) in the direction of travel and use the MC-1 scale stick to determine where the rut is equal to or greater than 30 cm. The length of the rut is determined by using the centimetre marking on the three-metre stick where the rut is equal to, or greater than, 30 centimeters deep. Use the hip chain to record the location of the rut or puddled soil in reference to the starting point. The length of puddled soil is measured with the three metre scale stick.

• At the end of a line of the equilateral triangle turn 120 degrees and duplicate the process for two more equal length lines.

• Calculate the percentage of area that has rutted or puddled soil. • If a cutover has more than 5 per cent of the total lines in ruts or puddled soil, the cutover

is considered to have unacceptable rutted or puddled soil. If a cutover is long and narrow the triangle method may not work well. In this case, use a straight line parallel to the road but greater than 30 metres from the road edge. Be aware that some discretion should be allowed because the bias to the skidding direction may increase the percentage of rutted or puddled soil.


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Figure 6 - An Example of Using Equilateral Triangles to Measure Rutted or Puddled Soils

Table 1: Acceptable Line Intersect Lengths for Cutovers -Examples Cutover

Size (hectares)

Length of Line

Sampled suggested (metres)

Maximum permitted rutted or puddled length of line is 5%

20 450 23 40 1350 68 100 2250 113

During the development of this guidebook, the Forest Practices Committee (FPC) reviewed what metrics other jurisdictions were using to quantify maximum acceptable rutted or puddled metric on a harvested area. (Appendix 1) Employees from each Forest Management License Agreement holder, the largest Quota Holder and Sustainable Development Regional Staff had received training and practice using this guidebook to determine how to survey a cutover. During the next two years more staff training will occur. The priority for upcoming training will be with the larger Quota Holders.


Appendix 1

Rutting Silviculture Rut Monitoring Metrics Dimensions Ruts

British Columbia 5% on sensitive soils 30 cm wide, 15 cm if threshold

10% on other soils

deep, 2 m long exceeded

Alberta < than 2% of the

10 cm deep mineral approaching block area 4 metres long threshold

Saskatchewan 1% of the harvest 15 cm deep (not LFH) questionable block surveyed 5 m long areas checked

Manitoba 5% of total area in rutted or puddled soil

rutting for silviculture included

30 cm deep no minimum length

close to threshold

Ontario 10% of any 20 ha 30 cm deep when ruts

exceed permitted in ruts 4 metres long threshold

Minnesota 151 metres per ha

30 cm wide close to

15 cm deep , 2 m

long threshold


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Glossary

Compaction – squeezing together of soil particles, reducing the space available for air and water. Compaction increases the density of the soil, which hampers infiltration of water, soil air movement, seedling emergence, root growth and ultimately reduces yield (MAFRI 2008). Rut – a depression made into the soil surface by the passage of a piece of heavy equipment. Puddled soil – the damaging of soil structure (mixing of LFH and lower soil horizon) and the associated loss of macroporosity that results from working the soil when wet (BC Forest Practice Code 2001). Soil drainage – the speed and extent of water removal from the soil by runoff (surface drainage) and downward flow through the soil profile (internal drainage) (MAFRI 2008). Bulk density – the apparent density of a soil, measured by determining the oven-dry mass of soil per unit volume. The volume of soil is determined using sampling cores and is measured before soil is oven-dried to avoid any changes in volume due to drying. Bulk density is usually expressed in g/cm3 or mg/m3 (MAFRI 2008). Mineral soils – any soils composed of mineral materials. The minerals are usually classified as primary or secondary. Primary minerals are formed at high temperatures or temperatures in igneous and metamorphic rocks and have undergone no chemical modifications since crystallization. Secondary minerals are formed at low temperatures and pressures, found at or near the earth’s surface in sedimentary rocks or soils, and originate from decomposition of primary minerals. Mineral soil characteristics reflect their creation by weathering processes rather than by biological processes. Normal ecosystem function – there are five main types generally recognized (Bell S., Apostol D.)

1. capture – resources brought into an ecosystem (ex: rainfall, photosynthesis by trees or plants)

2. production – resources manufactured within the ecosystem (ex: animal producing young, trees regenerating)

3. cycling – resources transported within the ecosystem (ex: nutrients released by rotting of vegetation being utilized by growing plants)

4. storage – resources conserved for a time within the ecosystem (ex: carbon in wood) 5. output – resources exiting the ecosystem (outmigration of animals)

Organic soils – soils dominated by organic horizons (ex: peat and muck soils) characteristics of wet sites. It is also termed folisols (consisting of L, F and H horizons over bedrock or coarse fragments with little or no mineral soil between). Soils will be considered organic soils if the top metre is organic.


Literature Cited Sutherland, B. 2003. Preventing Soil Compaction and Rutting in the Boreal Forest of Western Canada: A Practical Guide to Operating Timber-Harvesting Equipment. Advantage Vol. 4 No. 7. Forest Engineering Research Institute of Canada, Western Division. 2601 East Mall, Vancouver, BC. 45 p. plus appendices. Van Wagner, C.E. (1982). Practical Aspects of the Line Intersect Method. Information Report PI-X-12 References British Columbia 2001, Forest Practices Code. Hazard Assessment Key for Evaluating Site Sensitivity to Soil Degrading Processes Guidebook March 1999. 25 pages

Bell, Simon and Apostol, Dean. (2008). Designing Sustainable Forest Landscapes. Taylor and Francis Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Initiatives. 2008. Soil Management Guide. 142 p. plus appendices. http://www.gov.mb.ca/agriculture/soilwater/soil/fbe01s02.html OMNR 2010. Forest Management Guide for Conserving Biodiversity at the Stand and Site Scales. Queen’s Printer for Ontario. 211 pp.

Documents

Reduce Rutted or Puddled Soil by Proper Operating Practices · • Reduce rutted or puddled soil by proper operating practices during forestry operations. • Quantify if it is rutted