Best Management Practices (BMPs) are non-regulated guidelines to lessen nonpoint source pollution from forest management activities, such as road construction, log landings, and skid trails. They can be used to enhance the environmental quality of a piece of property.
On average, it takes nearly 180 years to form 1 cubic centimeter of soil–an amount equivalent to a thimbleful. This fact is sobering when you consider that soil is an important resource for most living organisms and the thimbleful of soil we lose today won’t be replaced until the 23rd century.
Undisturbed forest soil naturally erodes at very slow rates–approximately 300 pounds per acre per year. Erosion rates are largely kept to a minimum by natural means found on the forest floor and in the soil, such as roots of trees and plants. Tree trunks, downed woody and leafy debris, and forest floor vegetation prevent surface water from gaining enough speed and force to remove large amounts of soil. However, timber harvesting and heavy recreation can expose soil and thereby undermine a forest’s natural capacity for controlling erosion. Left unchecked, soil erosion rates can increase to approximately 2,700 pounds lost per acre per year in drier, more stable conditions. In wetter, less stable conditions, this number climbs much higher.
A main goal of BMPs is to prevent erosion from damaging high-speed water runoff. The Mississippi Best Management Practices Handbook addresses these issues and can be found at any Mississippi Forestry Commission office or on their website (www.mfc.ms.gov). Most of these practices include conducting the proper dirt work and installing the proper erosion-control measures on areas susceptible to water runoff.
Another goal of BMPs is the recommendation of certain site-preparation or timber-harvesting practices near streams, rivers, and other waters. This is most often done with the implementation of Streamside Management Zones. There is also a state law that restricts cutting or leaving large-diameter trees directly in waterways or other bodies of water.
In Mississippi, most BMPs are voluntary and implementing BMPs comes at a higher cost to logging crews. Oftentimes, it is up to the landowner to make sure that BMPs are adhered to on their property. While they shouldn’t have to be involved anywhere near a logging operation, they should make it very clear that soil conservation and water quality are of the utmost importance.
BMPs give guidelines to follow in practicing good stewardship of valuable forestland. Good stewardship during forest activities protects the water quality of nearby streams, lakes, or ponds. Most BMPs provide the protection of water quality addressed in the Clean Water Act as well as the protection of fish and wildlife under protection of the Endangered Species Act.
If you need help with BMPs for your forestland, contact a registered, consulting forester, the Mississippi Forestry Commission, or the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks.
