Loggers and consulting foresters planning a harvest

Where is the harvest tract?

Draft a harvest BMP plan: streamside management zone widths, stream crossings and skid trail layout from your tract map. Free to read.

Free to read
No sign-up until the draft
Every fact cites its source

ePlan fills in

Parcel
Streams on the tract
Slope
Soils and erosion risk
Wetlands

How it works

Harvest BMP plan, from one answer

Mark the tract and say how you'll cut it.One answer starts the project. ePlan names it and looks up the place.
ePlan maps streams, slope and soils and sets SMZ widths and crossings.3 more questions, each with a "not sure yet" way out.
Read the BMP plan free, then download it for the crew and the forester.The draft marks what to check (amber), what to pick (blue) and what to fill in (violet).

What you get

Harvest BMP plan and 3 more documents

The first draft is free to read. Each document after it is drafted from the same confirmed facts.

The first draft

Harvest BMP plan

Tract, owner and operator
Harvest type and timing
Streamside management zones and widths
Stream crossings and approaches
Haul roads, skid trails and landings
Erosion control and water bars

Modeled on: Virginia's Forestry Best Management Practices for Water Quality Technical Manual, or your state's BMP manual

Next · 2

State harvest notification

Operator and landowner
Tract location
Start date and acres

Next · 3

Timber sale contract

Timber sold and price
BMP and road terms
Cleanup and closeout

Next · 4

Closeout inspection checklist

SMZs intact
Crossings removed or stabilized
Roads and landings seeded

From public data

What ePlan fills in, and from where

Streams on and near the tractUSGS National Hydrography Dataset
Slope and drainageUSGS 3D Elevation Program
Soils and erosion riskUSDA NRCS Web Soil Survey
WetlandsUSFWS National Wetlands Inventory
Tract and landings from the airUSDA NAIP aerial imagery

50 feet

is the minimum streamside management zone width Virginia recommends, measured from the top of the stream bank
Source: Virginia Department of Forestry, Forestry BMPs for Water Quality Technical Manual

Questions

Harvest BMP plan: what people ask

Do I need a federal wetland permit to log near streams?

Usually not. Normal silviculture is exempt from Clean Water Act Section 404, but forest roads in waters of the US must follow baseline BMPs, such as keeping roads and skid trails in those waters to the minimum feasible number, width and length.

Source: ecfr.gov

How wide should a streamside management zone be?

It depends on the state. Virginia's BMP manual recommends at least 50 feet from the top of the stream bank and allows harvesting up to 50% of the basal area or canopy inside it. Check your own state's manual.

Source: dof.virginia.gov

When does Oregon require a written plan?

For operations within 100 feet of a fish-use or domestic-use stream, with some exceptions. Before any operation starts, the operator, timber owner or landowner must notify the State Forester on the State Forester's forms.

Source: oregonlegislature.gov