Foresters and loggers are harvesting timber in Wisconsin following procedures providing a high rate of water quality protection that according to monitoring the DNR conducted of timber harvest practices in 2013 and 2014.
DNR forest hydrologist Dave Kafura says in 2013, monitoring teams visited 75 state and county timber sales and found Forestry Best Management Practices were correctly applied on over 97 percent of state sales and 95 percent on county forests....
"....did they set up buffers around wetlands, did they set up buffers around lakes and streams, when they crossed streams did they do it appropriately? And then we look at the silvaculture activities on the logging roads. Were they set up appropriately? Is there any excessive rutting?..."
Kafura says they check on post-harvest use of the roads, to make sure the roads are in good shape.
Forestry Best Management Practices, or BMPs, are steps taken by landowners, foresters and loggers to minimize potential impacts to water quality during forestry-related activities.
Nonpoint source water pollution occurs when runoff from rain and snow melt moves across the ground, collecting sediment and nutrients and transporting the pollutants to lakes, rivers, streams and wetlands.
The report indicated five percent non-compliance or less.
