Changing How We Build Forest Roads
and Culverts
One of the most prominent aspects of responsible forest management is demonstrated by the new methods of road and culvert construction being practiced by WFPA's members. With the implementation of the landmark Forests & Fish Law passed in 2001, forest landowners are required to improve their forest roads to protect public resources, including water, fish, and wildlife habitat. Improved road maintenance and construction practices reduce or eliminate runoff and fine sediment being delivered into streams, which can degrade water quality and fish habitat.
Road Maintenance and Abandonment Plans (RMAPs) Protect Fish Habitat
Of all the forest practices, roads have the highest potential for surface erosion and fine sediment delivery to streams. The Forests & Fish Law addresses this challenge through Road Maintenance and Abandonment Plans, or RMAPs. Forest landowners, both industrial and non-industrial, are required to submit their own RMAP to the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) outlining their plans to properly abandon or stabilize existing forest roads no longer in useand improve standards on how new roads are to be built. Work must show progress over time, and be prioritized by the "worst first" to give the most benefits to public resources early in the period. Road maintenance is required to prevent potential or actual damage to public resources, such as disconnecting road drainage from delivering sediment to streamsand removing any artificial structures that block fish passage.
Most large forest landowners have submitted their plans to the DNR and have been practicing new methods since 2001. As of May 2008, with both small and large landowners, almost 10,000 RMAP's have been completed, covering nearly 60,000 miles of forest road, and more than 1,500 miles of fish habitat has been opened by removing or replacing 2,400 stream blockages. All forest landowners are required to complete their road and culvert improvements by 2016. The price tag of RMAPS to forest landowners will be more than $2 billion, an important investment to the future of Washington's natural resources.
RMAP Strategies Meet the Special Needs of
Each Watershed
Tailoring each RMAP strategy to a particular geography
One of the outcomes that the Forests & Fish Law seeks is to minimize the possibility of forest roads being catastrophically washed downstream due to heavy flooding. Therefore, culverts and bridges are being enlarged, new roads techniques are being used, and old culverts and stream passages that pose a risk of failure are being re-engineered to withstand a 100-year flood.
Other practices include building roads across streams at a perpendicular angle, not one that is parallel to the stream. This minimizes the area of road surface that can contribute sediment to streams. New cross drain techniques will divert run-off from ditches onto the forest floor, and sediment traps are used to stop sediment before it reaches a stream.
Different strategies are being employed when a road is graded or sloped. A road surface might be crowned, with a high spot mid-road, which allows the water to run off to either side, as it would on the pitched roof of a home. Where it is practical and safe, a road might be outsloped to subtlety tilt the road surface toward the downhill side for better drainage.
Legislature Helps the Small Family Forester Pay the Bills
To help small family forest landowners with the financial impact of RMAPs, the Washington Legislature passed House Bill 1095 in 2003 which created the Family Forest Fish Passage Program. This program provides up to 100% funding and assistance to fix fish-blocking structures. After the first year of the Family Forest Fish Passage Program, it accepted applications for 104 projects that opened more than 58 miles of stream habitat.
Why Restricting Harvesting on Steep Slopes Saves Fish Habitat