Whether or not you are in the Managed Forest Law (MFL) Certified Group, we recommend adhering to all applicable Forestry Best Management Practices for Water Quality (BMPs) to protect the soil and water resources on your property. During forest management, there are measures we can take to minimize rutting, soil compaction and erosion and protect the value of any water features on the site. Familiarizing yourself with the water features on your property from the BMP perspective will help you ensure that when it comes time to harvest timber or put in a road, you take the necessary measures to protect what is important to you.

As described in Wisconsin’s BMP Field Manual, BMPs are a set of guidelines “intended to provide simple and cost-effective methods for protecting water quality in lakes, streams and wetlands… before, during and after forest management activities”. BMPs are designed to protect water quality, water temperature, nutrient balances, habitat diversity and hydrologic processes.

When BMPs are not followed or properly implemented, the impacts can include reduced ability for soil to absorb water; increased soil erosion potential; diverted, concentrated and/or increased water flows; and reduced cover next to water resources. In addition to negative impacts to water quality, landowners may also experience more practical impacts such as reduced usability of roads and trails due to erosion.

In some states, BMPs are regulatory, but in Wisconsin they are voluntary. Fortunately, the Wisconsin forestry community has demonstrated a strong commitment to implementing BMPs. In fact, the BMPs are developed by an advisory committee with diverse representation including conservation organizations, county forests, landowners, loggers, the forest products industry, consulting foresters, the U.S. Forest Service, Natural Resources Conservation Service and the DNR. The DNR monitors BMP implementation on completed timber harvests annually across different ownership types, and recent monitoring reports show that BMPs are implemented correctly over 90% of the time. These reports also show that when BMPs are implemented, water quality is protected over 99% of the time. For non-industrial private landowners, BMPs were correctly implemented 94.2% of time.

One of the greatest strengths of the MFL Certified Group is that landowners can participate in forest certification with relatively few barriers due to the significant overlap between MFL requirements and forest certification requirements. However, there are a few key areas where group members have forest certification responsibilities that go above and beyond their obligations under MFL. Adhering to all applicable BMPS is one such responsibility.

Implementing all applicable BMPs is recommended for all MFL landowners, but only the BMPs necessary to control soil erosion that could result from forest management practices in the approved MFL plan are required under the MFL program. For participants in the MFL Certified Group, forest certification requires that all applicable BMPs are implemented for any activity that could impact soil or water resources. BMPs are required, for example, when maintaining existing forest roads and trail networks on a certified MFL property.

For MFL, BMPs typically come up when planning timber harvests. Implementing BMPs on MFL timber harvests begins with identifying water resources and forest road concerns when a forestry professional evaluates the area scheduled for cutting. There are BMPs for a wide range of concerns including forest roads, stream crossings, timber harvesting, riparian management zones (i.e. buffer areas along water bodies), wetlands, fuels/lubricants/spills, forest chemical use (e.g. pesticides), site preparation and tree planting and prescribed burning and wildfire. Some of the considerations when evaluating an area include:

• Are there lakes, streams, wetlands, dry washes, seeps, etc. on the property?
• Will any roads need to be built or reconstructed?
• Will any waterways or wetlands need to be crossed by equipment?
• Will any drainage structures be needed such as culverts, drainage ditches, broad-based dips, etc.?
• Will any permits be needed?
• Are there any existing erosion or water quality issues on site, such as steep slopes?
• Will riparian management zones or wetland filter strips be needed?

The appropriate BMPs are selected and then described on the MFL Cutting Notice that is submitted to the DNR before harvesting begins. For non-certified MFL, this may be limited in scope to those BMPs that will serve to control soil erosion. For certified MFL, the appropriate BMPs may include other considerations such as reducing the number of trees cut near a stream or lake shore. The relevant BMPs are communicated to the operators in the woods so that they are implemented during harvesting and when closing out the harvest.

BMPs are a widely used and effective set of tools to protect water quality. Even when not strictly required, BMPs are a good idea and contribute to landowner goals for a healthy and productive forest, fish and wildlife habitat and scenic beauty.