ENVIRONMENTAL CONSEQUENCES in rocky mountain coniferous ...

1
Control 1977 I
1077
Chipped
and
Spread
LOGGING
.. .
Picked UD Broadcast
and Burned
Rernovad
RESIDUE DISPOSAL TR
1977 1977
Wed and Piled and
Burned Burned
fin row) (between row$)
ATMENTS
Figure 6.--Aboue-ground biomass production resulting from residue treatments on
Zodgepo Ze pine cZearcuts .
Excluding the blocks where residue was chipped and respread, the lowest
biomass production, 125 pounds per acre, occurred between windrows. A substantial
portion of herbaceous plants and large areas of surface soil were removed from
these areas by dozer blades, drastically curtail ing the potential for regrowth.
SURFACE RUNOFF
Effects on Surface Hydrology and Soil Stability
The effects of the residue treatments on surface runoff are shown in figure 7.
In 1973, the smallest amounts of surface runoff occurred on sites where logging
residue had been chipped and respread. Largest amounts of runoff occurred between
windrows where residues, as well as some vegetation and soil, had been removed
by bull dozing.
In 1975, the relation between disposal treatments and surface runoff were
essentially similar to those in 1973.
By 1977, the smallest amounts of surface runoff occurred on broadcast-burned
sites. Almost as small were the amounts from sites where the residue had been
chipped and respread. In both instances, the amount of runoff was about one-half
the amount produced by the unlogged control areas, showing that broadcast-burned
and chipped-and-spread areas provide better surface runoff control than do similar
unlogged areas.