What is it?

Road location and construction involves careful design consideration and planning in forestry operations. A minimal number of roads should be constructed to decrease habitat destruction and erosion potential. Roads should also maintain a minimal width, be located away from drainage areas, and be properly maintained.

Conservation Benefits

• Reduces the amont of habitat lost to road construction
• Reduces amount of erosion at road sites

What does it include?

The following recommendations were taken from the Texas Forestry Best Management Practices Handbook produced by the Texas Forestry Association and Texas Forest Service.

• Use available soil surveys, topographic maps, and aerial photographs to achieve the most practical road location with the best possible grade.
• As a general practice, an SMZ should not be used for road locations or traffic areas.
• Attempts should be made to stabilize or reconstruct existing roads where significant erosion problems exist. Stabilize, and retire roads where repair is impractical.
• Avoid or minimize the number of stream crossings.
• Cross streams at straight sections and at right angles.
• Locate roads on the best available sites, avoiding excessive slope.
• Upgrade an existing woods road only if it has been determined that the existing right of way (ROW) is properly located.
• Locate roads far enough outside the SMZ to prevent encroachment and to protect its integrity.
• Right-of-way timber salvage should closely follow the
  right-of-way clearing.
• Use the minimum road design sufficient to carry
  anticipated traffic loads with reasonable safety and with
  minimum environmental impact.
• Balance cuts and fills so that the excavated material will
  be deposited in the roadway fill sections and thereby
  minimize the need for borrow pits.
• To minimize erosion, cut-and-fill slopes should be
  designed at the normal angle of repose or less.
• Seeding, mulching, or other stabilizing means should be
  used wherever necessary to mitigate the potential for
  erosion.
• Plan and construct erosion control structures to minimize
  the adverse effects of rain during any construction phase.
• After construction begins; all phases of that construction
  should be completed in a timely manner.