Best Management Practices for Water Quality Field Manual
Table of Contents
As users of our natural resources, we have a responsibility to be good stewards of the land. Wisconsin's Forestry Best Management Practices (BMPs) for Water Quality are designed to help loggers, landowners, and land managers be good stewards by protecting water quality during forest management activities.
This manual provides recommended guidelines, however, it does not cover all situations. The BMPs may be modified for specific site conditions with guidance from a forester or other natural resource professional if modifications provide equal or greater water quality protection. For instance, on erodible soils and steep slopes, the width of riparian management zones may need to be wider than what is specified in the manual.
The progress of our BMP program in protecting water quality will be evaluated annually through our timber sale monitoring program. To guarantee future flexibility regarding forest practices in Wisconsin, it is important that loggers, landowners, and land managers recognize the importance of protecting water quality during forestry activities.
This field manual will be updated as we learn more about the impact of forest practices on water quality and the effectiveness of our BMPs. We encourage your participation as our BMP program evolves.
We look forward to working with you to protect our forest and water resources for our quality of life today and in the future.
RSS