Developing best management practices for California forests

Excerpt

WITH enactment of Section 208 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments of 1972 (P.L. 92-500, the Clean Water Act), the federal government embarked on an ambitious, far-reaching program to reduce nonpoint-source water pollution. The ultimate goal of the 1972 Act (unchanged by a series of amendments in 1977, P.L. 95-217) is to insure “fishable and swimmable” water by 1983. Section 208 requires, among other things, that states prepare areawide management plans to reduce the water quality degradation associated with agriculture and forestry.

In California, the planning process for forestry, although behind schedule, shows considerable promise for producing significant changes in the process and content of forest practices regulation. This is because (a) the 208 process has provided a vehicle for pre-existing efforts to improve forest practices on private land in California and (b) both the California Department of Forestry and the State Board of Forestry are presently functioning under leaderships that are strongly committed to water quality protection as well as productive forestry.

Pollutants associated with silvicultural activities include sediment, organic debris, increased water temperature, nutrients, pesticides, and grease and oil. The most extensive and serious pollutant is sediment …