S i l v i c u l t u r e Best Management Practices 115

Silviculture A process, following accepted 

forest management principles, whereby the 

trees constituting forests are tended, harvested 

and reproduced.

Site Preparation Measures employed on a site to

dispose of debris, reduce competitive vegetation, 

and prepare the soil for artificial (machine/

hand planting) or natural regeneration.

Site Preparation (Prescribed) Burning The 

silviculture practice of using regulated fires to 

reduce or eliminate debris and vegetation in 

preparation for tree planting.

Site Sensitivity Class (SSC) An index of an 

area’s susceptibility to erosion and sedimentation, 

based on soil type and slope.

Skid Moving of logs or felled trees from the 

harvest area to the loading point.

Skidder Heavy equipment designed for 

transporting logs and felled trees within the 

harvest area – operated on skid trails.

Skid Trails A temporary trail used only by 

logging equipment such as skidders, for the 

skidding of logs from the harvest area to the 

loading point. 

Slash The unused and generally unmarketable 

accumulation of woody material, such as limbs, 

tops, cull logs and stumps, that remain as 

residue after timber harvesting.

Slope An index of the change in elevation of a 

land area. Often referred to as a ratio of rise 

over run; normally expressed in percent.

Snag Trees Typically isolated standing dead 

trees characterized by hollow trunks and/or 

limbs which may provide habitat for wildlife.

Stand A contiguous group of trees sufficiently 

uniform in species composition, arrangement of 

age classes and condition to be a homogeneous 

and distinguishable unit.

Stringer Narrow strip of trees with a more 

or less continuous canopy left on and/or near 

the banks of intermittent streams, lakes and 

sinkholes for purposes of stabilization, water 

quality protection, and wildlife habitat.

Special Management Zone (SMZ) An area of 

varying width adjacent to a watercourse in 

which special precautions are necessary to 

protect water quality and other natural resources.

Swale A manmade trench which has a top 

width to depth ratio equal to or greater than 

6:1, or side slopes equal to or greater than 3 

feet horizontal to 1 foot vertical, flows only 

following a rainfall event, has vegetation 

suitable for soil stabilization, stormwater 

treatment, and nutrient uptake, and is 

designed to take into account soil erodibility, 

soil percolation, slope, slope length, and 

drainage area so as to prevent erosion and 

reduce pollutant concentration of any 

discharge.

Turbidity An optical measurement of the 

relative clarity of water.

Water Bar A mound of soil built across a 

light-duty road, skid trail, or fireline, for the 

purpose of diverting surface water.

Waterbody Any river, creek, slough, canal, 

lake, reservoir, pond, sinkhole or other natural 

or artificial watercourse which flows within a 

defined channel or is contained within a 

discernable shoreline.
116 S i l v i c u l t u r e Best Management Practices

Water Control Structure Any structure used to 

regulate surface or subsurface water levels.

Water Turnout The extension of a road ditch 

into a vegetated area to provide for the 

dispersion and filtration of stormwater runoff.

Wetland For the purpose of this Manual, 

wetlands are not defined by any regulatory 

method, and consist of typical swamplands 

such as those listed in Appendix 5. The 

presence of pine trees doesn’t necessarily 

indicate that a site is non-wetland, but pine 

dominated sites are not considered wetlands 

even though they may be “jurisdictional.”

Wetland Flow-way That area of a flowing 

wetland where stormwater moves within 

variable dimensions instead of a well defined 

channel. The area of flow in this case has 

enough general confinement to exhibit some 

stormflow characteristics, and is evidenced by, 

but not limited to: drift lines/racks, sediment 

deposits, soil and root scour, absence of litter/

ground cover – all in a generally linear 

position.

Wildfire Any fire other than a controlled, 

prescribed fire.

Windrow Logging debris and unmerchantable 

woody vegetation, piled in rows on the contour 

of the land.
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