Most logging tracks will need rehab. The amount of rehab depends on the terrain and the soil type. Many will need water controls installed or reinstated immediately after harvest. Tracks can rapidly erode and be a major source of sediment in waterways.
- Track has closely spaced cut-outs
- Cut-outs direct water into slash
- Cut-outs go across the entire track, and are deep enough that water does not go past them
- The water will continue to scour the soft ash soil
- Sediment will continue to enter a nearby waterway
- To fix, put in cut-outs or pull back track to stop erosion
- Spreading slash is an excellent way to reduce erosion, especially where cut-outs cannot work. For example, in gully bottoms
- Slash slows water down and traps sediment
- Maintenance had been identified but was not done before the heavy rain
- Large amounts of sediment can be created even from short tracks
- Installing cut-outs on the track would significantly reduce the sediment