Effects of Logging and Logging Roads on Erosion and Sediment Deposition from Steep Terrain

Abstract

Abstract Erosion plots and sediment dams were used to evaluate the effects of jammer and skyline logging systems on erosion and sedimentation in steep, ephemeral drainages in the Idaho Batholith of central Idaho. Five-year plot data indicated that no difference in erosion resulted from the two skidding systems as applied in the study. Sediment dam data obtained concurrently showed that the logging operations alone (excluding roads) increased sediment production by a factor of about 0.6 over the natural sedimentation rate. Roads associated with the jammer logging system increased sediment production an average of about 750 times over the natural rate for the six-year period following construction.