Glossary of Terms
	This glossary is provided to help you understand commonly used terms that occur in this publication.
	Artificial regeneration: direct seeding or by planting seedlings or cuttings.
	Best Management Practice (BMP): A practice or a combination of practices, that is determined by a State (or designated area-wide planning agency) after problem assessment, examination of alternative practices, and appropriate public participation to be the most effective, practical (including technological, economic and institutional considerations) means of preventing or reducing the amount of pollution generated by Nonpoint sources to a level compatible with water quality goals (40 CFR 130.2(q). This definition is consistent with the State of Utah definition of "Forest Water Quality Guideline."
	Clean Air Act: established in 1970 and amended in 1977 and 1990, is the federal law regulating air emissions; enforcement authority lies with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) who is charged with establishing National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS), these standards were to be established in every state by 1975; states were required to adopt standards that met or exceeded federal standards.
	Clean Water Act: established in 1977 as an amendment to the 1972 Federal Water Pollution Control Act; Clean Water Act makes discharging pollutants from a point source to navigable waters illegal without a permit. The amendments of 1987 provide for the management of nonpoint source pollution into the waters of the United States.
	Drainage structure: any device, excavation, berm or constructed structure used to provide stream crossings or divert runoff and/or stream channels. These structures may include bridges, culverts, waterbars, rolling dips, ditches, cross-drains, pipes, down spouts and other similar structures.
	Fireline: a constructed area generally void of combustible fuels that is used to stop or direct the spread of wild or prescribed fire occurring in forest, grass, range or brush.
	Fishery: any stream, lake, river, creek, reservoir, ond or other body of water that supports naturally reproducing or stocked fish populations of any life stage.
	Forest: an area where the predominant vegetation is trees.
	Forest Water Quality Guideline (FWQG): a collection of voluntary, field applicable practices for use during forestry activities to protect water quality adopted by the State and contained within the Nonpoint Source Mangement Plan.
	Guideline: see Forest Water Quality Guideline (FWQG).
	Hydrologic modification: occurs whenever human activities significantly change the hydrologic function (dynamics) or the attendant pollutant release regime of rivers (and streams) and riverine systems, lakes and impoundments and ground water systems. These modifications can create nonpoint source (NPS) water pollution (and impacts to related aquatic wildlife habitat).
	Insloped road: a road constructed with a surface slope graded toward the cut slope to direct water to a ditch on the cut bank side of the road.
	Landing: a collection area, usually centrally located, to where logs or forest products are transported to by skidders, dozers, cable systems or other means so the products may be loaded onto trucks for transport to another destination.
	Landowner: an individual or group of individuals or any form of a legal entity that owns or possesses any interest in land; any government agency charged with management of public lands or any other type of group or agency that owns or manages land.
	Natural Handbook of Conservation Practices: a document containing a collection of specifications on a variety of conservation practices maintained by the United States Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS).
	Nonpoint source pollution: diffuse sources of water pollution that originate from many indefinable sources and normally include agricultural and urban runoff, runoff from construction activities, etc. In practical terms, nonpoint sources do not discharge at a specific, single location (such as a single pipe). Nonpoint source pollutants are generally carried over or through the soil and ground cover via stormflow processes. Unlike point sources of pollution (such as industrial and municipal effluent discharge pipes), nonpoint sources are diffuse and can come from any land area. The following silvicultural activities are considered to be nonpoint sources of pollution: nursery operations, site preparation, reforestation and subsequent cultural treatment, thinning, prescribed burning, pest and fire control, harvest operations, surface drainage and road construction and maintenance from which there is natural runoff (40CFR 122.27).
	Noxious weed: any plant the Commissioner of Agriculture determines to be especially injurious to public health, crops, livestock, land or other property.
	Outsloped road: a road constructed with a surface graded toward the fill slope to direct water off the road in sheet flow.
	Professional forester: a person who has earned a bachelor of science in forestry or masters degree in forestry from a Society of American Foresters accredited college or university or equivalent and has experience in the management of forested lands.
	Riparian areas: units of land along watercourses or water bodies that product unique vegetation as a result of abundant water in the rooting zone. The species and proportional amounts of vegetation are usually in marked contrast to the more arid adjacent uplands.
	Scarify: to mechanically (e.g. plowing, disking, ripping) break up or loosen the surface of the soil, roads or other areas.
	Sedimentation: the process of deposition of eroded and transported material, usually in the context of stream channel bottoms, reservoirs and lakes.
	Silvicultural activities: activities that involve controlling the establishment, growth, composition, health and quality of forests and woodlands to meet the diverse needs and values of landowners and society on a sustainable basis; these activities do not include land conversion to non-forest uses or range management activities.
	Skid trail: a corridor used for the dragging or transportation of logs by logging equipment.
	Slash: any residual woody material left on the site after any type of harvest operation and usually includes tree stems, branches and foliage.
	Slope distance: a distance measured parallel to or along the ground with no correction for the slope.
	Soil and Water Conservation Practices (SWCP): the set of practices used by the U.S. Forest Service which, when applied during implementation of a project, ensures that soil productivity is maintained, soil loss and water quality impacts are minimized, and water-related beneficial uses are protected.
	Special use permit: a permit issued by the U.S. Forest Service under established laws and regulations to an individual, organization or some company for occupancy or use of National Forest System lands for some special purpose.
	Stand: a contiguous group of trees sufficiently uniform in age class distribution, composition and structure, and growing on a site of sufficiently uniform quality to be a distinguishable unit.
	Stream: for purposes of SMZ application, a stream is a natural water course of perceptible extent with defined beds and banks that confine and conducts continuously or intermittently flowing water; definite beds are defined as having a sandy, gravel or rocky bottom surface that is a result of the scouring action of water flow.
	Perennial stream: streams that flow most of the year in all but the driest of climatic cycles.   Intermittent stream: streams that flow only part of the year when they receive water from springs or runoff.   Ephemeral stream: streams that are above the water table at all times; these streams carry water only during and immediately after precipitation or during snowmelt runoff.
	Streamside management zone (SMZ):   State definition: an area of specialized management to protect water quality by limiting soil disturbance and exposure; an area of land adjacent to a waterbody where soil disturbance is minimal and vegetative disturbance is reduced to provide a buffer for the filtration of water entering the waterbody.   U.S.F.S. definition: as defined by the U.S. Forest Service, an SMZ is a designated zone that consists of the stream and an adjacent area of varying width where management practices that might affect water quality, fish or other aquatic resources are modified. The SMZ is not a zone of exclusion, but a zone of closely managed activity. It is a zone which acts as an effective filter and absorptive zone for sediment; maintains shade; protects aquatic and terrestrial riparian habitats; protects channel and streambanks; and promotes floodplain stability. The SMZ may be wider than the riparian area.
	Turbidity: an optical property of water that is a measure of the ability of suspended and colloidal materials to diminish the penetration of light through the water column. Turbidity increases with increased suspended sediment concentrations.
	Waterbody: any stream, creek, river, pond, lake, reservoir or other feature that contains or seasonally contains water.
	Wetland:   State & U.S. Army Corps of Engineers definition: areas that are inundated or saturated by surface or ground water at a frequency and duration sufficient to support, and that under normal circumstances do support, a prevalence of vegetation typically adapted for life in saturated soil conditions. Wetlands generally include swamps, marshes, bogs and other similar areas.   U.S. Forest Service definition: wetlands are those areas that are inundated by surface or groundwater with a frequency sufficient to support, and under normal circumstances do or would support a prevalence of vegetation or aquatic life that requires saturated or seasonally saturated soil conditions for growth and reproduction. Wetlands generally include swamps, marshes, bogs and similar areas such as sloughs, potholes, wet meadows, river overflows, mud flats and natural ponds.
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