Streamside Management Zone
         
  Defining Streamside Management Zones  
 

The Streamside Management Zone (SMZ) is an area or strip of land adjacent to a stream or other body of water where management practices such as harvesting of timber, road construction or prescribed burning are planned and implemented in a way to protect water quality, aquatic wildlife and wildlife habitat. Trees and vegetation within the SMZ serve as a natural filter to keep sediment out of a stream, reduce soil erosion and act as a buffer to protect the stream from degradation caused by nearby activities. The SMZ is not a zone of exclusion where all silvicultural activities are precluded but, because of the need to protect water quality and other values, the SMZ is an area where silvicultural activities should be closely managed.

  
         
  Class I Stream
Streams or other bodies of water used for domestic water supply and/or the spawning, rearing, migration of fish, including impacted streams with recovery potential for a fishery. Also included are perennial streams that contribute significant flow to downstream fisheries. Seventy-five feet is the recommended minimum slope distance for the Streamside Management Zone on slopes of less than 35 percent.
    
  Class II Stream
All streams that do not meet the Class I definition and are identifiable in the field as having a defined channel of bed rock, sand, gravel, or rocky material, definite banks, generally having an ordinary high water mark and confines and conducts continuously or intermittently flowing water. Also included are reservoirs, lakes, and ponds greater than 1/10 acre that do not support fish or provide domestic water supply. 35 feet is the recommended minimum slope distance for the Streamside Management Zone on slopes of less than 35 percent.		    
         
  Streamside Management Zones should be clearly marked before logging begins. This allows the logger to know which areas require special considerations during timber harvest. Special provisions can be written into the timber contract to protect water quality. These provisions may not be applicable to the remainder of the sale area.

  

Temporary flagging is one way to clearly mark the streamside management zone prior to logging.
 
Needles, leaves, small twigs and other vegetative matter are collectively called forest litter. The forest floor is covered with litter and an underlying layer of duff. The duff, litter, grass and other plants growing there are very efficient in filtering sediment from surface runoff. A filter strip of undisturbed litter, duff, grass and vegetation is recommended to protect water quality. This undisturbed area is called a leave strip and should be at least 15 feet slope distance on either side of the stream or water body.
   
 
Recommended leave strip of undisturbed litter and duff.