Current through Register 2024 Notice Reg. No. 38, September 20, 2024
The objective of this Section is to prescribe
silvicultural methods that will protect the long-term productivity of soils and
Timberlands in Coastal Commission Special Treatment Areas and protect the
natural and scenic qualities of these areas. The following silvicultural
methods as prescribed below will be applied in Coastal Commission Special
Treatment Areas.
14 CCR
§§
913 through
913.6 defines these
methods.
(a) Commercial Thinning or
Selection Methods. When the commercial thinning or the selection silvicultural
method is used the following standards are required:
(1) For an initial entry into an even-aged
stand, leave a well distributed timber stand after cutting and logging
operations have been completed on the cut area at least forty (40) percent by
number of those trees eighteen (18) inches and more d.b.h. present prior to
commencement of current Timber Operations. Leave trees shall be thrifty
coniferous trees which are free from substantial damage caused by Timber
Operations. No conifer tree shall be cut which is more than seventy-five (75)
feet from a leave tree twelve (12) inches d.b.h. or larger located within the
Logging Area.
(2) For timber stands
where more than one age class is present, leave at least fifty (50) percent by
number of those trees over twelve (12) inches d.b.h. Leave trees shall be
thrifty coniferous trees which are free from substantial damage caused by
Timber Operations. No conifer tree shall be cut which is more than seventy-five
(75) feet from a leave tree twelve (12) inches d.b.h. or larger located within
the Logging Area.
(3) A report of
Stocking as described in PRC §
4587
shall be filed within six months following completion of work as described in
the Plan.
(b)
Sanitation-Salvage Method. When the sanitation-salvage silivcultural method is
used the following practices are required:
(1)
Restrictions on time periods for subsequent Timber Operations shall not apply
to the sanitation-salvage silvicultural method.
(2) A determined effort shall be made to
regenerate any cut area during the first planting season following log removal.
Necessary site preparation, planting or seeding shall be completed within the
first planting season following logging, except where unusual and adverse
weather conditions require extending site preparation and planting into the
following planting season. Deficiencies in Stocking shall be corrected by
planting annually at least three times if necessary to meet the Stocking
Standards in
14 CCR
§
921.4.
(3) Where the result of the cutting would
have the effect of a clearcut all of the restrictions in this section
pertaining to the use of clearcuts shall apply, except for 1) areas which are
currently suffering severe damage due to insects or disease and the removal of
the entire affected area is deemed necessary by a forest pathologist or forest
entomologist and agreed to by the Director to prevent the spread of the disease
or insects, or 2) except for areas which have recently been burned over and the
RPF determined recovery of the affected area is unlikely.
(c) Clearcutting Method. The clearcutting
method provides for harvesting of the entire existing timber stand in one
harvest in an area. Every reasonable effort shall be made by the RPF to use
silvicultural methods other than clearcutting to protect the natural and scenic
values in the Coastal Commission Special Treatment Areas. The clearcutting
method is not authorized for Special Treatment Areas in the Southern
Subdistrict of the Coast Forest District.
(1)
The clearcutting method may be used when justified and explained in the Plan
and found in conformance by the Director for one or more of the following
reasons:
(A) Leave trees would be subject to
severe damage from sunburn, saltburn, and/or windthrow.
(B) Conifer stand improvement necessitates
the clearing of a stand of hardwoods.
(C) Leave trees would prevent regeneration of
the principal conifer Species.
(D)
Old growth stands where seventy (70) percent or more of the Countable Trees
over thirty-six (36) inches d.b.h. are more than two hundred (200) years
old.
(E) Timber stands where trees
are infected with insects or diseases, and there is significant risk for
substantial loss of standing timber or timber growth.
(2) Clearcut areas shall not exceed ten (10)
acres in size, but may be enlarged to not more than fifteen (15) acres when
explained and justified in the Plan, and when found in conformance with the
Rules. Exceptions to the ten (10) acres size limit may be proposed by the RPF
preparing the Plan when in his or her judgment the result will be overall
reduction of soil erosion due to logging and road construction, or when it is
necessary to include "long corners" to take advantage of topography for a more
natural logging unit.
(3) Clearcut
areas of ten (10) acres or larger regardless of ownership shall be separated by
a logical logging unit not less than three hundred (300) feet in width between
the clearcut areas. Except for the sanitation-salvage, commercial thinning, and
selection silvicultural method, no other harvesting shall take place in the
unit adjacent to the clearcut areas until a fifty (50) percent crown cover of
conifer tree Species has been attained in the clearcut areas. Contiguous
clearcuts may occur without regard to ownership only when the total combined
acreage in the area clearcut is no more than ten (10) acres.
(4) Straight boundaries and a quadrilateral
appearance should be avoided in defining and logging the area to be clearcut.
The outline of the clearcut area should, where possible, be in accordance
aesthetically with natural pattern and features of the topography.
(5) The area to be clearcut must be clearly
defined on the ground prior to initial inspection so the Department can readily
determine if the full intent of the regulations will be complied
with.
(6) No area previously cut
under any other silvicultural method, except the sanitation-salvage method,
shall be clearcut until ten (10) years have elapsed.
(7) Regeneration after clearcutting shall be
obtained by using conifer trees or seed appropriate to the site. Site
preparation and the planting of seedlings and/or seeding shall be completed
within the first planting season following logging except where unusual and
adverse weather conditions require extending site preparation and planting into
the following planting season. Deficiencies in Stocking shall be corrected by
planting annually, if necessary. Stocking requirements shall be met within five
(5) years after completion of Timber Operations.
(d) Rehabilitation Cutting. Rehabilitation
cutting may be applied to stands where the primary forest management objective
is to reestablish full conifer Stocking on lands where brush and hardwoods are
the predominant Species. Areas harvested for rehabilitation purposes must be
significantly understocked with conifers prior to the proposed harvest. The
Director may request that a report of Stocking be submitted by the RPF prior to
approval of the Plan. This report will be requested when it cannot be mutually
resolved on the ground that the area is significantly understocked.
Restrictions applicable to clearcutting in
14 CCR
§
921.3(c) shall apply
to rehabilitation cutting. Leave trees shall be marked in areas harvested for
rehabilitation purposes.
(e)
Fuelbreak/Defensible Space. These are projects where some trees and other
vegetation and fuels are removed to create or maintain a shaded fuel break or
defensible space in an area to reduce the potential for wildfires and the
damage they might cause. Minimum Stocking Standards within the timber operating
area shall be met immediately after harvest and shall be those found in
14 CCR
§
912.7. The RPF shall describe in the
Plan specific vegetation and fuels treatment, including timing, to reduce fuels
to meet the objectives of a Community Fuelbreak Area or other objectives
identified by the RPF with the written concurrence of a public fire agency and
determined by the Director to be consistent with the purposes of this section.
The Plan shall include RPF recommendations to protect the natural and scenic
qualities of the resources that led to the designation of the area as a Special
Treatment Area, including, but not limited to, treating slash in areas highly
visible to the public from a publicly accessible vantage point.
(f) Variable Retention may be utilized as
described within
14 CCR
§
953.4(d) to achieve
the objectives of this section. The Plan shall include RPF recommendations to
protect the natural and scenic qualities of the resources that led to the
designation of the area as a Special Treatment Area, including, but not limited
to, treating slash in areas highly visible to the public from a publicly
accessible vantage point.
(g)
Recutting of Logging Areas. Timber Operations for removal of trees may only be
repeated on a Logging Area within less than ten (10) years after completion of
a previous Timber Operation if minimum Stocking Standards have been met, the
reasons for the operation are justified and explained in the Plan, and the
scenic and/or natural qualities of a stand would be enhanced by lighter or more
frequent tree removal. In no instance shall Stocking be reduced below the
standards provided in
14 CCR
§
921.4 nor shall more than sixty (60)
percent by numbers of those trees eighteen (18) inches and more d.b.h. and no
more than fifty (50) percent by numbers of those trees over twelve (12) inches
d.b.h. but less than eighteen (18) inches d.b.h. be removed within any one ten
(10) year period.
(h) An
Alternative Prescription shall be included in a Plan when, in the judgment of
the RPF, an alternative Regeneration Method or Intermediate Treatment offers a
more effective or more Feasible way of achieving the objectives of this section
than any of the standard Silvicultural Methods provided above.
(1) The Alternative Prescription shall comply
with 14
CCR §§
913.6(b) and
(d), and is subject to Director approval as
described within
14 CCR
§
913.6(e)
(2) If an Alternative Prescription will have
the practical on-the-ground effect of a clearcut, regardless of name or
description, then the acreage limitations, and requirement for separation by a
typical logging unit, Yarding equipment limitations, exceptions, and Stocking
requirements for the clearcut Regeneration Method described above, shall
apply.
(3) Proposed modifications
shall protect the natural and scenic qualities of the Coastal Commission
Special Treatment Areas to at least the same extent as otherwise provided in
these Rules, in consideration of the resources that led to the designation of
the area as a Special Treatment Area.
On Timber Operations in which cutting has occurred within
ten (10) years preceding the current operations, stumps which are the result of
cutting trees within the preceding ten (10) years shall be counted as trees cut
during the current operation in determining percent of trees cut.
Timber Operations conducted under the Sanitation-Salvage
Silvicultural Method, and the harvesting of minor forest products and
incidental vegetation are exempt from the above provisions of this
Section.
Note: Authority cited: Sections
4551
and
4553,
Public Resources Code. Reference: Sections
4551.5,
4561,
4561.2
and
30417,
Public Resources Code.
Note: Authority cited: Sections
4551
and
4553,
Public Resources Code. Reference: Sections
4551.5,
4561
and
30417,
Public Resources Code.
