Rice, R. M.; Rothacher, J. S.; Megahan, W. F. 1972. Erosional consequences of timber harvesting: an appraisal. In: Proceedings of a national symposium on watersheds in transition; Urbana, IL: American Water Resources Association: 321-329.
ABSTRACT. This paper summarizes our current understanding of the effects of timber harvesting on erosion. Rates of erosionon mountain watersheds vary widely but the relative importance of different types of erosion and the consequences of distur-bances remain fairly consistent. Therefore these conclusions seem to be valid for most circumstances: Most of man's activitieswill increase erosion to some extent in forested watersheds; erosion rarely occurs uniformly; sediment production declines rapidlyfollowing disturbance; landslides and creep are the chief forms of natural erosion in mountainous regions; cutting of trees doesnot significantly increase erosion, but clearcutting on steep unstable slopes may lead to increased mass erosion; acceleratederosion is a possible undesirable side effect of use of fire in conjunction with logging; the road system built for timber harvestingfar overshadows logging or fire as a cause of increased erosion; and potentially hazardous areas can be identified in advance ofthe timber harvest,
(KEY WORDS: lumbering; accelerated erosion; landslides; clearcutting; erosion control; roads; dry ravel; watershed disturbance;slash burning)