Idaho Admin. Code r. 20.02.01.070

Current through September 2, 2024

Section 20.02.01.070 - SLASHING MANAGEMENT

01.Purpose. To provide for slashing and fire hazard management resulting from harvesting, forest management, forest tree species improvement, or defoliation caused by chemical applications necessary to protect reproduction and residual stands, reduce risk from fire, insects and disease or optimize the conditions for future forest tree species regeneration and to maintain air and water quality, fish and wildlife-habitat.

02.Commercial Slash. Fuels and debris resulting from a forest practice involving removal of a commercial product must be managed as set forth in the Idaho Forestry Act, Title 38, Chapters 1 and 4, Idaho Code and the rules and regulations pertaining to forest fire protection.

03.Non-Commercial Slash. Fuels and debris resulting from a forest practice where no commercial product is removed must be managed in a manner as hereinafter designated under authority of the Idaho Forest Practices Act, Title 38, Chapter 13, Idaho Code.

a. Within ten (10) days or a time mutually agreed upon following receipt by the Department of the "Notification of Forest Practice" as provided in Subsection 020.05, the Department will make a determination of the potential fire hazard and hazard reduction and/or hazard offsets, if any, needed to reduce, abate or offset the fire hazard. This determination will be based on a point system found in Paragraph 070.03.e.

b. The operator, timber owner and landowner will be notified in writing of the determination and of the hazard reductions and/or hazard offsets, if any, that must be accomplished by the operator, timber owner or landowner. The notification will specify a reasonable time period not to exceed twelve (12) months from the date the forest practice commenced the hazard reduction completion and will specify the number of succeeding years that on site improvements or extra protection must be provided.

c. A release of all obligations under Subsection 070.03 will be granted in writing when the hazard reduction and/or hazard offsets have been accomplished. When hazard offsets are to be accomplished during succeeding years, the release will be conditioned upon the completion of the required hazard offsets. Notification of release will be mailed to the operator, timber owner and landowner within seven (7) days of inspection by the Department. Inspections by the Department will be made within ten (10) days of notification by the operator, timber owner or landowner unless otherwise mutually agreed upon.

d. If the Department determines upon inspection that the hazard reduction or hazard offsets have not been accomplished within the specified time limit, the Department may grant extensions of time, each not to exceed three months, if the Director determines that a diligent effort has been made and that conditions beyond the control of the party performing the hazard reduction or hazard offsets prevented completion. If an extension is not granted the Department will proceed as required in Section 38-1307, Idaho Code (Idaho Forest Practices Act).

e. For the purpose of determining the potential fire hazard and the appropriate hazard reduction and/or hazard offsets, the Department will use a point system with the following rating guides. A value of eighty (80) points or less for any individual forest practice under Subsection 070.03, as determined by the Department, will be sufficient to release the operator, timber owner and landowner of all further obligations under Subsection 070.03. Total points of the proposed forest practice will be determined from Tables I and II. If the total points are greater than eighty (80), modification of the thinning practice to reduce points may be made as determined by Tables I and II, slash hazard offsets may be scheduled to reduce points as determined by Table III or a combination of these options may be used to reduce the hazards to a point total of eighty (80) or less. Consideration will be given to the operator's, timber owner's and landowner's preference in selecting the options to reduce the points to eighty (80) or less.

TABLE I - HAZARD POINTS
Hazard Points for Ponderosa Pine, Western Red Cedar or Western Hemlock
Thinned Stems Per Acre
Ave. DBH	250	500	750	1000	1250	1500	1750	2000	2500	3000	4000
1	1	2	3	3	4	5	6	7	9	10	16
2	3	6	9	13	16	22	25	30	36	42	51
3	7	16	25	32	38	46	51	52	56	59
4	9	22	32	40	50	52	54	56	60
5	13	28	40	51	54	56	59	60
6	19	36	51	54	58	60	60
Hazard Points for Douglas Fir, Grand Fir or Engelmann Spruce
Thinned Stems Per Acre
Ave. DBH	250	500	750	1000	1250	1500	1750	2000	2500	3000	4000
1	1	2	3	4	6	7	8	9	13	16	22
2	4	7	13	16	22	28	32	36	42	50	54
3	8	19	28	36	44	51	53	54	58	60
4	10	25	36	46	51	54	57	59	60
5	16	32	46	52	56	59	60	60
6	22	40	52	56	60	60	60
Hazard Points for Western Larch, Lodgepole Pine or Western White Pine
Thinned Stems Per Acre
Ave. DBH	250	500	750	1000	1250	1500	1750	2000	2500	3000	4000
1	1	2	2	3	4	4	5	6	8	9	13
2	3	6	8	11	16	19	22	28	32	38	48
3	6	16	25	32	38	46	51	52	56	59
4	8	16	28	36	44	50	52	54	58
5	9	22	32	42	50	53	55	57
6	13	28	40	50	53	56	59

TABLE II - HAZARD POINTS WORKSHEET

HAZARD CHARACTERISTICS				HAZARD POINTS
Fuel Quantity				________________
Hazard points from Slash Hazard Table I 1/				________________
Record number of trees/acre to be cut				________________
Average D.B.H.				________________
Predominant species				________________
	Size of thinning block
Points	0 - 15	16 - 30	31 - 45	46 - 60 1/
Acres	20	20 - 40	40 - 80	80

Site Factor

Record Slope__________% Aspect

___________ Determine points from table below 1/

ASPECT	PERCENT SLOPE
	0 - 19	20 - 39	40 - 59	60
E or NE	0	5	10	20
E or NW	0	5	10	30
W or SE	0	10	30	40
S or SW	0	20	40	60
1/	Max. 60 points

Other Factors
Condition of operating area before forest practice commences	0 - 20 points
Condition of adjoining area	0 - 20 points
Presence of snags and culls	0 - 5 points
Deterioration rate of slash	0 - 5 points
Time of year forest practice operation	10 points
October thru December	2 points
August thru September	4 points
January thru April	7 points
May thru July	10 points
TOTAL FOREST PRACTICE AREA POINTS	(Max. 240 points)

TABLE III - HAZARD OFFSETS

Offsets	Hazard Point Deductions
Physical Changes to the Hazard (1)
(1) Points will be proportional to the amount of hazard disposed of or modified.
Disposal by burning or removal.	0 - 160
Modification by reducing depth through crushing, chipping or lopping.	0 - 60
On Site Improvements
Condition of main access road to forest practice area should allow movement of heavy trucks without difficulty.	0 - 5
Access control to forest practice area provided by closure to public traffic.	0 - 5
Availability of water for tankers within one mile of forest practice area or within three miles for helicopter bucket use. Water supply to be sufficient to supply at least fifty thousand (50,000) gallons.	0 - 15
Buffer zones of unthinned areas at least two chains in width between roadways and thinned areas.	0 - 10
Fuel breaks with slash hazard removal around and/or through forest practice area, located so as to provide optimum fire control effect and of two to four chains in width.	0 - 25
Fire trails with fuel removed to expose mineral soil to a width of twelve (12) feet. Maximum points allowed if combined with a fuel break.	0 - 15
Extra Protection
Increased attack capability such as retardant availability, increased attack manpower and equipment. Must be in addition to regular forces normally available during the fire season.	0 - 40
Fire detection and prevention increased beyond that normally available for lands in the fire protection district.	0 - 15
Initial attack time based on proximity of forest practice area to initial attack forces.	0 - 5
Landowner protection plan which would provide extra fire protection on a voluntary basis such as extra equipment and/or manpower.	0 - 5

Idaho Admin. Code r. 20.02.01.070

Effective March 31, 2022