Or. Admin. Code § 629-630-0910

Current through Register Vol. 63, No. 12, December 1, 2024

Section 629-630-0910 - Western Oregon Harvesting; Standard Practice; Designated Sediment Source Areas and Slope Retention Areas

(1) Slope retention areas encompass field identified headwalls. The department shall publish Forest Practices Technical Guidance to explain how to implement this rule.

(2) Changes in stream classification for a stream, based on field surveys for fish-use consistent with OAR 629-635-0200, shall not change the department's maps used for notifications of operations that identify designated sediment source areas.

(3) Landowner representatives shall identify at least 50 percent of the designated sediment source areas as slope retention areas for timber harvesting in Western Oregon as follows:

(a) If the number of designated sediment source areas is an odd number, the landowner representative shall round up to the next even number and identify half of the number as slope retention areas.

(b) Prioritize designated sediment source areas for selection of slope retention areas as follows:

(A) Designated sediment source areas with trigger sources; and

(B) Larger designated sediment source areas.

(4) The landowner representative may adjust the distribution and location of slope retention areas, notwithstanding section (3) of this rule, if the selected slope retention areas:

(a) Clearly reduce worker safety, as described in OAR chapter 437, Division 7, Forest Activities; or

(b) Cause more resource impact, such as additional road or landing construction, excessive sidehill yarding, or other yarding practices that clearly increase ecological impacts.

(5) The landowner representative shall have received certified steep slopes training to determine the field delineation of the final boundaries for slope retention areas. The department shall develop and provide certification training opportunities to landowner representatives when the slopes model has been added to the department's reporting and notification system.

(6) After clearly marking in the field the boundaries of the slope retention areas, the landowner representative shall submit a written plan, described in OAR 629-630-0925, for timber harvest units containing designated sediment source areas and slope retention areas.

(7) Operators shall not harvest timber located in the slope retention areas.

(8) Cable yarding, which may require cutting, but not removal, of trees, is permitted only through slope retention areas that do not contain trigger sources, but the number, size, and location of yarding corridors shall be designed to minimize soil and vegetation disruptions that may increase slope instability. The operator shall not remove trees cut for yarding corridors unless these are deemed safety hazards.

(9) Operators shall not construct skid roads or operate ground-based equipment in slope retention areas.

Or. Admin. Code § 629-630-0910

DOF 7-2022, adopt filed 11/21/2022, effective 1/1/2024; DOF 1-2024, amend filed 01/03/2024, effective 1/3/2024

Statutory/Other Authority: ORS 527.710 & Section 2(1), Chapter 33, Oregon Laws 2022

Statutes/Other Implemented: ORS 527.715, 527.765, Section 2(2), Chapter 33, Oregon Laws 2022 & Section (10), Chapter 33, Oregon Laws 2022