Abstract Purpose of Review Ground-based mechanized forest operations can cause severe soil disturbances that are often long lasting and detrimental to the health of forested ecosystems. To reduce these soil disturbances, focus is being increasingly directed at identifying and using appropriate mitigation techniques. This systematic review considered 104 scientific articles and reported the main findings according to four core themes: terrain-related factors, operational planning, machine modifications, and types of amendments used to mitigate machine-induced soil impacts. Recent Findings For terrain-related factors, most severe disturbances occur on machine operating trails exceeding 20% slope and that soil bulk density and rut depth show greater increases in fine-textured soils. When considering operational planning, trafficability maps proved to be helpful in reducing the frequency and magnitude of soil damages as well as the length of trails needed within harvest sites, especially if they are regularly updated with weather information. Machine modifications, through high flotation tires, use of extra bogie axle, lower inflation pressure, and use of steel flexibles tracks, are highly researched topics because of the considerable upside in terms of machine ground pressure distribution and increased traction. Two main types of amendments emerged to mitigate soil disturbances: brush mats and mulch cover. Brush mats created from harvesting debris can spread the load of a machine to a greater area thereby lowering peak loads transferred to the soil. Brush mats of 15–20 kg m −2 are being recommended for adequate soil protection from harvesting operations. Summary To conclude, we outline recommendations and strategies on the use of soil mitigation techniques within cut-to-length forest operations. New research opportunities are also identified and discussed. Considering single factors causing machine-induced soil disturbances remains important but there is a pressing need for having a multi-disciplinary approach to tackle the complex problems associated with machine/soil/plant interactions. 

https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s40725-021-00155-6.pdf

Strategies to Mitigate the Effects of Soil Physical Disturbances Caused by Forest Machinery: a Comprehensive Review

/pdf/a-review-of-changes-in-us-logging-businesses-1980s-present-3fhakcs9b3.pdf

A Review of Changes in US Logging Businesses 1980s–Present

Hauling forest products from harvesting sites to the mills is a crucial component in forest operation which directly influence the cost of delivered products. Although past researchers have focused on various aspects of transportation including logistics modeling, productivity of trucking on various road conditions and terrain, the challenges in forest trucking are by far unnoticed. This study attempted to address some of the prominent issues on forest products trucking by using cross-sectional questionnaire survey technique. The survey was carried out in a regional council of forest engineers’ workshop. With a response rate of 31.22%, the majority of respondents had more than 25 years of experience working in the forestry sector.  Location and availability of markets was ranked as the major challenge faced by the industry followed by the lack of skilled truck drivers. The effective ways to reduce truck waiting times at harvesting and processing facilities along with opportunities for back-hauling of empty trucks were also analyzed. Average distance traveled by a single truck in a typical harvesting operation was found to be 98 km one-way. The findings can be utilized by the policy makers to formulate laws to support the industry and to develop management guidelines for specific trucking situations.

/pdf/perceiving-major-problems-in-forest-products-transportation-2sbhygholt.pdf

Perceiving Major Problems in Forest Products Transportation by Trucks and Trailers: A Cross-sectional Survey

Tractor-based systems are the most common type of small-scale timber harvesting equipment in the Hyrcanian forest, where farm tractors equipped with a 2-wheel trailer typically perform forwarding operations for pulpwood and fuelwood. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of different frequencies of machine passes on soil bulk density (BD), penetration resistance (PR) and total porosity (TP) in different slope gradient and forwarding direction (i.e., uphill vs. downhill). The study, performed on a brown soil with a silt loam to loamy texture, was designed as a factorial experiment with three slope gradient/forwarding direction classes (0-10% downhill forwarding slope, 10-20% downhill forwarding slope and 0-10% uphill forwarding slope) and four traffic intensity classes (0 [undisturbed control area], 1-4, 5-10 and >10 machine passes). Responses were assessed at four soil profile depth classes (5, 10, 15 and 20 cm). BD and PR significantly increased and TP significantly decreased with increasing machine traffic, with magnitudes of change that were not consistently greater in the upper 5 cm compared to the 20 cm soil profile depth class. Whereas the majority of changes in BD and TP occurred after fewer than 5 passes, large increases in PR occurred even after 10 passes. Changes of BD, PR and TP in response to machine traffic differed significantly among slope gradient/forwarding direction classes. Increases in BD and PR and decreases in TP were largest on the 0-10% uphill forwarding slope, followed by the 10-20% downhill and 0-10% downhill forwarding slope. We conclude that the application of farm tractors in forwarding operations should be limited to gentle slopes and uphill forwarding with these machines should be avoided.

/pdf/influence-of-slope-on-physical-soil-disturbance-due-to-farm-37hwjhsd29.pdf

Influence of slope on physical soil disturbance due to farm tractor forwarding in a Hyrcanian forest of northern Iran

Improving forest management by implementing best suitable timber harvesting methods.

/pdf/characteristics-of-new-york-s-logging-businesses-and-logging-3k3bsm63tz.pdf

Characteristics of New York's Logging Businesses and Logging Business Owners

/pdf/a-comparison-of-soil-compaction-associated-with-four-ground-2uc2yjx4m3.pdf

A Comparison of Soil Compaction Associated with Four Ground-Based Harvesting Systems

/pdf/a-comparison-of-residual-stand-damage-along-yarding-trails-1kptr37nid.pdf

A comparison of residual stand damage along yarding trails in a group selection harvest using four different yarding methods.


 Forests and large population centers dominate the landscape of New England (NE) and New York. We investigated factors that may impact the ability of sawmill procurement organizations in the region to obtain wood raw material by surveying mill procurement managers in the region. We found that, although symptoms of population pressures, such as decreasing size of forest parcels and terminal harvesting due to land-use change, were important constraints for many mills and appeared to be increasingly problematic, other factors, such as energy costs, appeared to present far greater challenges to most mills. Results have implications for both near- and long-term procurement strategies and may be relevant to forest products businesses nationwide.

Challenges to sawmill businesses in New England and New York State: A survey of wood procurement managers.

/pdf/public-perceptions-of-the-logging-profession-in-maine-and-13xlkt2c0e.pdf

Public perceptions of the logging profession in Maine and implications for logger recruitment.

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