Executive Summary – Voluntary Compliance with Forestry Best Management Practices in East Texas

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Publication Year

2025

Brief Description

An executive summary detailing the voluntary compliance with forestry best management practices in East Texas.

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Full Text

A Best Management Practices (BMP) monitoring program evaluated the level of implementation of non-regulatory forestry BMPs in East Texas. A total of 142 randomly selected sites on which silvicultural activities occurred were evaluated. These sites were monitored between March 8, 2023, and June 30, 2025, and are believed to be a representative sample of the forestry activities that occurred in East Texas during that time.
Overall BMP implementation on the monitored sites was 88.2%. In general, implementation was highest on sites under corporate and public ownership. The corporate lands (commercial landowners that do not have wood processing facilities) scored 92.6%, while National Forest and General Land Office (GLO) sites had an overall implementation of 91.4%. Family forest owners scored 80.2%. Industrial forestland owners scored 86.3%.

Implementation with BMPs was statistically higher when:

  • a forester was involved in the sale or activity
  • the landowner was already familiar with BMPs
  • BMPs were included in the timber sale contract
  • the property had a professional management plan

Implementation was lowest on sites when:

  • a forester was not involved in the sale or activity
  • the property did not have a professional management plan
  • BMPs were not included in the timber sale contract
  • the landowner was not familiar with BMPs

Deficiencies noted during the evaluations included:

  • stabilizing stream crossings on permanent and temporary roads
  • streams free of sediment at temporary stream crossings
  • removing temporary crossings
  • Permanent roads being well drained with appropriate structures
  • thinning within allowable specifications in SMZs
  • SMZs being adequately wide

Improvements from previous rounds included increases in:

  • permanent road stream crossings free of sediment
  • permanent road stream crossings stabilized
  • location free of oil and trash
  • no soil movement during site prep activities
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