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LEGAL PERSPECTIVES RELATED
TO SOIL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Anne Puffer
ABSTRACT
Soil resource management and protection on forested
lands, during forestry activities, is incorporated in several
Federal acts. The Forest Service's soil resource management
program reflects the requirements of these acts. Soil management and protection, during forestry activities, on State
and private forest lands is most often incorporated in a
State Forest Practices Act. In States without a Forest Practices Act, soil resource management and protection during
forestry activities is voluntary. The Clean Water Act (CWA)
provides a regulatory framework for soil resource management and protection on all forested lands. Soil that reaches
and moves into stream channels is the major nonpoint
source pollution from forestry activities on all forested
lands. The CWA requires each State to identify and implement best management practices to reduce nonpoint source
pollution on all lands.
In the Organic Act, one of the initial purposes for establishing any unit of the National Forest System (NFS) is "to
improve and protect the forest within the boundaries ...."
The Multiple-Use Sustained-Yield Act set forth the secondary purposes of establishment "for outdoor recreation,
range, timber, watershed, and wildlife and fish purposes."
The Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act (RPA) requires an assessment of the present
and potential productivity of the land. It also requires
that the Forest Service develop a program, in full accord
with multiple-use and sustained-yield principles, that includes recommendations which "... recognize the fundamental need to protect and, where appropriate, improve
the quality of the soil, water, and air resource." The act
directs the Forest Service to develop regulations that set
forth the process for development and revision ofland management plans. The regulations are required to include as
a minimum guidelines that:
· .. provide for obtaining inventory data on soil
and water, including maps, graphic material,
and explanatory aids; ...
INTRODUCTION
Federal and State laws and regulations exist that address the management and protection of individual natural
resources (water, air, wildlife and fish, for example). At the
present time, no specific Federal or State law exists that
pertains to just soil resource management and protection.
Reference to soil resource management and protection
on forested lands is found in several Federal laws and
State Forest Practices Acts. The weakest link in legal
direction related to soil resource management is in States,
like Montana, Wyoming, and Utah, that do not have a
Forest Practices Act. In States without acts, soil management and protection measures during forestry activities
are voluntary.
· .. provide for methods to identify special conditions or situations involving hazards to the
various resources and their relationship to alternative activities ....
Additionally, the regulations are to specify guidelines for
land management plans developed to achieve the goals of
the program that:
· .. insure that timber will be harvested from
NFS land only where ... soil, slope, or other
watershed conditions will not be irreversibly
damaged.
The Forest Service planning regulations (36 CFR 219.14,
219.23,219.27) incorporate the RPA requirements for conserving the soil resources to maintain soil productivity.
The National Forest Management Act amended RPA by
adding sections that stressed the maintenance of productivity and need to protect and improve the soil and water
resources, and avoidance of permanent impairment of the
productive capability of the land. The act also amended
Section 18 of the Knutson-Vandenburg (KV) Act to authorize the use ofKV funds to protect and improve the future
productivity of the renewable resources of the National
Forests, including soil and water.
FEDERAL LAWS
The Forest Service administers the majority of Federal
forested lands. There are four principal Federal laws relating to the Forest Service that incl ude provisions for soil
resource management/protection. They are the Organic
Administration Act of 1897, Multiple-Use Sustained-Yield
Act of 1960, Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources
Planning Act of 1974, and National Forest Management
Act of 1976.
WATERSHED PROGRAM
The primary objective of the Forest Service's watershed
program is: "To protect and, where appropriate, enhance
soil productivity, water quality and quantity, and timing
Paper presented at the Symposium on Management and Productivity
of Western-Montane Forest Soils, Boise, ID, April 10-12, 1990.
Anne Puffer is Hydrologist, Northern Region, Forest Service, U.S.
Department of Agriculture, Missoula, MT 59807.
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of water flows." The policy of the Forest Service is to
"design all management activities of other resources to
minimize short-term impacts on the soil and water resources and to maintain or enhance long-term productivity,
water quality, and water quantity."
The Forest Service carries out watershed planning
to identify and evaluate watershed conditions and plan
appropriate corrective action as needed. The policy of the
Forest Service with regard to watershed planning is that
the protection and development of soil and water resources
will be components ofland and resource management
planning for NFS land. Soil capabilities and land-base
limitations are to be identified in all land and resource
management plans. Enough information must be available
to design management alternatives that will protect and,
as appropriate, improve the quality of the soil resource.
To protect watersheds, the Forest Service evaluates
watershed conditions on NFS lands to (1) assess long-term
trends of soil and water conditions as influenced by integrated land uses practices; (2) assess the changes in resource outputs that result from changes in watershed
condition; and (3) effectively carry out land management
activities without permanent impairment of soil productivity.
Work associated with resource improvement practices
implemented to improve watershed condition is accomplished through watershed improvement projects. The
objective of the projects is to restore the hydrologic balance
of degraded watershed areas by stabilizing soil, controlling
surface runoff and erosion, and improving long-term soil
productivity.
FOREST PRACTICES ACTS
Forestry activities on State and private lands are most
often regulated through a State Forest Practices Act. Half
of the western States have a Forest Practices Act (FPA).
The FPA's recognize that State and private lands contribute social and economic benefits to the State by helping
to maintain healthy forests, soil, air and water resources,
and providing habitat for wildlife and aquatic life. Most
also recognize the need for a balance between the implementation of forest practices and the protection of forest
soil, air, and water resources.
The FPA's are implemented through State regulations
or rules that establish the minimum performance standards for the conduct of forest practices on forest lands.
In general the following criteria are applicable to all of
the regulations:
Forest Practices Act regulations are generally not highly
prescriptive with regard to how forest activities must be
carried out. In most cases they are performance standards
that specify the level of resource protection, not prescriptive standards that specify the exact measures to be used
to attain a given level of resource protection. The basic
reason behind this is that site conditions vary widely
across a State's forestlands, therefore it is not possible to
establish a statewide set of prescriptive rules that would
be applicable to all forest activity sites.
Examples of standards for the conduct of forest practices
in the regulations implementing FPA's are:
• Select for each harvesting operation the logging
method and type of equipment adapted to the given slope,
landscape, and soil properties in order to minimize soil
erosion.
• Limit the grade of constructed skid trails on geologically unstable, saturated, or highly erodible or easily compacted soils to a maximum of 30 percent.
• Locate landings on stable areas to prevent the risk of
material entering streams. Avoid excessive excavation and
filling.
• During landing cleanup, where exposed soil is unstable
or erodible and may be reasonably expected to cause damage to a public resource, it shall be seeded with grass, clover, or ground cover or compacted, riprapped, water barred,
benched or mulched, or be treated by other approved means.
• Where feasible, do not locate roads on excessively steep
or unstable slopes or known slide-prone areas. Slope stability will be determined using available soils information,
or evidence of geologically recent slumps, or where the
natural slope exceeds the angle of repose for the particular
soil types present.
• Road construction shall be accomplished when moisture and soil conditions are not likely to result in excessive
erosion or soil movement, so as to avoid damage to public
resources.
CLEAN WATER ACT
In an indirect way, the Clean Water Act (CWA) is a
regulatory framework for soil management on all forested
lands. Section 319 requires each State to develop a nonpoint source (NPS) management program plan. The NPS
program plan is required to identify best management
practices (BMP's), which will be used to reduce NPS pollution loadings by NPS category. One of the categories is
forestry. Soil that reaches and moves into stream channels
is the major NPS pollution from forestry activities on all
forested lands. Therefore, soil resource information, such
as erosion hazard, is essential in the site-specific design
of BMP's to reduce NPS pollution on forest lands.
The NPS program plan is also required to identify programs (either regulatory or nonregulatory) to achieve BMP
implementation. The water quality standards for the
States of Idaho and Montana, developed per Section 303
of the CWA, are examples of regulatory programs for controlling NPS pollution. In Idaho, the rules and regulations
pertaining to the Idaho FPA are specifically identified in
• Provide for the harvesting of forest tree species in a
manner that will maintain the productivity of the forest
land, minimize soil and debris entering streams, and protect wildlife and fish.
• Provide for road construction that will ensure protection and maintenance of forest productivity, water quality,
and fish and wildlife habitat during construction and
maintenance.
• Provide for reforestation that will maintain a continuous growing and harvesting of forest tree species by describing the conditions under which reforestation will be
required, requiring stabilization of soils that have become
exposed as a result of harvesting.
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the State's water quality standards as approved BMP's for
the State. The Montana water quality standards require
the implementation of all reasonable soil and water conservation practices (analogous to BMP's) to control nonpoint
source pollution. Although Montana does not have a FPA,
it has devel~ped BMP's for forestry. While considered to be
voluntary, they are viewed as the minimum performance
standards for all forestry activities in the State. Because
implementation of BMP's is specifically addressed in both
State's standards, forestry activities on Federal, State,
and private forest lands must meet the intent of the water
quality provisions of the approved forestry BMP's.
On National Forest System lands, the soil and water
conservation practices described in the joint Intermountain
and Northern Region Forest Service Handbook 2509.22
(Soil and Water Conservation Practice Handbook) are the
vehicle by which State water quali ty protection provisions
of the BMP's are implemented during forestry activities.
National Forest Management Act. Act of October 22,
1976.90 Stat. 2949, as amended; 16 U.S.C. 1600 (note).
Federal Water Pollution Control Act. Act of October 18,
1972. 86 Stat. 816, as amended; 33 U.S.C. 1251, et sequence. (commonly referred to as the Clean Water Act).
Clean Water Act. Act of December 27, 1977.91 Stat. 1577;
16 U.S.C. 1251, et sequence.
Water Quality Act. Act of February 4,1987. 100 Stat. 7;
16 U.S.C. 1251, et sequence.
Idaho Code, Title 39-Health and Safety, Chapter 36.
Water Pollution Abatement. Enacted by Laws of 1970,
Chapter 87, as amended.
Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, Rules and
Regulations, Division of the Environment, Title 1,
Chapter 2. Water Quality Standards and Wastewater
Treatment Requirements. Effective June 28, 1973,
recodified July 21, 1983.
Idaho Department of Lands, Rules and Regulations Pertaining to the Idaho Forest Practices Act. Title 38,
Chapter 13. April 1990.
Montana Code Annotated, Title 75-Environmental Protection, Chapter 5. Water Quality. Enacted by Chapter
197 Laws of 1967, as amended.
Administrative Rules for Montana. Title 16, Chapter 20.
Water Quality, Sub-Chapter 6. Surface Water Quality
Standards. June 30, 1988.
REFERENCES
Organic Administration Act. Act of June 4,1897. Ch. 2,30
Stat. 11, as amended; 16 U.S.C. 473-475.
Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resource Planning Act.
Act of August 17, 1974. 88 Stat. 476, as amended; 16
U.S.C. 1601 (note).
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