FOR341 Timber Harvesting and Forest Roads
Spring 2009
Instructor:
Office:
Phone:
Email:
Office Hours:
Beth Dodson
FOR 201A
(406) 243-5542
beth.dodson@cfc.umt.edu
Monday 1-3 and by appointment
Class Times:
Lecture: MW 10:10-11:00 in LA 106
Lab:
W 12:10-3:00 (Section 2)
W 3:10-6:00 (Section 3)
Required Text:
Water Quality BMPs (Best Management Practices) for Montana Forests
Other readings as assigned (available in class folder:
R:\Classes\Spring2009\FOR341)
Course Description:
An overview of harvesting system capabilities and selection for multiple resource
objectives. Fundamentals of forest road management. Best management practices as they
apply to forest operations in Montana and the western US.
Course Learning Objectives:
At the end of this course, students will be able to:
• Identify harvesting systems common in western North America.
• Understand basic safety principles applied to harvesting operations.
• Match stand, terrain, and management goals to appropriate harvesting systems.
• Have a working knowledge of forest road form and function.
• Understand how road management decisions impact the safety, cost effectiveness,
and environmental performance of forest road systems.
•
Upper Division Writing
This course is one of three courses needed to satisfy the upper division writing requirement for
CFC majors. Each student is required to achieve satisfactory scores on a sophomore-level
writing course (FOR 220/WBIO 245 or equivalent). The successful completion of one of these
courses plus the writing proficiency exam will be prerequisites for completion of the upper division
distributed writing requirement.
Assessment of student writing will be on the basis of the following criteria:
1. A clear statement of purpose (hypothesis or question or goal) within the scientific context
of the specific discipline.
2. The development of effective logical arguments using evidence and/or theory from the
discipline or supporting disciplines.
3. Writing meets discipline-specific writing conventions including the proper citation of
sources of information.
4. Demonstrate appropriate English language usage.
Course Policies:
• All assignments are due at the BEGINNING of class or lab on the assigned date.
• Late assignments will be penalized 20% of the possible grade per day.
• All work must be neat, legible and complete.
• While you are allowed to work with fellow students on individual assignments, all
submitted assignments must represent your own individual work.
•
•
All students must practice academic honesty. Academic misconduct is subject to an
academic penalty by the course instructor and/or a disciplinary sanction by the University.
All students need to be familiar with the Student Conduct Code. The Code is available
for review online at http://www.umt.edu/SA/vpsa/index.cfm/page/2585.
Grading:
Midterm exam I:
Midterm exam II:
Lab reports and assignments:
25%
25%
50%
Schedule of Topics:
Date 26‐Jan Monday ‐ Lecture Introduction 2‐Feb Falling and processing 9‐Feb Environmental impacts of falling and processing 16‐Feb Ground skidding 23‐Feb no class 2‐Mar Skyline 9‐Mar Payload analysis 16‐Mar 23‐Mar 30‐Mar 6‐Apr 13‐Apr 20‐Apr 27‐Apr 4‐May 11‐May Skyline safety and contracting Review/overflow Road function and anatomy Road drainage Stream crossings Road management Road contracting Wednesday ‐ Lecture Falling and processing Falling and processing safety Ground skidding intro Environmental impacts of ground skidding Skyline Environmental impacts of skyline logging Payload analysis System selection Midterm I Spring Break – no classes Road function and anatomy Road drainage Road surfacing Road management Review/overflow 10:10‐12:00 Midterm II Wednesday ‐ Lab No lab Harvest operations Harvest operations Harvest operations Harvest operations Model Yarder Payload analysis – Chain and Board Payload analysis – Logger PC No lab Road overview Road drainage Stream crossings Road decommissioning Review/overflow