Managing Forest Roads
Roads are an essential improvement on your forest property. They provide access for recreation and for management activities. Roads are also the major environmental impact we have on the forest and watershed, being the principal source of erosion and stream sedimentation. Properly sited and constructed roads will produce minimal environmental impact and minimize maintenance effort and costs such as potholes that need repeated filling, and washboarding and rutting which requires annual blading.
In addition to the physical and biological aspects of roads, there are many social/legal aspects to consider: easements, maintenance agreements, access and trespass. For an overview of road maintenance and design issues, please see Forest Stewardship Series 17- Forest Roads
More UC Resources:
Rural Roads - Construction and Maintenance Guide for California Landowners
UCCE in collaboration with the NorCal Chapter of the Society of American Foresters hosted a three part webinar series on rural road design, maintenance and improvement in 2012 along with a series of three field trips to examine rural road issues in the field. Recordings of the webinars and additional resources for road design and maintenance are posted on the rural roads webinar page.
More Resources:
The Handbook for Forest and Ranch Roads is a guide for planning, designing, construction, reconstruction, maintaining and closing wildland roads. $22.00 (price includes tax). Available from Mendocino RCD, 707 462-3664.