36.11.420    SILVICULTURE

(1) The department shall design all prescribed silvicultural treatments to maintain the long-term productivity of the site in order to ensure the long-term capability to produce trust revenue.

(2) The department shall evaluate ecological characteristics of the site and use the characteristics to develop stand management regimes that are compatible with the site.

(3) The department shall design management regimes to address:

(a) stand structures and development;

(b) species mixtures;

(c) silvicultural systems; and

(d) time periods for reforestation.

(4) Suitable management regimes shall be those that realize the productive capability of the site for producing desired products and benefits and minimize the risk of losses to biotic or abiotic agents (e.g., wind-throw, micro-climate changes) .

(5) The department shall maintain and improve the long-term quality of the genetic base in terms of growth, form, and adaptation of tree species.

(6) The department shall maintain diversity of species, ages, and structure within or between stands, in order to maintain a complex and stable ecosystem that would be buffered against losses to:

(a) insects;

(b) disease;

(c) wildfire; and

(d) climatic elements.

(7) The department shall prepare silvicultural prescriptions for all planned treatments.  These prescriptions shall be written to accomplish the following objectives in a clear and organized manner that:

(a) guides department personnel in the correct implementation of the prescribed treatments;

(b) provides a record of the objectives and details of prescribed treatments for future reference; and

(c) moves stands toward the selected desired future condition.

(i) The department will identify potential future treatments recognizing that conditions may change prior to implementation of those treatments.

(8) The department shall prescribe silvicultural treatments to meet other resource management rules and comply with all appropriate statutes and regulations.  This requires coordination of treatments between stands in order to achieve parcel or landscape level goals for distribution of:

(a) stand composition;

(b) size;

(c) stocking; and

(d) structure characteristics.

(9) The department shall monitor the effectiveness of completed silvicultural treatments at meeting treatment objectives.  Specific purposes of the silvicultural monitoring shall be to:

(a) identify promptly the need for follow-up treatments in order to meet treatment objectives and environmental commitments;

(b) provide information for improving the effectiveness of future silvicultural practices; and

(c) identify potential improvements to the silviculture rules.

(10) In all stands where a regeneration cut has been applied, the department shall complete a regeneration survey promptly to ensure that treatment objectives and environmental commitments are met.

(11) In planted stands, the department shall complete a survival survey the first fall after planting.

(a) When regeneration is a goal, the department shall prescribe site preparation treatments to provide for adequate vegetation control including, but not limited to, the following:

(i) herbicides;

(ii) mechanical scarification; and

(iii) broadcast burning.

(12) The department shall conduct stand evaluations prior to each scheduled entry and after each completed treatment.

(a) Evaluation methods and intensity shall be sufficient to provide information necessary for developing appropriate silvicultural prescriptions and for evaluating treatment results in terms of the prescribed objectives.

(13) The department shall maintain information on the dates and types of completed treatments and activities.

(14) The department shall maintain information on costs of intermediate silvicultural treatments including, but not limited to:

(a) planting;

(b) site preparation;

(c) slash reduction; and

(d) pre-commercial thinning.

History: 77-1-202, 77-1-209, 77-5-201, 77-5-204, MCA; IMP, 77-5-116, 77-5-204, 77-5-206, 77-5-207, MCA; NEW, 2003 MAR p. 397, Eff. 3/14/03.