20140957 Ver 2_Attachment 12_USFS Report on Forested Wetlands_20170818

Attachment 12

United States
Department of
Agriculture
Forest Service
Natural Resources
Conservation
Service
United States
Army Corps
of Engineers
United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
United States
Department of
the Interior
Fish and Wildlife
Service
NA -PR -01-95
FORESTED WETLANDS
Functions, Benefits and the Use of
Best Management Practices

Additional copies of this publication can be obtained from
USDA Forest Service, Northeastern Area, 100 Matsonford
Road, 5 Radnor Corp Ctr Ste 200, Radnor, PA 19087-4585
If you find this publication helpful, please write and
tell us how you used it.
Federal Recycling Program
Printed on recycled paper.
Front Cover: Heaths are a common bog vegetation, as
suggested by "Big Heath," the local name
for this black spruce bog in Maine.
Photo: Donald J. Leopold
Back Cover: Labrador Pond, a poor fen in New York
Photos: Donald J. Leopold

Forested Wetlands
Functions, Benefits
and the Use of
Best Management Practices

Forested Wetlands
Functions, Benefits, and the Use of
Best Management Practices
AUTHORS
David J. Welsch
Northeastern Area, USDA Forest Service
David L. Smart
USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service
James N. Boyer
Philadelphia District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Paul Minkin
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region III
Howard C. Smith
USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service
Tamara L. McCandless
USDI Fish and Wildlife Service
The following people have also contributed significantly to this publication with
source materials, writing,
editing, ideas and photography. Their efforts are greatly
appreciated.
Scott Jackson, Dave Kittredge, Sue Campbell, Chris Welch, Alison Whitlock, and
Joseph Larson, Department of Forestry and Wildlife Management, University of
Massachusetts; Mike Phillips, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources;
Larry Klotz and Randy Cassell, Shippensburg University, PA; Joe Emerick,
Cambria County Conservation District, PA; Jim Soper, Carmine Angeloni,
Conrad Ohman, and Jack Jackson, Massachusetts Department of Environmental
Management; Eric Johnson, Northern Logger and Timber Processor Magazine;
Mike Love, Blanchard Machinery Co.; John Conkey Logging Inc.; Barbara Hoffert
Graphic Design; Doug Wechsler, Vireo Project, Academy of Natural Sciences of
Philadelphia; Paul Wiegman, Western Pennsylvania Conservancy; Tony Wilkinson,
Nature Conservancy; Kathy Reagan, Adirondack Conservancy; Robert Gutowski,
and Ann Rhoads, Morris Arboretum, University of Pennsylvania; Donald Leopold,
College of Environmental Science and Forestry, State University of New York;
James Finley, Pennsylvania State University; Steve Koehn, Maryland Department
of Natural Resources; Bob Tjaden, Delaware Department of Agriculture;
David Saviekis, Delaware Division of Water Resources; Barbara D'Angelo, U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency -Region III; Paul Nickerson, and Diane Eckles,
USDI Fish and Wildlife Service; Richard Wyman, EN. Huyck Biological Research
Station, NY; Tom Ilvari, Bob Franzen, Carl Langlois, Barry Isaacs, and
Bob Wengrzynek, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service; Gerald
Tussing, Top of Ohio, Resource Conservation and Development Area; John Lanier,
Vermont Department of Fish and Wildlife; Mary Davis, U.S.A. Corps of Engineers;
Lola Mason, Elon S. Verry, Jim Hornbeck, Ed Corbett, Steve Horsley, Gary Wade,
Bill Healy, Lionel Lemery, Bill Moriarity, Nancy Salminen, Elizabeth Crane, Gordon
Stuart, Mark Cleveland, Jackie Twiss, Jim Lockyer, Roxane Palone, Karen Sykes,
Toni McLellan, Mike Majeski, Rich Wiest, Constance Carpenter, John Currier, and
Gary Peters, USDA Forest Service.

INTRODUCTION
Wetlands are complex and fasci-
nating ecosystems that perform a
variety of functions of vital impor-
tance to the environment and to the
society whose very existence depends
on the quality of the environment.
Wetlands regulate water flow by de-
taining storm flows for short periods
thus reducing flood peaks. Wetlands
A Atlantic white cedar, Chamaecyparis thyoides, has formed a dense forest in this New
Jersey bog.
protect lake shore and coastal areas by
buffering the erosive action of waves
and other storm effects. Wetlands
improve water quality by retaining or
transforming excess nutrients and by
trapping sediment and heavy metals.
Wetlands provide many wildlife
habitat components such as breeding
grounds, nesting sites and other
critical habitat for a variety of fish and
wildlife species, as well as the unique
habitat requirements of many threat-
ened and endangered plants and
animals. Wetlands also provide a
bounty of plant and animal products
such as blueberries, cranberries,
timber, fiber, finfish, shellfish, water-
fowl, furbearers and game animals.
Although wetlands are generally
beneficial, they can, at times, ad-
versely affect water quality. Waters
leaving wetlands have shown elevated
coliform counts, reduced oxygen con-
tent and color values that exceed the
standard for drinking water.
While many wetland functions are
unaffected by land management ac-
tivities, some functions can be com-
promised or enhanced by land man-
agement activities. Deforestation,
for instance, can reduce or eliminate
the ability of a wetland to reduce
flood peaks. On the other hand,
retaining forest vegetation on a
wetland can help retain the ability of
the soil to absorb runoff water thus
reducing peak flood flows. In addi-
tion, management of the forest can
actually improve wildlife habitat and
produce revenue to offset the cost of
retaining the wetland for flood
control. The key is to recognize
environmental values and incorporate
them into management decisions.
The purpose of this publication is
to provide an understanding of some
of the environmental functions and
societal values of forested wetlands
and to present an array of Best
Management Practices, or BMP's.
Best management practices are
devices and procedures to be consid-
ered and used as necessary to protect
the environmental functions and
societal values of wetlands during
harvesting and other forest manage-
ment operations.
u

DEFINITION
The term "wetlands" includes a
variety of transitional areas where
land based and water based ecosys-
tems overlap. They have long been
known to us by more traditional
terms such as bog, marsh, fen and
swamp. And while most people use
these terms interchangeably, to many
who study wetlands these terms have
specific meanings which richly
describe the various wetland envi-
ronments they represent. However,
before discussing the meaning of
these traditional terms, we should
look first at some general definitions
of wetlands.
One of the earliest of the currently important definitions,
often referred to as the Circular 39 definition, was developed by
the USDI Fish and Wildlife Service as part of a wetland classifi-
cation system for categorizing waterfowl habitat. This
classification is still used to differentiate between various
wetland types for wildlife habitat purposes.
The term "wetlands "... refers to lowlands covered with
shallow and sometimes temporary or intermittent waters.
They are referred to by such names as marshes, swamps,
bogs, wet meadows, potholes, sloughs, fens and river over-
flow lands. Shallow lakes and ponds, usually with emergent
vegetation as a conspicuous feature, are included in the
definition, but the permanent waters of streams, reservoirs,
and portions of lakes too deep for emergent vegetation are
not included. Neither are water areas that are so temporary
as to have little or no effect on the development of moist -
soil vegetation.
Wetlands of the United States, Their Extent and Their Value for
Waterfowl and Other Wildlife (Shaw and Fredine 1956)
The Environmental Protection Agency (Federal Register
1980) and the Corps of Engineers (Federal Register 1982) agree
on the following definition of wetlands, which is used to legally
define wetlands for the purposes of the Clean Water Act.
The term "wetlands" means those areas that are inun-
dated or saturated by surface or ground water at a fre-
quency and duration sufficient to support, and that under
normal circumstances do support, a prevalence of vegeta-
tion typically adapted for life in saturated soil conditions.
Wetlands generally include swamps, marshes, bogs, and
similar areas.
Corps of Engineers Wetlands Delineation Manual (U.S. Army Corps
of Engineers 1987) nmmm� V�

The Cowardin definition is one of the most comprehensive
and ecologically oriented definitions of wetlands and was devel-
oped by the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service as part of a wetlands
inventory and classification effort.
Wetlands are lands transitional between terrestrial and
Wetlands exist between aquatic
aquatic systems where the water table is usually at or near the
and terrestrial ecosystems and are,
surface or the land is covered by shallow water... wetlands
therefore, influenced by both. Wet-
must have one or more of the following three attributes:
lands are lands where water is present
(1) at least periodically, the land
on the soil surface or within the root
supports predominantly
hydrophytes; (2) the substrate is
zone of plants, usually within about
18 inches Because
predominantly undrained
of the soil surface.
hydric soil; and (3) the substrate is nonsoil and is saturated
of the presence of water, wetlands
with water or covered by shallow water at some time durin
have soil properties which differ from
g
the growing season of each
upland areas. Only hydrophytes,
year
plants that are adapted to an environ-
Classification of wetlands and Deepwater Habitats of the United States
(Cowardin et al. 1979).
ment where water is present in the
root zone either permanently or for
extended periods of time, can survive
in such soils. The type of soil, the
amount of organic matter, the depth
to which the water table will rise, the
climate, and the season and duration
of high water will determine the kinds
of plants that will grow in a wetland.
These definitions are descriptions of the physical attributes of
Therefore, wetland types are identi-
wetlands and are used chiefly to identify wetlands for regulatory
fied, in part, by the kinds of plants
purposes, but wetlands are more than physical places where
that grow in them and the degree of
water is present and certain plants grow. Wetlands perform a
surface flooding or the degree of soil
variety of unique physical, chemical and biological functions
saturation due to a high water table.
which are essential to the health of the environment and valuable
Any of these definitions may
to society, but which are also difficult to define or identify for
suffice for the purposes of protection
regulatory purposes.
and enhancement of wetland func-
tions. However, for regulatory
purposes, it is important to know
that there are several similar defini-
tions in common use, but the one that
currently applies for the regulatory
purposes of the Clean Water Act is the
1987 Corps of Engineers definition.
u

It is easier to avoid negative impacts
on wetlands if the land in question is rec-
ognized as wetland at the beginning of
the planning process. Identifying wetlands
when the land is inundated or flooded
with water is not difficult, but wetlands are
not always inundated and many wetlands
are never inundated.
A Sediment deposits on leaves suggest a
period of flooding.
A Buttswell and knees of baldcypress, Taxodium distichum, are indicators of
seasonal high water levels.
Therefore, it is necessary to be able to identify wetlands
by other means. While identification and delineation of wet-
lands under the Clean Water Act is a complex process
involving soils, plant communities and hydrology, there are a
number of easily recognized signs that can be used as indi-
cators that the area may be a wetland and that it thus
deserves further investigation.
N
• "`�e Y_�,�_ tri'
SL
X14
t �Ty�il�'�iv•:1e ••rte o laJl9_#
A Buttressed roots and sediment stained
trunks indicate seasonal flooding.
A Watermarks on trunks of these water
tupelo, Nyssa aquatica, record past
flood levels in an Illinois swamp.

A Drift lines, the linear deposits of debris at the base of these silver maples, Acer saccharinum,
in this New York wetland record past flood events.
A Water stained boulders mark past flood levels.
A Surficial root systems indicate saturated soils.
D

TRENDS
Unfortunately, the benefits wet-
lands provide to society and to indi-
vidual landowners are neither widely
understood nor appreciated. From the
178O's to the 198O's it is estimated
that the 20 state Northeastern Area, an
administrative unit of the USDA
Forest Service, lost 59 percent of its
wetlands (Dahl 1990). To understand
the forces of change, consider the
Chesapeake Bay watershed, which
comprises portions of the states of
Delaware, Maryland, New York,
Pennsylvania, Virginia and West
Virginia. The Chesapeake Bay water-
shed has lost 9 percent of its
noncoastal marshes and 6 percent of
its inland vegetated wetlands between
the mid-195O's and the late 197O's
(Tiner 1987). Forested wetland losses
during this period were greatest for the
state of Virginia which lost 9 percent
of its forested wetlands during a 21
year period (Tiner 1987). It should be
noted for the purposes of data inter-
pretation that Virginia is included in
the Chesapeake Bay data, but
is not included in the data for the
Northeastern Area.
Distribution of Wetiand Types in
the Chesapeake Bay Watershed
60°
7% 100/
1%
11%
Coastal Wetlands
■ Inland Emergent Wetlands
■ Inland Forested Wetlands
Inland Shrub -scrub Wetlands
■ Other Inland Wetlands
After Tiner 1994
U.S.D.A. Forest Service Northeastern Area
Wetland Losses in the Northeastern Area
thousands of
acres
State
Estimated Wetlands
National Wetlands
Percent
Circa 1780
Inventory 1980
Change
Connecticut
670
173
-74
Delaware
480
223
-54
Illinois
8,212
1,255
-85
Indiana
5,600
751
-87
Iowa
4,000
422
-89
Maine
6,460
5,199
-19
Maryland
1,650
440
-73
Massachusetts
818
588
-28
Michigan
11,200
5,583
-50
Minnesota
15,070
8,700
-42
Missouri
4,844
643
-87
New Hampshire
220
200
-9
New Jersey
1,500
916
-39
New York
2,562
1,025
-60
Ohio
5,000
483
-90
Pennsylvania
1,127
499
-56
Rhode Island
103
65
-37
Vermont
341
220
-35
West Virginia
134
102
-24
Wisconsin
9,800
5,331
-46
TOTAL
79,791
32,818
-59
Currently, about 12 percent of the wetlands in the
Chesapeake Bay watershed are classified as estuarine or
coastal wetlands (Tiner et al. 1994). Coastal wetland losses
continue to result from conversion to estuarine waters by
rising sea levels, coastal erosion and dredging. Losses of
coastal wetlands to agriculture have increased significantly
since 1982.

Changes in Causes of Estuarine Emergent Wetland
Destruction in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed
12% 11%
4%
IW
44
61%
1955-79
■ Agriculture
■ Urban/Rural Development
7%
1982-89
❑ Other Development
■ Estuarine Water
After Tiner 1994
The remaining 88 percent of wetlands in the
Chesapeake Bay watershed are various types of
inland wetlands. Sixty percent of the total wetlands
in the Chesapeake Bay watershed are inland wetlands
classified as palustrine forested wetlands. Actually,
forested wetlands progress from forested wetlands to
emergent wetlands to scrub -shrub wetlands and back
to forested wetlands creating a sort of dynamic
equilibrium as individual forest progress through the
various plant successional stages in response to
management activities or natural phenomena.
Palustrine scrub -shrub wetlands and palustrine
emergent wetlands make up 10 and 11 percent of the
total wetlands respectively. Consequently, appropri-
ate forest management activities have the potential to
favorably effect more than 60 percent of the total
wetlands in the Chesapeake Bay watershed.
Changes in Causes of Palustrine Forested Wetland
Destruction in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed
9% 15%°
14 /o
25%
6%
(I 3%
2%
6 19%
17 47%
1%
1956-79 1982-89
■ Agriculture ■ Ponds
■ Urban/Rural Development ❑ Reservoirs/Lakes
❑ Other Development
After Tiner 1994
Changes in Causes of Estuarine Emergent Wetland
Destruction in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed
350
a�
300
m
250
0
200
150
c
Q 100
0)
50
m
a 0
Agriculture Urban/Rural Other Estuarine
Development Development Water
1956-79 [:11982-89
After Tiner 1994
CI
Changes in Causes of Palustrine Forested Wetland
Destruction in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed
1000 -
m
a�
U
800
U)
N
J 600
ro
400
C:
Q
0) 200
> I" I L I M 1 221 1 33
IN
ds Reservoirs/
Lakes
0
Agriculture Urban/Rural Other Pon
Development Development
1956-79 ❑ 1982-89
After Tiner 1994
9

Changes in Causes of Palustrine Shrub -Scrub Wetland
Destruction in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed
16% 13% 16%
17%(: 20%66%
34%
1956-79 1982-89
16%
2%
❑ Agriculture Ponds
❑ Urban/Rural Development Reservoirs/Lakes
❑ Other Development
After Tiner 1994
Current data indicates the pri-
mary threat to forested wetlands is
conversions to ponds and reservoirs;
a secondary threat is conversion to
agriculture. The threat of conver-
sion, both to agriculture and to lakes
and ponds, has increased signifi-
cantly for palustrine scrub -shrub and
palustrine emergent wetlands.
While figures impart a sense of
the magnitude of what we have lost,
they do not tell the whole story.
Pollution, changes in the amount of
water entering a wetland, drainage,
urban development and other
activities which may not necessarily
occur in wetlands, often cause
impacts to wetlands and result in
Changes in Causes of Palustrine Shrub -Scrub Wetland
Destruction in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed
1000 986
U)
U
a 800
V)
�
600
m
c
400
a�
200
m
0
Agriculture Urban/Rural Other Ponds Reservoirs/
Development Development Lakes
1956-79 ® 1982-89
severe degradation and impairment
of function. Many of these impacts
cause changes that are difficult to
detect until related effects become
apparent. At that point, only signifi-
cant contributions of time and
resources can repair the damage.
Wetlands are extremely fragile and,
in many cases, the damage may be
irreversible.
Inland forested wetlands comprise
the largest segment, almost 50 per-
cent, of the remaining wetlands in the
lower 48 states (Tiner 1987). Man-
agement strategies adopted for these
wetlands could have a significant
impact on the benefits these wetlands
provide to society in the future.
Changes in Causes of Palustrine Emergent Wetland
Destruction in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed
14%
15%
7% 4%
42%
27% (1
ZI 53%
28% 1% 9%
1956-79 1982-89
❑ Agriculture ■ Ponds
❑ Urban/Rural Development ® Reservoirs/Lakes
❑ Other Development
After Tiner 1994
After Tiner 1994
Changes in Causes of Palustrine Emergent Wetland
Destruction in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed
1000
J)
a
U
m 800
U)
600
m
400
c
Q
a
200
ro
0
Agriculture Urban/Rural Other Ponds Reservoirs/
Development Development Lakes
1956-79 ® 1982-89
After Tiner 1994

WETLAND
CLASSIFICATION
Wetlands are classified by the
USDI Fish and Wildlife Service in a
comprehensive hierarchical method
that includes five systems and many
subsystems and classes. The method
is explained in the Classification of
Wetlands and Deepwater Habitats of
the United States (Cowardin et al.
1979). This classification method
includes the marine system and the
estuarine system which are ocean
based systems and beyond the scope
of this document. The other systems
are the riverine, lacustrine and
palustrine systems. The riverine
system includes freshwater wetlands
associated with stream channels,
while the lacustrine system includes
wetlands associated with lakes larger
than 20 acres. The palustrine system
includes freshwater wetlands not
associated with stream channels,
wetlands associated with lakes of less
than 20 acres and other wetlands
bounded by uplands. Most forested
wetlands are in the palustrine system.
Classification of Wetlands and Deepwater Habitats
of the United States
Cowardin et al. 1979
u

Wetlands can be more simply
classified into three broad categories
of wetland types, based on the
growth form of plants: (1) marshes,
where mostly nonwoody plants such
as grasses, sedges, rushes, and
bullrushes grow; (2) shrub wetlands,
where low -growing, multi -stemmed
woody plants such as swamp azalea,
highbush blueberry and sweet
pepperbush occur; and (3) forested
wetlands, often called swamps or
wooded wetlands, where trees are
the dominant plants.
However, these classification
systems may be less than ideal for the
purposes of this publication. Informa-
tion more useful for protecting and
enhancing the values of forested
wetlands may be based on a knowledge
of soils, hydrology and plant and
animal communities present. General
information of this type will be pre-
sented on the following pages for
forested wetlands and other types of
wetlands most often encountered in
association with forest management
operations in the Northeastern Area.
A Marshes often form along the shallow edges of lakes and streams and are characterized by grasses,
sedges, rushes and other herbs, such as cattail, growing with their lower stems in the water.
�10

ti db f
i l;
. _ _ • h.e
•-'off 66. - i
11
■

Organic Soil
Wetlands
Bogs
The word bog often evokes a
picture of a pond with a ring of
sphagnum moss, but the term bog
actually describes the larger area of
wet organic soil in which these ponds
occur. Bogs are generally formed in
depressions where the combination of
cool climate and abundant moisture
retard the rate of decomposition re-
sulting in an accumulation of organic
matter. They are hydrologically open
systems, but receive little or no
discharge of water from groundwater
aquifers and are, therefore, dependent
on precipitation for moisture. Bogs
produce near normal amounts of
surface runoff and may recharge small
HYDROLOGY
Hydrology, the way in which a wetland
is supplied with water, is one of the most
important factors in determining the way
in which a wetland will function, what plants
and animals will occur within it, and how
the wetland should be managed. Since
wetlands occur in a transition zone where
water based ecosystems gradually change
to land based ecosystems, a small differ-
ence in the amount, timing or duration of
the water supply can result in a profound
change in the nature of the wetland and
its unique plants, animals and processes.
Hydroperiod is the seasonal pattern of
water level that results from the combina-
tion of the water budget and the storage
capacity of the wetland. The water budget
is a term applied to the net of the inflows,
all the water flowing into, and outflows, all
the water flowing out of, a wetland. The
storage capacity of the wetland is deter-
mined by the geology, the subsurface soils,
the groundwater levels, the surface con-
tours and the vegetation. The hydroperiod
of coastal wetlands exhibits the daily and
monthly fluctuations associated with tides,
12
A Lost Pond, in the Adirondacks of New York, is only a small part of this bog
which includes the black spruce, Picea mariana, and tamarack, Larix laricina,
forest in the background.
p�Surf
Wf
WETLAND WATER BUDGET
Precipitation
Evapotranspiration
rf0w
A Water budget is the term applied to the net result of all water entering
and leaving the wetland.
whereas inland wetlands tend to show, to
a greater degree, the effects of storm and
seasonal events such as spring thaw, fall
rains and intermittent storm events.
In headwater areas where streams
originate, watersheds tend to be small and
have shallow soils with low water storage
capacity. Hydroperiods of wetlands in
headwater areas often show water levels
that rise and fall rapidly in response to lo-
calized storm events which supply the
streams and wetlands with runoff. An
exception is areas where soils are domi-
nated by sandy glacial deposits. These

1 Alternating patterns of boreal forest, low vegetation and open water often indicate areas that are bogs
interspersed with areas that are fens.
amounts of water to regional ground-
water systems. The resulting
chemistry produces nutrient poor acid
conditions and less than average pro-
ductivity. However, low tree
productivity is largely offset by high
Hydroperiod is the seasonal pattern of the water level that results from the combination
of the water budget and the storage capacity for a specific wetland. It provides
a clue as to logical operating season.
moss productivity. This causes the
accumulation of peat further restrict-
ing water movement and raising the
areas tend to have deeper soils, gentler
slopes and more predictable hydroperiods.
Sandy glacial deposits also tend to occur
in colder climates and to be frozen for a
period of the year often providing the op-
portunity to conduct management opera-
tions under frozen conditions. Larger
streams, which receive much of their wa-
ter from the combined flows of many
smaller streams, tend to respond more
slowly to precipitation and exhibit the re-
sults of the average conditions over the
larger combined watershed as opposed to
local storm events.
Hydroperiods of wooded swamps as-
sociated with larger river systems tend to
show water levels that reflect events gen-
eral to the larger area such as fall rains
and spring thaw and are, therefore, more
predictable.
The number of times that a wetland is
flooded within a specific time period, such
as yearly, is known as the flood frequency.
Flood duration is the amount of time that
the wetland is actually covered with water.
It should also be noted that many wetlands
are never flooded, but the wetland defini-
tion does require the soil to be saturated
for at least a part of the growing season.
Only hydrophytes, a relatively small group

BOGS/BLANKET BOGS
A Bogs are formed where climate and ample moisture retard decomposition causing organic matter to accumulate. The spongelike
organic matter holds water intensifying the process and can expand to overlay adjacent areas forming blanket bogs.
water table. This accumulation of wa-
ter and peat is self intensifying and can
eventually result in expansion and
overlaying of adjacent areas with peat
to create blanket bogs.
The dominant vegetation is adapted
to the cold, wet, nutrient poor, acidic
environment and includes black spruce,
tamarack, Atlantic white cedar, alder,
sphagnum moss, sedges and heaths
ubiquitous to bogs such as highbush
blueberry, cranberry and leatherleaf.
of vascular plants with special adaptations
which includes many endangered species,
are able to survive in soils that are satu-
rated for more than a short period during
the growing season. Therefore, the dura-
A Northern pitcher plant, Sarracenia purpurea, and round leaved sundew, Drosera
rotundifolia, survive in nutrient poor bogs by trapping and digesting insects.
tion and timing of flooding and or satura-
tion will limit the number of species that
can survive in the wetland.
Residence time is a measure of the
time it takes a given amount of water to
A Deeply rutted skid trails in wetlands can lower water tables and circumvent
chemical processes by shortening the residence time of water.
move into, through and out of the wetland.
Since chemical processes take time and
follow one another sequentially, the degree
to which wetlands can change water chem-
istry is determined to an extent by resi-
dence time. This is one reason why it is
important not to create a channel across
a wetland in the direction of the flow, in-
creasing outflow rate and decreasing resi-
dence time.
Wetlands receiving inflow from ground-
water are known as discharging wetlands
because water flows or discharges from
the groundwater to the wetland. A recharg-
ing wetland refers to the reverse case
a
where water flows from the wetland to the
o groundwater. Recharge and discharge are
determined by the elevation of the water
level in the wetland with respect to the
water table in the surrounding area. Ripar-
ian wetlands often have both functions,
they are discharging wetlands receiving
groundwater inflow from upslope areas
and they are recharging wetlands in that
they feed lower elevation groundwater
through groundwater outflow. The same
wetland may be a discharging wetland in
a season of high flow and a recharging
wetland in a dry season. Seeps at the base
of mountains are often discharging wet -

Other plants adapted to this environ-
ment include carnivorous plants such
as pitcher plant and sundew and
managers should address the possibility
of threatened and endangered species
in management plans for these areas.
Wildlife using bogs include bog
lemming, four -toed salamander, spruce
grouse, massasauga rattlesnake, wood
frog, moose, spotted turtle, water
shrew, ribbon snake and neotropical
birds such as the olive -sided fly-
catcher, northern parula warbler,
bay -breasted warbler and blackpole
warbler.
There is seldom reason to enter
the sphagnum mats surrounding
open water portions of bogs and the
best advice is go around them.
Forested bog peatlands tend to occur
A Spotted turtle, Clemmys guttata, likes slow water
and numerous insects common in bogs.
in areas such as Minnesota, Michigan
and Maine where the ground freezes
during the winter months. Manage-
ment activities on the forested areas
should be restricted to periods when
the surface is sufficiently frozen to
support harvesting and other equip-
ment and should utilize the Best
Management Practices listed for
frozen conditions.
A Northern parula warbler, Parula americana, finds
lichen, Usnea, nesting material, in bogs.
15
RECHARGING WETLAND
In recharging wetlands, water moves from the wetland into the groundwater ^ t s
DISCHARGING WETLAND
In discharging wetlands, water moves from groundwater into the wetland
A Fluctuating water tables can cause wetlands to shift back and forth from Discharging to Recharging.
lands formed by groundwater breaking nal ponds is practically nil in the northeast. precipitation, surface flow, subsurface flow
through to the surface of the ground at the Mountain top swamps are often recharg- and groundwater flow. Surface flow in -
base of steep slopes. Vernal ponds often ing wetlands with groundwater outflows to cludes surface runoff, stream -flow and
occur in these areas, but are an exception a water table much lower in elevation. flood waters. Flood waters can carry nutri-
in that groundwater flow to and from ver- Inflow water reaches the wetland from ent laden sediments to forested floodplains
15

Fens
The feature that distinguishes fens
from bogs is the fact that fens receive
water from the surrounding watershed
in inflowing streams and groundwater,
while bogs receive water primarily
from precipitation. Fens, therefore,
reflect the chemistry of the geological
formations through which these waters
flow. In limestone areas the water is
high in calcium carbonate resulting in
fens that are typically buffered to a
near neutral pH of 7. However, the
level of calcium or magnesium bicar-
bonate varies widely in fens. At low
levels of bicarbonate the pH may be
closer to pH 4.6 resulting in an acid
A Bogs receive water primarily from precipitation with relatively little water from surface flows and discharge only to groundwater.
Resulting organic accumulations contribute to their acidity.
A Wetlands are often connected with outflows of one becoming the inflows of the next. The water supply to the lower wetland is
often delayed until the upper one fills.
where these sediments are deposited
making the soil very fertile. Forested flood -
plains can be very productive.
Outflow leaves the wetland by evapo-
ration, transpiration, surface flow, subsur-
face flow or groundwater flow. Evaportaion
is water given off to the atmosphere as
water vapor. Transpiration is the process
whereby water taken up by plant roots is
released as vapor to the atmosphere from
the plant leaves. Surface flows out of wet-
lands can be small or large and are often
16
the origin point of streams. Wetlands are
often connected, to a degree, with surface
and groundwater outflows of one wetland
supplying the inflows to other wetlands
lower in the watershed. The water supply
to the lower wetland can be delayed until
the upper wetland fills to a point where
aditional water runs off. As a result, some
wetlands will not be as well supplied as
others in dry periods.
As stated previously, the water storage
capacity of the wetland is affected by the
soil, the groundwater level and the surface
contour. Wetlands generally occur in natu-
ral depressions in the landscape where
geologic or soil layers restrict drainage. The
surface contours act to collect precipita-
tion and runoff water and feed it to the
depressed area. Groundwater recharge
can take place if the soil is not already
saturated and the surface contours of the
basin hold the water in place long enough
for it to percolate into the soil. In many
cases the shape of the basin is such that

fen. At very high levels of bicarbonate,
the water may reach a pH of 9. Thus,
there is much variation among fens
with respect to acidity and they often
do not have the extreme acid condi-
tions associated with bogs.
The common features of both bogs
and occur in similar climatic and
physiographic regions. Indeed, they
often occur side by side, one grading
into the other. Under the right condi-
tions, peat can accumulate in low
domes that effectively separate rain
water in the dome from calcium rich
and fens are that they accumulate peat groundwater in the underlying fen.
Surface Flow
L11
Stream Outflow
A Fens receive both surface and subsurface water and have both surface and subsurface outflows. As a result, fens tend to reflect the
chemistry of the underlying geology and can be quite alkaline when fed from limestone sources.
A Flood protection is often the re-
sult of topographic features of
the wetland which cause it to fill
rapidly at high flows but release
water slowly during lower flows.
A A hydrograph shows the volume and timing of flows at a given point in a
watershed.
it can be rapidly filled by precipitation or
flood waters and the water slowly released
by a restricted surface outlet, by slowly
permeable soil or by geologic conditions.
The water storage capacity of the wet-
land determines the volume and timing of
water reaching the stream from precipita-
tion. The precipitation reaches the stream
in the form of groundwater or surface run-
off to contribute to streamflow discharge.
A hydrograph is a graph of the volume and
timing of streamflow discharge measured
at a certain point in the watershed. The
hyrdograph shows the lapse time, the
amount of time between the onset of pre-
cipitation and the peak stormflow dis-
17

A The open areas of Bear Meadows, a poor fen in Central Pennsylvania,
support a lush growth of leatherleaf, Chamaedaphne calyculata, and
highbush blueberry, Uaccinium corymbosum.
The plant community of the fen is
more varied than that of a bog and
while heaths are more plentiful in
charge. It also depicts the volume of the
stormflow discharge over time. Wetlands
tend to have longer response times and
lower peak stormflows distributed over
longer time periods. Urban and developed
N
A Leatherleaf, an acid loving plant, often forms
floating rings around edges of ponds.
bogs, sedges tend to be more plentiful
in fens. Typical cool, wet climate
vegetation is common with acid loving
lands tend to have short response times
and high volume, short duration stormflow
discharges. The overall effect is that wa-
tersheds with wetlands tend to store and
distribute stormflows over longer time pe -
NATURAL VALLEY STORAGE PROJECT
566
U
0
479 C.M.S.
0
453
U
UJ
LU
BLACKSTONE
RIVER
AT NORTHBRIDGE,
MA
a
it 340
UJ
W
U
226
CHARLES RIVER
z
AT CHARLES RIVER VILLAGE, MA
91 C.M.S.
a 113
U
N
s
0
18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
AUGUST, 1955
After Thibodeau and Ostro 1951
A Peak flow for the Charles River watershed is much lower than peak flow for the
Blackstone, a similar watershed with fewer remaining wetlands.
species occurring as scattered inclu-
sions on hummocks. The species
composition of acid fens is similar to
bogs and includes black spruce,
Virginia pine, tamarack, willow, birch,
orchids, leatherleaf and random
sphagnum mats.
As noted previously, many fens are
acidic. However, fens receiving water
from limestone or calcium carbonate
riods resulting in lower levels of streamflow
and reduced probabilty of flooding.
The Natural Valley Storage Project, a
1976 study by the U.S. Army Corps of En-
gineers (COE) cocluded that retaining
8,500 acres of wetlands in the Charles
River Basin near Boston, Massachusetts
could prevent flood damges estimated at
$6,000,000 for a single hurricane event.
Projected into perpetuity the value of such
protection is enormous. Based on this
study, the COE opted to purchase the wet-
lands for $7,300,000 in lieu of building a
$30,000,000 flood control structure
(Thbodeau and Ostro 1981).
Loss of floodplain forested wetlands
and confinement by levees have reduced
the floodwater storage capacity of the Mis-
sissippi by 80 percent increasing dramati-
cally the potential for flood damage
(Goselink et al. 1981). The 1993 flood
proved this prediction to be true and re-
sulted in immeasurable damage. Yet gov-
ernments are allowing and even assisting
the rebuilding of some of these same
levees fostering potentially more damages
in the future instead of promoting land use
change to restore the wetlands and reduce
the potential for future damage.

A Spreading globeflower, Trollius laxus, favors
more alkaline wetlands.
geologic sources are much less acidic.
These calcareous fens support a group
of plants that differs somewhat from
the group of plants found in acid fens.
The calcareous fens tend to be
A The dam in the upper portion of this photo verifies beaver use of fens. Sparse
vegetation marks the alkaline seepage around the perimeter.
dominated by grasses and sedges as
well as calcium loving trees such as
northern -white cedar and Atlantic Some species of wildlife such as
white cedar instead of the sphagnum bog turtles are more common in
moss common to acid fens. calcareous fens where they use the
shrub layer for aestivation, or
summer hibernation, particularly in
the northeast.
Wetlands within a watershed reduce flooding by desynchronizing peak flows.

A Bog turtles, Clemmys muhlenbergii, tend to favor the habitat
conditions surrounding calcereous fens for summer aestivation.
Wildlife species groups associated
with acidic fens are similar to those
associated with bogs. They include
species such as bog lemming, four -
toed salamander, spruce grouse, wood
frog, moose, spotted turtle, water
shrew and ribbon snake and
neotropical birds such as the northern
waterthrush and palm warbler.
SOILS
One of the identifying characteristics of
wetlands, from both ecological and statu-
tory points of view, is the presence of hy-
dric, or wet, soils. Hydric soils are defined
by the U.S.D.A. Natural Resources Con-
servation Service (NRCS) as "soils that
formed under conditions of saturation,
flooding or ponding long enough during the
growing season to develop anaerobic
conditons in the upper part."
The three critical factors that must ex-
ist for the soil to be classified as hydric soil
are saturation, reduction and
redoximorphic features. When a dominant
portion of the soil exhibits these three ele-
ments the soil is classified as a hydric soil.
Saturation, the first factor, occurs when
enough water is present to limit the diffu-
sion of air into the soil. When the soil is
20
T
A Palm warbler, Dendroica palmarum, breeds and feeds in
the low bushes common in fens.
Because surface outflows trigger their
damming instinct, beaver will occa-
sionally occupy fens when more
desirable habitat is unavailable.
The tea colored surface outflow
from fens, while not trophy trout
water, provides important habitat for
small, newly hatched brook trout. The
trout survive because the organic acids
that impart color to the water also tend
to congeal soluble forms of aluminum
which could otherwise be toxic to
trout, particularly young trout. Trout in
these streams have been observed to
survive spring "acid shock" loading
when trout in nearby clear streams
have not survived.
Europeans refer to peatlands, both
A Dull gray general soil background, or matrix color, and bright red -orange iron
concentrations, or mottles, indicate a fluctuating water table.
saturated for extended periods of time a
layer of decomposing organic matter
accumulates at the soil surface.
Reduction, the second factor, occurs
when the soil is virtually free of elemental
oxygen. Under these conditions soil
microbes must substitute oxygen -containing
iron compounds in their respiratory process
or cease their decomposition of organic
matter.

A Showy ladyslipper, Cypripedium reginae, favors
more alkaline wetlands.
bogs and fens, with the word "mire"
which says a lot about operating in
these areas. Machinery can be "mired
down" unless operations are con-
ducted under frozen conditions.
These areas, by virtue of the condi-
tions necessary for their existence, are
rarely dry, so operating in a dry sea-
son is all but impossible.
Redoximorphic features, the third
factor, include gray layers and gray mottles
both of which occur when iron compounds
are reduced by soil microbes in anaerobic
soils. Iron, in its reduced form, is mobile
and can be carried in the groundwater
solution. When the iron and its brown color
are thus removed, the soils show the gray
color of their sand particles. The anaero-
bic, reduced zones can be recognized by
their gray, blue, or blue -gray color. The
mobilized iron tends to collect in aerobic
zones within the soil where it oxidizes, or
combines with additional oxygen, to form
splotches of bright red -orange color called
mottles. The mottles are most prevalent in
the zones of fluctuating water and thus
help mark the seasonal high water table.
The blue -gray layer with mottling
generally describes wetland mineral soils.
However, where saturation is prolonged,
the slowed decomposition rate results in
the formation of a dark organic layer over
the top of the blue -gray mineral layer.
Although classification criteria are some-
what complex, soils with more than 20
percent organic matter are classified as
organic soils. For the purposes of this
document, the organic layer becomes
important when it reaches a thickness of
0
0
0
0
a�
J
a
m
0
0
A Grasses, Gramineae, dominate the alkaline
portions of this fen.
A Organic soils are characeterized by
very dark color and either fibrous or
gelatinous structure.
T
m
m
N
O
U
ro
c
m
a
N
C
C
d
a
m
N
N
approximately 16 inches. Under the right
N conditions, the layer can grow to many feet
in thickness.
The organic soils are separated in the
N
soil survey into Fibrists, Saprists, and
Hemists. The Fibrists, or peat soils,
m consist of soils in which the layer is brown
to black color with most of the decompos-
0 ing plant material still recognizable. In
m
Saprists, or muck soils, the layer is black
colored and the plant materials are
decomposed beyond recognition. The
mucks are black and greasy when moist
and almost liquid when wet. Mucks have
few discernable fibers when rubbed
between the fingers and will stain the
hands. The Hemists, mucky peats, are in
between in both color and degree of
decomposition.
Identification of larger areas of hydric
soil has been simplified. They are identi-
fied on maps available at USDA Natural
Resources Conservation Service (NRCS)
county offices.
The amount and decomposition of the
organic component determines several
important differences between mineral and
organic wetland soils.

0
10
20
U
1� 30
a
Q 40
50
60
70
CM
5,
22
0-
O = incompletely decomposed organic debris
A = black muck in surface
C = recently trapped sediment
AB = buried surface or original soil
Profile #1 is a hydric soil and the wettest of the
soils in this photo series. It shows two hydric soil
characteristics, a thickened organic layer,
explained below, and a gray matrix explained
under the second profile. Profile #1 occurs at the
lowest point in the wetland and is inundated for
extended periods of time. The ponded water fills
the soil pores preventing air from entering the soil.
A few days of soil saturation is usually sufficient
for soil microbes to exhaust the supply of
dissolved oxygen in the soil water. The lack of
oxygen slows the process of microbial
decomposition causing partially decomposed
organic matter to accumulate above the mineral
layers of soil creating the thickened O and A layers
apparent in this soil profile. The thick organic layer
at the soil surface indicates a hydric soil.
CM
I
h'Lz�
CM
I�
O = decaying organic debris
A = very dark gray organic matter
incorporated into mineral surface
B = zone of fluctuating water table gray
matrix with many strong brown iron
concentrations
C = zone of extended periods of saturation,
gray matrix with few strong brown iron
concentrations
Profile #2, also a hydric soil, is somewhat higher in
the landscape and although still subject to
fluctuating water tables and lengthy periods of
saturation, is not inundated for long periods.
Therefore, the soil shows the gray matrix color in
the B and C layers, but not the thickened organic
surface. Without oxygen, microbes must utilize
iron compounds to obtain energy from organic
matter. In the process, iron compounds are
converted from insoluble to soluble and flushed out
leaving the gray background color. As iron
precipitates in the aerated zones, additional soluble
iron migrates from anaerobic sites until they
become so depleted of iron that the gray color
predominates. The term matrix is used to describe
conditions in the dominant volume of soil within a
layer. A soil layer is considered to be anaerobic
when the soil matrix is dominated by gray
depletion color. Layers B and C show the gray
matrix indicating that these layers are saturated for
long periods. The dull gray matrix extending to the
soil surface indicates a hydric soil.
20-
50+
�F
••
v:,,
r
50+
r
O = decaying organic debris
A = very dark gray organic matter
incorporated into mineral surface
B = zone of fluctuating water table gray
matrix with many strong brown iron
concentrations
C = zone of extended periods of saturation,
gray matrix with few strong brown iron
concentrations
Profile #2, also a hydric soil, is somewhat higher in
the landscape and although still subject to
fluctuating water tables and lengthy periods of
saturation, is not inundated for long periods.
Therefore, the soil shows the gray matrix color in
the B and C layers, but not the thickened organic
surface. Without oxygen, microbes must utilize
iron compounds to obtain energy from organic
matter. In the process, iron compounds are
converted from insoluble to soluble and flushed out
leaving the gray background color. As iron
precipitates in the aerated zones, additional soluble
iron migrates from anaerobic sites until they
become so depleted of iron that the gray color
predominates. The term matrix is used to describe
conditions in the dominant volume of soil within a
layer. A soil layer is considered to be anaerobic
when the soil matrix is dominated by gray
depletion color. Layers B and C show the gray
matrix indicating that these layers are saturated for
long periods. The dull gray matrix extending to the
soil surface indicates a hydric soil.
20-
50+
O = organic debris
A = very dark grayish brown organic
accumulations in surface
AB = dark gray matrix and strong brown iron
concentrations
B = dark gray matrix with light gray
depletions and strong brown iron
concentrations
Profile #3 is also a hydric soil and although
saturated for shorter periods of time, still shows
the strong gray matrix color all the way to the soil
surface. Fluctuating water levels in the soil allow
air to fill the large pores as the water level lowers
and then trap the air as the water level rises again.
When the iron dissolved in the water encounters a
zone of trapped air, it forms a strong red -brown
colored precipitate. The percipitated colors are
known as concentrations or mottles and are
evident here in the AB and B layers. The gray
matrix with bright mottles extending to very near
the soil surface indicates a hydric soil.
••
v:,,
r
O = organic debris
A = very dark grayish brown organic
accumulations in surface
AB = dark gray matrix and strong brown iron
concentrations
B = dark gray matrix with light gray
depletions and strong brown iron
concentrations
Profile #3 is also a hydric soil and although
saturated for shorter periods of time, still shows
the strong gray matrix color all the way to the soil
surface. Fluctuating water levels in the soil allow
air to fill the large pores as the water level lowers
and then trap the air as the water level rises again.
When the iron dissolved in the water encounters a
zone of trapped air, it forms a strong red -brown
colored precipitate. The percipitated colors are
known as concentrations or mottles and are
evident here in the AB and B layers. The gray
matrix with bright mottles extending to very near
the soil surface indicates a hydric soil.

30 40 50
CM
3-
0-
1S-
2H -
50+
O = leaf fragments over humus
A = very dark grayish brown organic matter
in surface
AB = light olive brown matrix with grayish
brown depletions and strong brown iron
concentrations
B = light yellowish brown matrix with gray
depletions and yellowish brown iron
concentrations
Profile #4 is significantly higher in the landscape
and though it weakly displays wetness
characteristics it is not a hydric soil. In both the
A and B layers the matrix has medium colors
associated with the original evenly distributed
oxidized 'iron coatings on sand grains. Small
areas of iron depletion and concentration exist,
however the segregation process and attendant
gray color is not dominant in any layer. This soil
is probably saturated to the surface for only very
short periods of time and is, therefore, not a
hydric soil.
CM
50+
0
10
20 t7
rn
b
30
n
40
50
60
70
O = leaf fragments
A = very dark grayish brown organic matter
in surface
AB = olive brown matrix with olive yellow iron
concentrations
B = light olive brown matrix with pale brown
depletions and yellowish brown iron
concentrations
Profile #5 is not a hydric soil and shows evidence of
saturation only in the deeper layers of the soil. As
stated previously, iron depletions and concentrations
are evidence of iron segregation due to saturation.
The AB layer is saturated and anaerobic so
infrequently that gray depletions are almost
nonexistent. The deeper B layer shows faint
depletions indicating that the soil is saturated only at
depth and only for relatively short periods. Since the
soil is seldom saturated to the surface and only
saturated at depth for short periods of time, it is not
a hydric soil.
23-
50+
O = leaf fragments
A = very dark grayish brown organic matter
in surface
AB = olive brown subsurface
B = yellowish brown subsoil
Profile #6 occupying the highest landscape
position in this series, shows essentially no
evidence of saturation and is not a hydric soil. In
this soil the vertical redistribution of iron into
horizons is associated with water percolating
down through the soil profile. As a result, iron is
evenly distributed within each of the soil layers.
Saturation is either absent or restricted to such
brief periods that the soil does not develop
anaerobic conditions, thus preventing iron
segregation and development of the gray matrix
within the soil horizons. The absence of
inundation also prevents the development of
organic accumulations on the surface.
23

Mineral Soil
Wetlands
Headwater Wetlands
Headwater wetlands are temporarily
to seasonally flooded wetlands located
at the origins of streams. Headwater
wetlands have a hydroperiod that is
characterized by predictable flooding
associated with spring runoff and
sporadic flooding associated with
localized storm events. Headwater
wetlands tend to be discharge wetlands
where soil water and groundwater
surface to become the origin of streams.
Thus, these systems are hydrologically
open and soluble inorganic material in
groundwater plus soluble organic
material in surface outflow are flushed
causing headwater wetlands to be less
acidic and more fertile than bogs and
fens. The hydroperiod for headwater
Organic soils have lower bulk densities,
that is lower weight per unit of volume, than
mineral soils. Consequently, organic soils
will have more pore space and greater
water holding capacity and while flooded
can be more than 80 percent water by
volume. By contrast, mineral soils are
usually less than 55 percent water. How-
ever, water holding capacity has little
effect on flood storage because pores are
usually filled and do not readily release
moisture from the less porous lower
layers.
The hydraulic conductivity, a measure
of the speed at which water can move
through the soil, varies considerably both
within and between organic and mineral
soils. While organic soils may have a larger
water storage capacity, water movement
may be considerably slower than in
mineral soils. Much depends on the
degree of decomposition of organic
matter. However, the effect tends to
extend the response time or period of time
between the onset of a storm event and
the resulting peak streamflow as discussed
in the hydrology section.
Decomposition is also important in
determining the location of the levels of
greatest flow with respect to the surface in
66
A Black spruce, Picea mariana, and cinnamon fern, Osmunda cinnamomea, help
identify this headwater wetland during a dry Pennsylvania summer.
organic soils. The chart by Boelter and
Verry shows that more than 90 percent of
the horizontal water flow in organic soil
wetlands occurs at a depth of less than 12
inches below the surface. Relatively
undecomposed organic matter near the
surface creates larger pore spaces permit-
ting greater flows. As depth increases and
organic matter is more completely decom-
posed, pore spaces are blocked by even
finer particles of organic matter and flow
is reduced.
HORIZONTAL WATER FLOW RATE
AS A FUNCTION OF DEPTH BELOW THE SURFACE IN WETLANDS
Soil Horizon
(inches below
the surface)
Horizontal
Water Flow
Rate
(inches per hour)
Reduction
In
Flow Rate
(percent)
Degree of
Decomposition
(1 to 10)
0 — 3
250
0
1
3 — 6
140
44
2
6 — 9
63
75
3
9 — 12
21
92
4
12 — 18
7
97
5
18 — 24
3
99
6 & 7
Boelter and Verry 1977

A The northern dusky salamander, Des-
mognathus fuscus, a good swimmer,
climber and burrower, is well suited to
headwater wetlands.
wetlands shows spring time flooding
as well as additional frequent
flooding associated with even small
local storms.
Common vegetation in headwater
wetlands includes red maple, black
gum, ash, swamp white oak, loblolly
pine, nettles, and jewelweed.
Wildlife inhabiting the headwater
Organic soils tend to be richer than
mineral soils in the nutrients important to
plant productivity. But organic soils often
have very low productivity because the
nutrients present are bound in organic
compounds and thus unavailable for plant
growth. Therefore, unless the wetland
receives an inflow of nutrients from other
sources, the plant forms present are apt
to be those with low nutrient requirements
or special adaptations such as carnivorous
plants.
When not flooded. organic soils gen-
erally have more hydrogen cations
available, tending to make them more acid
than mineral soils. Hence, acid loving
plants are associated with organic soils.
An example is the sphagnum mat or ring
that forms around a bog lake. Exceptions
are those fens which are influenced by
limestone geology and thus receive
calcium bicarbonate in groundwater. The
bicarbonate easily removes the free hydro-
gen cations by forming water and carbon
dioxide and results in fens that are neutral
to basic.
Organic soils have a greater potential
for removal of excess nutrients and other
pollutants. Small soil particles with large
surface to volume ratios have the ability to
A The shy, elusive mourning warbler,
Oporornis philadelphia, favors moist,
thickets of headwater wetlands.
wetlands include spring salamander,
wood turtle, water shrew, common
merganser, northern dusk salamander,
two -lined salamander, beaver and
moose and neotropical birds such as
C
N
A Spotted touch-me-not, or jewelweed,
Impatiens capensis, is a common plant
in headwater wetlands.
wetlands due to the frequent, unpre-
dictable flooding common to these
wetlands. Open hydrologic conditions
mean extra care since pollutants
introduced here can quickly affect
the Louisiana waterthrush and mourn- downstream environments.
ing warbler.
Landings and equipment storage
areas should be kept out of headwater
attract and hold posistively charged ions,
known as cations, such as ammonium
(NH4') and calcium (CA11).The cations are
adsorbed or loosely held by electrical at-
traction. Cations held in this way may be
stored for extended periods in sediments
or removed and incorporated into other
natural compounds by chemical or micro-
bial activity. When the adsorbed cations are
incorporated into other compounds the soil
particles become available to adsorb
additonal cations. In this way, wetland soils
maintain their ability to remove and recycle
excess nutrients and other pollutants. Cat-
ion exchange capacity is one measure of
the potential for wetland soils to alter the
chemistry of the waters moving through
them and to transform nutrients into other
forms.
25
O A
Cd
N N
O C
a`a
o
`O a
02
N N
N C
O:D

Streamside Wetlands
Streamside wetlands may be
narrow upland areas and expand
somewhat as the valleys widen along
the larger streams. Because these
wetlands are associated with streams
having larger watersheds, the
hydroperiod has a more predictable
pattern in which flooding is closely
associated with spring thaw and larger,
more regionalized storm events.
Hydrographs for streamside wetlands
also show some delay between storm
events and peak flows due to the
distance from the headwaters. Like
headwater wetlands, streamside
wetlands are hydrologically open.
VEGETATION
Another of the physical characteristics
used to identify wetlands is the presence
of hydrophytic vegetation. The term hydro -
phyte comes from the Greek words hydro,
meaning water, and phyton, meaning plant.
The term hydrophyte includes all aquatic
and wetland plants. However, the term is
generally used to refer to vascular aquatic
and wetland plants. Though hydrophytes
represent only a small percentage of the
total plant population, there are far too
many to list here.
Upland plants normally have adequate
soil oxygen available to the roots for use
in the metabolic processes that convert
food into energy. When soil saturation or
flooding make oxygen unavailable, the
metabolic process either stops altogether
or shifts to anaerobic glycolysis, an
enzymatic process that does not require
oxygen to convert food into energy.
Anaerobic glycolysis produces much less
energy than normal metabolic processes
and causes accumulation of toxic end
products. Using anaerobic glycolysis, most
plants can produce only enough food to
survive for short periods of time. Hydro-
phytic plants thrive in wetland soils in spite
6
A In summer, the status of this Massachusetts streamside wetland is indicated
only by subtle vegetative hints.
A Hypertrophied lenticels, horizontal swollen areas on the base of this silver maple tree.
facilitate exchange of oxygen between the tree tissue and the atmosphere.
of the limitation or absence of oxygen
because they are able to make special physi-
ological adaptations.
Hydrophytic plants vary in the number of
adaptations they exhibit, but generally those
that exhibit a greater number of adaptations
also exhibit a greater tolerance to saturated
soil conditions. Relatively few tree species,
such as cypress and water tupelo, are able
to make enough of these adaptations to
tolerate flooding for more than a few
weeks during the growing season.
However, there are a number of species
that exhibit one or more of these adapta-

A Springtime floods remove all doubts as to the status of the streamside wetland seen
in the picture at left.
A Alligator weed, Alternanthera philoxe-
roides: stem cross-sections show pro-
gressively larger aerenchyma forma-
tions from the drier site (upperleft) to
the wettest site sample (lower right).
tions and thus tolerate varying degrees of
soil wetness. Some plants such as green
ash form hypertrophied lenticels, enlarged
structures on the above ground portion of
the plant that permit the exchange of
gasses with the atmosphere facilitating the
transfer of oxygen from the air to the plant
tissue. Green ash and northern white
cedar grow large diameter, succulent roots
at least partially composed of cells with air
spaces between them, called aerenchyma,
1 A pore lining: the dark circle surrounding
the opening is caused by oxidizing of iron
by air reaching otherwise anaerobic soil
through the pore opening.
which facilitate movement of oxygen
throughout the root tissue. Water hickory,
black spruce and balsam fir develop fibrous,
lateral root systems which tend to spread
horizontally above the water soil levels.
Larch, water hickory and water tupelo de-
velop adventitous roots, extra roots on the
tree stem, again, above the level of the wet-
ter soil. Bald cypress and water tupelo de-
velop a swelling at the base of the tree which
helps resist windthrow and may facilitate the
C
O
The greatest variety of plant and
animal species in the forest are
associated with streamside wetlands.
Vegetation associated with these
wetlands include ostrich fern, sy-
camore, red maple, swamp white oak,
green ash, river birch, black willow,
privet, speckled alder and pin oak.
A An oxygenated rhizosphere or coloration of
the exterior root surface caused by oxidizing
of iron by air leaking out of the roots into
otherwise anaerobic soil.
exchange of oxygen.
In some wetland adapted plants such as
cordgrass, Spartina, the oxygen supply is
large enough to cause oxygen to be diffused
out through the roots oxygenating the rhizo-
sphere, or outer surface of the root. Soil iron
and manganese deposits in these areas are
often oxodized by this method resulting in
streaks of rust commonly seen in wetland
soils.
27

Hydrophytic and other plants used to
identify wetlands for regulatory purposes
are listed in the National List of Plant
Species that Occur in Wetlands, (Reed,
1988). This publication lists five indicator
categories for plants which can be found
in wetlands: Obligate Wetland (OBL, > 99
percent occurrence), Facultive Wetland
(FACW, 67-98 percent occurrence),
Facultive (FAC, 37-67 percent occurrence),
Facultive Upland (FACU, found in wetlands
1-33 percent of the time), and Obligate
A Common cattail, Typha latifolia
E
W
N
O
Upland (UPL, < 1 percent occurrence in
wetlands in the area in question, but may
be wetland plants in other regions). Abun-
dant presence of species in Obligate and
Facultive Wetland indicator categories is
a reliable indicator that a tract of land is
functionally a wetland. The absence of
these species, however, is not a reliable
indicator that an area is not a wetland, as
these species may have been locally ex-
tirpated by severe disturbance or manage-
ment.
A Royal fern, Osmunda regalis
A New York ironweed, Uernonia noveboracensis
0

The following is a list of some plants
commonly occur in wetlands in the
Northeastern Area along with their indica-
tor category for the northeastern region.
This is not a comprehensive list, but merely
a short list of readily identified plants the
presence of which may indicate the need
for further reconnaissance to determine if
wetlands are present in the area. To be
effective, a short list would have to be
developed for a specific locale.
Common Name
Botanical Name
Category
swamp white oak
Quercus bicolor
FACW
northern white -cedar
Thuja occidentalis
FACW
green ash
Fraxinus pennsylvanica
FACW
black spruce
Picea mariana
FACW
tamarack
Larix laricina
FACW
water tupelo
Nyssa aquatica
OBL
highbush cranberry
Uaccinium trilobum
FACW
small cranberry
Uaccinium oxycoccos
OBL
leatherleaf
Chamaedaphne calyculata
OBL
buttonbush
Cephalanthus occidentalis
OBL
swamp azalea
Rhododendron viscosum
OBL
winterberry
Ilex verticillata
FACW
speckled alder
Alnus rugosa
FACW
swamp privet
Forestiera acuminata
OBL
swamp rosemallow
Hibiscus moscheutos
OBL
royal fern
Osmunda regalis
OBL
sensitive fern
Onoclea sensibilis
FACW
common cattail
Typha latifolia
OBL
soft -stem bulrush
Scirpus validus
OBL
wool -grass
Scirpus cyperinus
FACW
skunk -cabbage
Symplocarpus foetidus
OBL
round -leaved sundew
Drosera rotundifolia
OBL
pitcher plant
Sarracenia purpurea
OBL
American burrweed
Sparganium americanum
OBL
common arrowhead
Sagittaria latifolia
OBL
common reed
Phragmites australis
FACW
purple loosestrife
Lythrum salicaria
FACW
cardinal flower
Lobelia cardinalis
FACW
New York ironweed
Uernonia noveboracensis
FACW
alligator weed
Alternanthera philoxeroides
OBL
A American burreed, Sparganium americanum
Y
U
E
W
O
1
A The spikes of sensitive or bead fern,
Onoclea sensibilis, persist through
the winter.
Sensitive fern, Onoclea sensibilis
0

A Speckled alder, Alnus rugosa, a common shrub in streamside wetlands, is readily
recognized by its catkins, or seed heads.
Streamside wetlands provide
habitat for the two -lined salamander,
green frog, bullfrog, pickerel frog,
leopard frog, musk turtle, wood
turtle, box turtle, snapping turtle,
BIOGEOCHEMICAL
CYCLES
The basic elements that occur in living
organisms move through the environment
in a series of naturally occurring physical,
chemical and biological processes known
as biogeochemical cycles. The cycle gen-
erally describes the physical state, chemi-
cal form, and biogeochemical processes
affecting the substance at each point in the
cycle in an undisturbed ecosystem. Many
of these processes are influenced by mi-
crobial populations that are naturally
adapted to life in either aerobic, oxygen-
ated, or anaerobic, oxygen free conditions.
Because both of these conditions are
readily created by varied and fluctuating
water levels, wetlands support a greater
variety of these processes than other eco-
systems.
There is usually a physical state, chemi-
cal form and location in the cycle in which
nature stores the bulk of the various chemi-
cal elements. Pollution occurs when the
cycle is sufficiently disturbed that an ele-
ment is caused to accumulate at some
point in the cycle in an inappropriate physi-
cal state, chemical form, location or
amount disrupting environmental balance.
30
muskrat, mink, otter, moose, great
blue heron, green heron, black duck,
wood duck, red -breasted merganser,
kingfisher, woodcock, osprey and bald
eagle. These also provide important
In the nitrogen
cycle, for example,
the bulk of nitrogen i
stored as nitrogen ga
the atmosphere. The
gen cycling process
lands involves both
and anaerobic condi_. .... _...
gen in the form of ammonium (NH4)
is released from decaying plant and animal
matter under both aerobic and anaerobic
conditions in a process known as ammonifi-
cation. The ammonium then moves to the
aerobic layer where it is converted to ni-
trate (NO.). Nitrate not taken up by plants or
immobilized by adsorption into soil particles
can leach downward with percolating water
to reach the groundwater supply or move
with surface and subsurface flow. Nitrate can
also move back to the anaerobic layer where
it may be converted to nitrogen gas by deni-
trification, a bacterial process, and subse-
quently returned to the atmosphere.
If both aerobic and anaerobic conditions
were not available, some of the cycle pro-
cesses would cease and pollutants could
accumulate. In wetlands, anaerobic condi-
tions are amply provided by flooding and
by saturated soils. However, the oxygen re-
quiring processes take place in a thin oxi-
dized zone usually existing at the soil sur-
face. This layer may be only a fraction of
an inch thick and is present even when the
wetland is submerged. In many wetlands
the water table fluctuates 12 to 18 inches
each year with the summer level averag-
ing between 4 and 18 inches below the
surface of the soil. This zone of aeration is
often called the active layer or in Russian
soil terminology, where it was first used,
the acrotelm.
Phosphorus, sulfur, iron, manganese
and carbon also move through the wetland
ecosystem in complex cycles. Sulfur and
carbon, like nitrogen, have gaseous cycles.

31

Wooded Swamps
Wooded swamps include broad
bottomland forests in the floodplains
of large rivers with very large water-
sheds. As a result, the hydroperiod
shows a very predictable pattern in
which flooding is associated only with
spring thaw and prolonged, regional
storm events. Hydrographs for
wooded swamps show greater delay
between storm events and peak flows
due to the remoteness of their head-
waters. Wooded swamps are also
hydrologically open and dependent,
to a degree, on floodwaters for the
delivery of nutrient laden silts
affecting their fertility.
WILDLIFE
Forested wetlands generally support a
greater variety of wildlife than nearby up-
land forests. Wetlands are essential life
support systems to a tremendous array of
wildlife species. The variety of forested
wetland types and the associated variation
in plant communities provide all of the es-
sential habitat needs for species such as
the wood turtle, massasauga, water shrew,
muskrat, beaver and various ducks,
geeses and herons. Wetlands also provide
one or more essential habitat needs for
many other species such as the tree swal-
low, yellow warbler, alder flycatcher, star
nose mole and woodcock.
Manipulation of wetland wildlife habitat
or alteration of wildlife populations through
management practices may be detrimen-
tal to wildlife. Alternatively, forest manage-
ment practices can accomplish many wild-
life objectives if conducted with consider-
ation given to the principles of sound wild-
life management. Objectives may be en-
hancing wildlife diversity or habitat, pre-
venting destruction of habitat, providing for
consumptive or non -consumptive use of
6;0
A Red maple, Acer rubrum, is a common species
in wooded swamps such as Beckville Woods
in Indiana.
A One third of all bird species, such as these snow geese, Chen hyperborea, depend
on wetlands for one or more of their habitat requirements.
wildlife or managing for a particular endan-
gered or threatened species habitat.
Wetlands are most often identified with
waterfowl and, nationwide, all wild ducks,
geese, swans, herons and bitterns require
wetlands, vernal ponds or spring seeps for
reproduction activities. The central flyway,
a corridor composed of lakes, streams and

A Cinnamon fern, Osmunda cinnamomea, helps identify wooded swamps
in summer, while the fertile spikes in the center of the fern remain as a
clue throughout the winter.
s
4
A Wooded swamps supply the snakes,
frogs and small birds that constitute
the diet of the red -shouldered hawk,
Buteo lineatus.
wetlands scattered in a north -south direc-
tion through the central U.S., is used by
millions of ducks and geese for their an-
nual migrations because of the nesting
A Black bear, Ursus americanus, spend
more than 60 percent of their lives
in wetlands.
opportunities it provides. Waterfowl habi-
tat needs change with the season, stage
of life and type of waterfowl, yet the vari-
ous kinds of wetlands provide for all of
these habitat requirements. Wood ducks,
for example, find their habitat needs in for -
W ested wetlands. In addition, one third of all
U.S. bird species, about 230 out of 686
species, depend on wetlands for one or
more of their life requirements. As an ex-
ample, the tree swallow, while not totally
dependent on wetlands, is dependent on
wetlands for both nesting and feeding habi-
tat. The red shouldered hawk prefers bea-
ver ponds for feeding areas and the wood-
cock makes heavy use of alder thickets to
search for summer earthworms.
Wetlands are important to mammals as
a source of food and cover. Bears are
omnivorous consumers and feed on fish,
frogs and numerous berries found in wet-
lands. Bears are known to spend 60 per-
cent of their time in spring and summer in
forested wetlands and the remainder of
their time moving between wetland areas
(Newton 1988). Mink favor cover found in
thickets in forested wetlands. White-tailed
deer, beaver and weasel are examples of
species that also utilize cover and food
available in wetlands.
The rich food supply of microscopic
algae and small invertebrates and the lack
of predatory fish in vernal ponds provides
a habitat significant and sometimes criti-
33

U_
E
♦ Y w
W
� o
A Skunk cabbage, Symplocarpus toetidus, appears
in early spring and grows so rapidly that heat of
respiration helps it melt its way through the snow.
Vegetation includes ostrich fern
royal fern, cinnamon fern, Canada
mayflower, goldthread, starry false
Solomon's seal, nodding trillium,
American false -hellebore, lizard's tail,
skunk cabbage, red maple, bald
cypress, pin oak, swamp white oak,
swamp chestnut oak, overcup oak,
willow oak, cherrybark oak, black
gum, water tupelo, swamp tupelo,
cottonwood, sycamore, loblolly pine
and Atlantic white cedar.
Wooded swamps provide habitat
for wood duck, hooded merganser,
spotted turtle, star -nosed mole, mink,
raccoon, water snake, ribbon snake,
cal to the continual survival of amphibians.
Approximately 190 species of amphibians,
including frogs, toads and salamanders, re-
quire wetlands such as vernal pools or spring
seeps for reproduction activities. Some of
these habitat requirements are unusual and
very specific. The four -toed salamander
makes its nest in the sides of sphagnum
hummocks in such a way that the newly
hatched salamanders fall directly into wa-
ter, a condition critical to their survival. How-
ever, many other reptiles and amphibians
have simply adapted to the fluctuating wa-
ter levels commonly found in wetland envi-
ronments.
Most freshwater fish feed in wetlands or
on wetland produced foods. Wetlands in the
flood plains of larger rivers provide spawn-
ing habitat for species such as bullhead,
yellow perch, northern pike and muskellunge
and are critical to the continued survival of
these species. Yellow perch, walleye and
bluegills leave open lake waters to spawn in
shallow water wetlands.
Most commercial game fish use coastal
wetlands as spawning and as nursery
grounds. Striped bass, bluefish, salmon,
menhaden and flounder are among the spe-
cies of fish that depend on coastal wetlands.
Shellfish such as oysters, clams, shrimp and
A False hellebore, Veratrum viride, is
conspicuous spring wetland plant.
wood frog, spring peeper, gray
treefrog, spotted salamander, great
blue heron, barred owl and neotropical
birds such as the northern waterthrush,
-FT .
ro
_ J
11 C
r .ULk "%E,,
j -
�
°_ •ice -tom___ =�. _ -���' .�-..-"�.r
`2 -__ -
A This moose, Alces alces, a common wetland dweller, is just emerging
with a lunch of aquatic plants.
clue crabs also depend on coastal wet-
lands for survival.
Although wetlands comprise only about
5 percent of the land area of the 48 con-
tiguous states, almost 35 percent of the
nation's threatened and endangered spe-
cies either live or depend on wetlands.
Canby's dropwort is an example of an
endanegered plant species found in herba-
ceous wetlands in Maryland.
Besides the direct habitat benefits pro-
vided to wetland dependent fish and wildlife

A American redstart, Setophaga ruticilla,
is the only warbler with large orange to
yellow tail patches.
common yellowthroat, blue -gray
gnatcatcher and American redstart.
to locate some skid trails, landings or
haul roads within them. These facili-
Because wooded swamps tend to be ties should be held to the absolute
larger in land area, it may be necessary minimum and constructed during the
A Coniferous wetland deer yarding areas provide relief from cold weather
and deep snow.
species, wetlands also provide substantial
indirect benefits to wildlife. Wetlands im-
prove water quality for fish and wildlife by
serving as nutrient sinks. Wetlands tend
to reduce coliform levels as a result of pro-
longed exposure of the bacteria to sunlight,
oxygen and cool water temperatures in the
slow moving waters of colder wetlands. Wet-
lands improve aquatic habitat by slowing
water movement and allowing sediment to
settle out of the water column. Wetlands pro-
vide special protective cover for some spe-
A Large blueflag, Iris versicolor,
occurs in swamps from Maine to
Tennessee. The word "flag" is from
the Middle English "flagge," meaning
rush or reed.
predictable dry periods. Skid trails,
landings and haul roads must also be
designed so as not to impede the
natural hydrology including the inflow
and outflow of flood waters.
cies such as the special winter cover pro-
vided top pheasants by cattails.
Additional indirect benefits wetlands
provide to wildlife include drinking water
sites, special feeding sites and travelways.
Special feeding sites are best character-
ized by spring seeps, the broad, very shal-
low water wetlands that provide the first
snow free areas in early spring and are
heavily used for feeding by wild turkeys.
Wooded wetlands along large streams in
otherwise open country are used as
travelways by migrating neotropical birds
and large mammals such as bear, deer
and moose when traveling between larger
tracts of forest.
In northern states where prolonged
winters are combined with deep snows, the
population of large ungulates such as deer
and moose is directly dependent on the
quality and quantity of vegetation in the
wooded wetlands of the region. Wetlands
with overstory conifers for thermal cover
and a dense understory for a food source
are used by deer throughout the winter.
35

A A spring seep on Twin Branch, Monongohela National Forest, West Virginia,
shows the broad shallow character of the flow.
Spring Seeps
Spring seeps are broad shallow
flows that occur where groundwater
emerges on sloping terrain usually on
the lower slopes of hillsides and
mountains. They are discharging
wetlands in these situations and can be
the source of small streams. However,
they may also percolate back into the
groundwater becoming recharging
wetlands.
Spring seeps are valuable to wild-
life, particularly wild turkey, in severe
winters because the emerging ground-
water provides snow free feeding sites
in winter and are among the first sites
to provide green plants in spring.
�36
A Wild turkey, Meleagris gallopavo, use spring seeps for snow -free foraging
in the early spring.
CO
CO

! I
r •$ a a
r t
77
o
CO
`
'y. 1" �W • A!" .tet W ' - �i �iC �
.r 71.` ^ .—
s.
A ­ _
ui i k
E
'k
A A spring seep on the Allegheny National Foret in Pennsylvania; ferns and mosses mark
the broad shallow seep area.
Spring seeps are used by amphibians,
such as the northern dusky salamander,
spring salamander and by neotropical
birds such as the worm eating warbler,
veery and wood thrush.
Plants to look for include moist site
tree species, skunk cabbage, sedges,
water cress, marsh marigold, goldthread,
wintergreen and sensitive fern.
Where possible, haul roads and skid
trails should be routed above the seep at a
distance sufficient to avoid disturbing the
flow. When roads or trails must pass be-
low the seep they should pass at a point
beyond where the seep has reentered the
ground or where a defined channel
permits an environmentally acceptable
crossing such as a culvert.
A Wood thrush, Hylocichla mustelina, the only thrush with a bright
reddish -brown head, has an unhurried, bell -like melody. It builds
a nest of mud and grass in low shrubs.

Beaver Ponds
Beaver respond to an instinct to abandonment of the dam, lowering the
impound flowing water. Conse- water table and a return to forest
quently, beaver ponds usually expand through plant succession. Once
and alter existing streamside wet-
lands. However, beaver also create
ponds and wetlands where none
would otherwise exist. Beaver pond
ecosystems have their own life cycle.
Trees and other vegetation are killed
by the prolonged high water levels
until little more than grasses and forbs
remain. In time, the beaver's food
supply will be depleted resulting in
forested, the cycle starts over with
beaver re-establishment. The hydrol-
ogy of the wetland created by a beaver
dam reflects the hydrology of the
setting in which it was built. If the
beaver dam is built in a headwater
setting, the hydrology will be similar
to that of a headwater wetland.
Many forest plants and animals
depend on the site at different stages in
A Beaver dam wetlands provide special habitat needs of other species such as great blue heron.
Note a tree top nest in the center background.
RM
a
-
!.
'�:
J,; . f»,
4a
��
Y� Y
_
JP
- tj
Aft
lr
All
A Beaver dam wetlands provide special habitat needs of other species such as great blue heron.
Note a tree top nest in the center background.
RM

the cycle. Snags, large old dead trees,
left in the pond from the forest cycle
provide preferred nesting sites for
herons and nesting cavity species.
Hence both forest and pond cycles are
necessary to sustain this habitat. Plants
typical of beaver pond wetlands
include pondweed, arrowhead, cattail,
smartweed, alder, red maple, aspen,
manna grass, rice cutgrass, bulrushes
and sedges.
A Beaver, Castor canadensis, will often abandon their dams when preferred food
species are depleted.
A Abandoned beaver dams provide a series of unique habitats as they progress through
various successive stages on their return to forest conditions.
U
E
W
0�
O

Wildlife species using beaver dam
wetlands include beaver, great blue
heron, green heron, red spotted newt,
green frog, bullfrog, wood duck, black
duck, hooded merganser, snapping
turtle, water snake, ribbon snake, star
nosed mole, mink, otter, moose, tree
swallow, raccoon, spring peeper, gray
treefrog. Neotropical birds such as the
prothonotary warbler, Philadelphia
vireo, tree swallow and ruby crowned
kinglet also use beaver ponds.
A The tree swallow, Iridprocne bicolor,
is the hardiest of the swallows and
the only eastern/midwestern swallow
with all white underparts. It nests in
cavities or boxes near water.
�40
A Great blue heron, Ardea herodias, the largest of the herons, approaches
48 inches tall and builds nests of twigs in swamps and on ridges
overlooking broad rivers. It can often be seen in wetlands where it
stands motionless for long periods, fishing.
Regulatory requirements vary from
state to state. Check with your state
fish and game department before
disturbing a beaver pond. Bridging the
narrow stream below the dam may be
the best alternative for crossing
drainages with beaver dams.
A The great blue heron flies with slow heavy wingbeats,
appearing almost prehistoric.
Y
U
E
W
0
0

Vernal Ponds
Vernal ponds are small ponds that
are most obvious in the forest during
the spring of the year. Although some
vernal ponds may not meet the statu-
tory definition of wetlands, they will
be addressed here because the subject
comes up whenever wetland forest
management is discussed. The ponds
derive their name from vernalis, the
Latin word for spring, because they
result from various combinations of
snowmelt, precipitation and high water
tables associated with the spring
season. The ponds tend to occur in
small depressions and while many
dry up in late summer, a few have
water year round. The ponds vary
greatly in terms of recharge, dis-
charge characteristics, source of
water and geology. Those supplied by
groundwater from limestone geology
tend to be less acid and less variable
in acidity. By definition, vernal ponds
are free from fish and can, therefore,
support a rich community of amphib-
ians and invertebrates that would be
difficult to sustain if fish were
present.
Vernal ponds should be located in late winter or early spring when the ponds are most readily recognized.
Salamander activity is at its peak at this time.

A The marbled salamander, Ambystoma opacum, mates and males deposit
sperm sacks (at right of head) on warm, rainy summer nights.
A The female marbled salamanders
fertilize and deposit their eggs
a few days after mating.
Jefferson salamanders, ►
Ambystoma jeffersonianum,
migrate through the icy pond
surface on late winter nights
when temperatures are a
degree or two above freezing
and light rain is falling to mate
in pairs and deposit eggs on
mtwigs in the pond
Typical pond users include salamanders such
N as the marbled salamander which migrates from
burrows in the forest floor to the pond basin with
the onset of fall rains. The males leave sperm
sacks to be used by the females to fertilize the
eggs which are deposited under rocks and leaves
on the pond bottom. The adults then return to the
forest and as the fall rains fill the pond the eggs
hatch and the larvae feed on the invertebrate life
of the pond. The Jefferson salamander migrates
over the snow on rainy nights in late winter to
slip into the pond through cracks in the ice. After
mating, the females attach their egg masses to
small twigs under water. The spotted salamander
arrives after the Jefferson and similarly deposits
egg masses on twigs under the water.

These species are followed in turn
by wood frogs, spring peepers,
spadefoot toads, gray tree frogs,
American toads and other amphibians
that depend on the pond habitat for
reproduction. The developing amphib-
ians prey on fairy shrimp, copepods,
daphnia, phantom midge larvae, and
mosquito larvae and, in turn, are
preyed upon by insect predators such
as diving beetles, backswimmers and
fishflies (Cassell 1993). Neotropical
birds such as the worm eating warbler,
veery and wood thrush also use the
vernal pond area.
A In the months that follow, wood frogs, Rana sylvatica, and
other amphibians visit the ponds to lay eggs.
iu
t Spotted salamander,
Ambystoma maculatum,
mate in groups shortly after
the Jefferson salamanders
and also attach their eggs to
twigs where they will swell to
large gelatinous masses.
A These fairy shrimp and other pond life provide food
for the voracious young salamanders.
The ponds typically occur under the
forest canopy with the pond basin rela-
tively free of vegetation. Thinning of the
canopy can result in accelerated evapora-
tion rates shortening the duration of pond
flooding and dehydrating the larvae before
development is complete. Increased
exposure to sunlight can also result in
invasion of the pond by rice cutgrass,
manna grass, sedges and buttonbush
which appear to be more favorable to
species such as green frogs, pickerel frogs
and cricket frogs which are not typical of
canopied ponds.
d

A Buttonbush, Cephalanthus occidentalis
Deep tire ruts in the vicinity of the
pond are also a problem. They can be
a physical trap for young salamanders
and turtles not developed enough to
climb out of them. The ruts can also be
mistaken for the pond destination by
adults who deposit egg masses in the
ruts. In both cases, the young will
probably be eaten by predators or die
of dehydration because the ruts usually
dry out before the vernal ponds.
The ponds are easily recognized in
early spring when they are filled with
water and this is the best time to
establish their location. In summer
they are more difficult to recognize,
but some indicators are blackened and
compressed leaf litter, buttressed tree
trunks, water marked tree trunks, and
the presence of vegetation such as red
maple, highbush blueberry and button -
bush.
Management plans should call for
marking the location of vernal ponds
and any necessary protective zones in
the spring when the ponds are filled
with water.
A Crown closure must be maintained over the pond to prevent destruction of
the habitat by the invasion of buttonbush and other undesirable plants.
A Vernal ponds are difficult to recognize in summer, but buttressed trees, blackened
leaves and water -stained trunks are clues.
iu

Wetlands
Best Management
Practices
Table of Contents
Three Primary Considerations...............................................................................46
Planning.........................................................................................................................46
Access Systems
PermanentHaul Roads....................................................................................................47
Road construction on soils with organic layers
in excess of 16 inches in thickness................................................................48
Road construction on soils with organic layers
in excess of 4 feet in thickness.......................................................................48
Road construction on soils with organic layers
between 1.3 and 4 feet in thickness...............................................................49
Road construction on mineral soils or those with surface
organic layers less than 1.3 feet in thickness.................................................50
Temporary Road Construction On All Soils.....................................................................51
SkidTrails..........................................................................................................................
52
Landings...........................................................................................................................54
MaintenanceAreas...........................................................................................................55
Logging Under Frozen Conditions....................................................................................55
Streamsides and Stream Crossings....................................................................55
FellingPractices........................................................................................................56
Silviculture...................................................................................................................56
Wildlife and Fish
GeneralConsiderations....................................................................................................
56
Within a 50 foot wide wildlife management zone
aroundwetlands.............................................................................................58
Within a 150 foot wide wildlife management zone
aroundwetlands.............................................................................................58
SpringSeeps....................................................................................................................59
VernalPonds.....................................................................................................................60
LegalRequirements..................................................................................................61
Where To Go For Assistance..................................................................................62
�45

WETLANDS
BEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES
The following is a list of wetlands best management practices intended to supplement existing
upland forestry best management practices and to reduce potential adverse impacts of forest man-
agement activities on wetlands. Note that some upland BMP's have been included as appropriate to
facilitate understanding. While some of the practices may be required by law, they are listed simply
as a means of protecting the wetlands functions and values.
This list is intended as an example and to be effective should be supplemented or
refined by individual State Foresters in consultation with representatives of other
natural resource management agencies such as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers,
Environmental Protection Agency, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Fish
and Wildlife Service, State Water Quality Agency, consultant foresters, forest industry
representatives and others for use in their respective states. The list should not be
considered a checklist of mandatory practices as their will seldom be a situation in
which all of the practices will be needed on the same area at the same time.
THREE PRIMARY CONSIDERATIONS
PLANNING
Identify and comply with federal, state, and local laws and regulations as discussed
in the legal requirements section of this document.
Identify control points: those places within the area to be managed that should be accessed,
those that should be avoided or those that need special consideration.
Some examples of control points are:
• Location of surface water, spring seeps and other wetlands.
Note that these are best located in the spring as many wetlands
are difficult to identify during dry periods.
• Location of environmentally preferable stream crossing points.
• Location of streamside management zones as described below.
• Location of areas requiring special equipment or timing of operations.
0
■ All of the BMP's
in this document
can be traced
back to these
three primary
considerations.

The timber sale contract or harvest agreement should contain language to require use of
BMP's identified as necessary in the planning process.
Establish streamside management zones, strips of land bordering surface waters and in
which management activities are adjusted to protect or enhance riparian and aquatic val-
ues. An example would be a strip managed for shade or larger trees to help maintain cooler
water temperatures or provide large woody debris to streams respectively.
Establish filter strips, strips of land bordering surface waters, that are sufficient in width
based on slope and roughness factors and on which machine access is controlled to prevent
sedimentation of surface water.
Locate access system components such as roads, landings, skid trails, and maintenance
areas outside of filter strips and streamside management zones.
To eliminate unnecessary soil disturbance, plan the most efficient access system to serve
the entire property, then build only what is currently necessary.
Limit equipment entry into wetlands to the minimum necessary. Avoid equipment entry
into wetlands whenever possible.
ACCESS SYSTEMS
Example of BMP's presented in the Haul Roads section are based on BMP's being prepared
by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, Division of Forestry and the Minnesota
Wetland BMP Committee.
PERMANENT HAUL ROADS
Haul roads are travelways over which logs are moved while fully supported on the bed of
a wheeled truck.
Timber haul costs include construction, hauling and maintenance of both roads and equip-
ment. Use of poor practices to reduce construction costs only results in related increases in
hauling and maintenance costs. A properly located and constructed road will be most cost
efficient and will have limited adverse impact on water resources including wetlands and
aquatic and riparian habitats.
Consider threatened and endangered species habitat, trout spawning seasons, and public
water supplies when locating and building roads.
Avoid constructing roads through wetlands unless there are no reasonable alternatives.
Where roads must be constructed through wetlands, use the following and other BMP's to
design and construct the road system so as neither to create permanent changes in wetland
water levels nor alter the wetland drainage patterns.
Road drainage designs in wetland must provide cross drainage of the wetland during both
flooded and low water conditions.
Avoid road construction and use during spring thaw and other wet periods.
Use drainage techniques such as crowning, insloping, outsloping and 2 percent minimum
grades as well as surface gravel and maintenance to ensure adequate drainage and discour-
age rutting and associated erosion and sedimentation.
Divert outflow from road drainage ditches prior to entering wetlands and riparian areas to
minimize the introduction of sediment and other pollutants into these sensitive areas.
Minimize the width of the road running surface to the minimum necessary to safely
meet owners objectives, typically 12 feet wide for straight sections and 16 feet wide
for curves. Additional width may need to be cleared for large vegetation to accommodate
plowed snow.

Cease road use if ruts exceed 6 inches in depth for more than 300 feet.
Consider use of geotextile fabric during construction to minimize disturbance, fill
requirements, and maintenance costs.
All fills in wetlands should be constructed of free draining granular material.
Road construction on soils with organic layers in excess
of 16 inches in thickness
Organic soils vary greatly in strength, and consultation with a registered engineer is
advised when designing roads on these soils.
Permanent haul roads built on organic wetlands must provide for cross drainage of water
on the surface and in the top 12 inches of soil. This can be accomplished through the
incorporation of culverts or porous layers at appropriate levels in the road fill to pass water
at its normal level through the road corridor.
All culverts in organic soils should be 24 inch diameter and placed with their bottom half
in the upper 12 inches of the soil to handle the subsurface flow and their top half above
surface to handle above ground flow. Failure to provide drainage in the top 12 inches of
the soil can result in changes in the hydrology of the wetland and subsequent changes in
water chemistry and plant and animal habitat.
Road construction on soils with organic layers in excess
of 4 feet in thickness
Where organic soils are greater than 4 feet deep, the road should be constructed
across the top of the soil surface by placing fill material on top of geotextile fabric
and/or log corduroy. The road will sink into peat somewhat due to its weight and the
low bearing strength of the soil and will require cross drainage to prevent interruption
of the wetland flow.
POROUS ROAD DESIGN
er of porous material
In in elevation with the
:r

1
1- 13' -1
A A permeable section road being
constructed by first laying
geotextile fabric.
A A corduroy of parallel laying logs is
placed on top of the geotextile.
ALTERNATIVE POROUS ROAD DESIGN
(shown in photo sequence below)
i
Lightweight nonwoven
Earth Fill Geotextile
'-'1-10--1 Chunkwood
Log Corduroy
One method of drainage is to incorporate a 12 inch thick layer of porous material
such as large stone or chunkwood into the roadbed. This material should be separated from
the adjacent fill layers by geotextile fabric, and be incorporated into the road fill design so
as to lie in the top 12 inches of the soil thus providing a continuous cross drainage.
Climate permitting, construction on soils with deep organic layers is best undertaken when
y the organic soil is frozen in order to preserve the strength of the root mat.
Where continuous porous layers are not used, culverts should be placed at points where
z they will receive the greatest support from the soil below. These areas generally occur near
the edge of the wetlands or as inclusions where the organic soil is shallow.
E
Ditches parallel to the roadbed on both sides should be used to collect surface and subsur-
o face water, carry it through the culvert and redistribute it on the other side. These ditches
should be located three times the depth of the organic layer from the edge of the road fill
unless otherwise determined by an engineer.
Road construction on soils with organic layers between 1.3 and
4 feet in thickness
Where organic soils are less than 4 feet deep, fill can be placed directly on the peat surface
and allowed to sink compressing or displacing the peat until equilibrium is reached. With
y this method, culverts are used instead of porous layers to move surface and subsurface
flows through the road fill material.
z Culverts should be placed at the lowest elevation on the road centerline with additional
0
culverts as needed to provide adequate cross drainage.
E
r
Ditches parallel to the road centerline should be constructed along the toe of the fill to
0
collect surface and subsurface water, carry it through the culvert and redistribute it on the
N
other side.
M
A Geotextile is then placed on top of the corduroy
along with a layer of wood chunks to form the
porous layer. Coarse gravel could be substituted.
N
U1
U
J
O
N
N
l6
J
i0
Z
O
C
N
E
a
Ul
0
N
O
2
A Another layer of geotextile is placed on top of the
chunkwood to prevent contmaination and sealing of
the porous layer. The gravel running surface is placed
on top of the geotextile fabric.

Road construction on mineral soils or those with surface
organic layers less than 1.3 feet in thickness
Roads through mineral soil wetlands can be constructed using normal road construction
techniques. Use geotextiles to increase bearing strength of the road and to preserve the
bearing strength of fill material by preventing contamination with fine soil particles.
In mineral soil wetlands, a culvert should be placed at the lowest elevation on the road
centerline with additional culverts as needed to provide adequate cross drainage.
Ditches parallel to the road centerline should be constructed along the toe of the fill to
collect surface and subsurface water, carry it through the culvert and redistribute it on the
other side.
Fills should be constructed of free draining granular material.
CULVERT LOCATION FOR ROADS ON MINERAL SOILS
AND SHALLOW ORGANIC SOIL WETLANDS
plan view
DITCH
I ROAD I I
I I
A cross section section AN
FOOT DIAMETER
l�r2.zlo���t�:•1o1'o*rlo�t>:�a�l�a�o?o�t3
~•♦�•�♦�•�♦�•�♦�•'O.'000.'0000.0'00.'.'.'.'O.O
a a�eeaa �Si- :.W s�a.�AW.9.A 4i A�AsAa••c�a'�a®s. m®*sass�i
24 inch diameter culverts should be installed with the lower half in the porous upper 12 inch
layer of organic soil to accommodate drainage during normal and inundated conditions.
A Wooden mats are an efficient solution to
temporary road access and can be carried
and placed by a log truck.
�50
A A mat road to a log landing
in Maryland.
N
N

A Geotextile and expanded metal sheets are used to
strengthen an existing road.
� U
C �
UU_
C y
d N
ELL
Q
'9
w❑
N
caE
E
c
N
U
A Removal of the geotextile and expanded metal leave the
road surface relatively undisturbed.
TEMPORARY ROAD CONSTRUCTION ON ALL SOILS
Examples of BMP's used in the Temporary Roads section are based on methods in use in
Maryland and Delaware.
For temporary roads, consider the use of support systems such as geotextiles and various
wood and metal platform devices.
Consider subsoiling or chiseling to break up compacted road surface to reestablish soil
porosity when hauling is completed.
A Wooden mats vary considerably
in construction and handling
characteristics.
A Typical size of chunkwood fill material.
� U
d �
U_
E N
d �
ELL
Q
5Q
u❑
W U
y Z)
E
c
m
N
i
A Wooden mats can be used to provide mud -free
highway approaches.
A Gravel surface may be used directly over chunkwood fill for
a lightwieght road where a porous section is less important.
� U
C �
UU_
C W
d N
ELL
Q
9¢
w❑
f/1 �
E
E
0
c
U

SKID TRAILS
Skid trails are rough travelways for logging machinery. Logs are often dragged over the
skid trail surface only partially supported by the machine pulling them and partially sup-
ported on the trail surface.
Avoid equipment entry into wetlands especially those that can be logged by cable from
adjoining uplands.
Where equipment entry into wetlands is unavoidable, minimize the area disturbed as well
as the number of repeated passes over the same trail.
Ruts over 6 inches in depth can block normal subsurface drainage and create surface chan-
nels resulting in either a raised water table or shorter residence time and excessive drain-
age. Do not create a pattern of trails with 6 inch ruts that either blocks or facilitates drain-
age.
Use low ground pressure equipment when possible or tracked vehicles on both organic soil
wetlands and mineral soil wetlands where soils have greater than 18 percent fines as de-
fined by the Natural Resources Conservation Service. Use conventional tires on skidders
only when the ground is dry or frozen.
A High floatation equipment such as these extra wide
tires helps to prevent rutting.
A This track vehicle fells and bunches trees, reducing the
density of the skid trail pattern.
A Track vehicles with elevated pans also limit rutting.
0
A Note the difference in rutting between wide tire (left) and
conventional tires (right) in the same skidding situation.

A This smaller feller/buncher uses a
track system over rubber tires for
versatility.
Use of high flotation tires on areas that are marginally operable with conventional
equipment results in minimal impact. Use of high flotation tires to extend operations into
areas that could not be operated with conventional equipment can result in adverse im-
pacts.
0
N
0
Schedule the harvest during the drier seasons of the year or during time when the
ground is frozen. Consider ceasing operations in areas where rutting exceeds 6
E inches in depth.
2 Prepare skid trails for anticipated traffic and weather conditions including spring
thaws to facilitate drainage and avoid unnecessary rutting, relocation and washouts.
J
C
s Minimize the crossing of perennial or intermittent streams and waterways. Use portable
z bridges, poled fords and corduroy approaches or other mitigating measures to prevent
channel and bank disturbance and sedimentation.
Cross streams at right angles and use bumper trees to keep logs on the trail or bridge and
off the stream banks.
Do not skid through vernal ponds, spring seeps, or stream channels.
Use brush or corduroy to minimize soil compaction and rutting when skidding in
wet areas.
Reduce skid volumes when skidding through wetland areas.
A The staggered -end design of this low-cost
portable skidder bridge, built by John
Conkey Logging Co., helps to keep it
in position in use.
The skidder bridge is ►
strong enough to carry
the skidder without
intermediate support.
A The skidder bridge consists of two sections, permitting it to
be carried and placed by the skidder that will use it.
{
t
A The skidder bridge consists of two sections, permitting it to
be carried and placed by the skidder that will use it.

A Corduroy approaches help control
erosion and keep mud off the logs
and out of the stream.
LANDINGS
A These skidder ramps are lighter weight and
will sometimes require logs for support.
Keep the number and size of landings to the minimum necessary to accommodate the area,
the products harvested and the equipment necessary to the activity prescribed.
Where possible, locate landings outside wetlands and far from streams on well drained
areas with gentle grades where drainage into and away from the landing can be controlled.
These practices will minimize soil compaction as well as soil erosion and sedimentation of
surface waters that can result from concentrated heavy equipment use.
A This is an excellent landing located on a well -drained area immediately
adjoining the wetland.
If no other locations are practical, place landings on the highest ground possible within the
wetland and use them under dry or frozen conditions only.
Geotextile fabric use at landing sites is recommended in wetlands and on soils with low
bearing strength to minimize soil erosion and compaction.
Geotextile fabric is difficult and impractical to remove when covered with gravel or fill.
Where removal is required consider the use of wood or metal platforms or mats with or
without geotextiles as necessary.
Consult with Federal, State and local authorities regarding permit requirements before
using or pads for landings located in wetlands.
M
m
L
U
A Several ramps can be used
together to extend the length
of the crossing.
0
E
E
0
L
U

MAINTENANCE AREAS
Locate maintenance areas to avoid the spillage of oil, fuel and other hazardous materials
into wetlands. Store operating supplies of such materials away from wetlands.
Designate a specific location for draining lubricants and other fluids during routine main-
tenance. Provide for collection, storage and proper disposal.
Provide containers to collect fluids when the inevitable breakdown occurs in the wetland
and repairs must be made on the site.
LOGGING UNDER FROZEN CONDITIONS
Avoid crossing springs, seeps and areas of water which do not freeze well.
Where water crossings cannot be avoided or frozen conditions cannot be relied upon, use
portable bridges or poled fords. Temporary structures are preferable to permanent ones
unless the crossing is on a permanent road.
Design the crossing to save the structure and accommodate high flows in the event of an
untimely thaw.
Plow or pack snow in the operating area to minimize the insulation value and facilitate
ground freezing. Clear enough area to accommodate future snow plowing.
Monitor the operating conditions closely after three consecutive nights of above freezing
temperatures or the occurrence of warm rain. Cease operations when ruts exceed 6 inches
in depth. When daytime temperatures are above freezing, but nighttime temperatures re-
main below freezing, plan to operate only in the morning and cease operations when rut-
ting begins.
Plan to move equipment and materials to upland areas prior to the occurrence of thawing
conditions.
STREAMSIDES AND STREAM CROSSINGS
Streamside Management Zones (SMZ's) are strips of land which border surface waters
and in which management activities are adjusted to protect or enhance riparian and aquatic
values. The width of SMZ's varies with the intended purpose. An example would be a strip
managed for shade or larger trees to help maintain cooler water temperatures or provide
large woody debris to streams.
Filter Strips are strips of land bordering surface waters and sufficient in width, based
on slope and roughness factors, to prevent soil erosion and sedimentation of surface
water.
Establish a streamside management zone with a minimum width equivalent to one
and one half tree heights between heavy harvest cuts such as clearcuts or seed tree
cuts and permanent and intermittent streams to prevent nutrient leaching into
streams.
Establish a streams management zone on perennial and intermittent streams. Maintain 50
percent crown cover to limit water and ground surface temperature increases. Manage for
older trees at the water's edge to provide a natural supply of large woody debris and to
shade the water surface. The necessary width of the zone will vary with climate and stream
direction. SMZ's should normally be one and one half tree heights in width, however, due
to sun position, a 15 foot width may be all that is necessary on the north side of east -west
running stream sections in northern latitudes.
Within the streamside management zone, maximize cable lengths and minimize number
and length of skid trails to reduce canopy and ground disturbance.

Establish filter strips on lands adjacent to lakes and streams using the following guide to
control erosion and sedimentation of surface waters.
Percent slope Recommended width of filter strip
(slope distance in feet)
0 —
1
25
2-10
30-50
11
— 20
50 —
70
21 —
40
70 —
110
41 —
70
110 —
170
Roads and trails should be minimized in stream management zones, but should be located
outside of the filter strips except where stream crossing is necessary.
Naturally occurring woody debris should be allowed to remain in streams. However, avoid
felling trees into streams and remove from the streams any tree tops and other slash result-
ing from the logging operation. In some cases, potential damage to the channel and bank
will outweigh the need for removal.
FELLING PRACTICES
Precautions should be taken when logging near a wetland or stream. Felling trees into
water bodies can cause habitat damage and disturb breeding and spawning areas of am-
phibious and aquatic species. However, naturally occurring woody debris is necessary to
many stream functions and should be left undisturbed.
Avoid felling trees into nonforested wetlands. When such felling is unavoidable, remove
the tree to high ground before limbing. Slash from trees felled on upland sites is considered
fill material under the Clean Water Act and may not be deposited on wetland sites.
Keep slash resulting from the logging operation out of streams and wetlands with standing
water unless specifically prescribed for fish or wildlife habitat purposes. Normally, slash
left in these areas uses oxygen needed by fish and other aquatic animals. Slash can also
limit access to certain species to wetlands.
Review the section on vernal pools and temporary ponds for exceptions to these guide-
lines.
SILVICULTURE
Distribute the size, timing and spacing of regeneration cuts, including clearcuts, to mini-
mize changes in ground surface and water temperature over the wetland as a whole. Main-
tain a crown cover of 50 percent or more during selection and thinning cuts. Exceptions
may occur in very cold climates where low water temperatures are a habitat limitation.
On organic soils, conduct site preparation operations such as shearing and raking only
when the ground is sufficiently frozen to avoid machinery breaking through the root mat.
Do not deposit slash and other residues from upland operation in wetlands.
WILDLIFE AND FISH
GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS
Timber activities in forested wetlands should be avoided during the breeding period of
threatened and endangered fish and wildlife species known to inhabit the wetland.
Preserve areas where hummocks of thick sphagnum moss abut small or large pools of
water as a unique habitat combination required by the four -toed salamander.
�56

A An area of sphagnum humps, a critical nesting habitat
for the four -toed salamander.
A A wood duck chick about to jump
from a nest box.
A Four -toed salamander, Hemidactylium scutatum.
A In order to survive, four -toed salamander eggs must
be nested so that the newly hatched salamanders will
drop into the water.
o Avoid harvesting trees in wetlands April through June to protect breeding birds including
0
neotropicals.
o`
Leave as many as 15 dead and live nesting cavity trees per acre within 200 feet of water as
a nesting sites for wood ducks.
Avoid sedimentation of areas known to support spawning populations of brook trout, par-
ticularly during the October—December spawning season.
Adult male ►
wood duck,
Aix sponsa,
inhabits
freshwater
marshes,
wooded
swamps and
creeks.
T
O)
O
O
L
C
0
N
C
O
U

Within a 50 foot wide wildlife management zone
around wetlands
Maintain 50 percent crown cover to avoid wide water and soil temperature fluctuations
that can adversely affect fish and aquatic and amphibian habitat.
Leave 5-15 dead standing trees and snags per acre for insect feeding and for nesting and
escape cavities for birds.
Manage for tall trees along the edge of lakes and rivers associated with wetlands to pro-
vide nesting sites for ospreys, eagles and red -shouldered hawks.
Avoid disturbing rotting stumps where possible as they provide nesting substrate for musk
turtles.
A An osprey, Pandion haliaetus, with young in a typical wetland nest site.
A The orange ear patch clearly identifies this bog turtle.
Y
U
E
W
m
0
1
Within calcareous fens where chalky, crumbly deposits are evident in surface pools, pre-
serve and encourage shrub and/or shrub habitat as important over -wintering habitat for
rare bog turtles.
Encourage and preserve herbaceous vegetative cover along wetland edges to provide shel-
ter for frogs, ribbon snakes, hatching turtles, and small mammals.
Minimize skid trails and/or use cabling to reduce the area of soil compaction thus preserv-
ing habitat for small mammals and turtles.
�58

Within a 150 foot wide wildlife management zone
around wetlands
Avoid routing skid trails through areas with concentrations of physical structure such as
dead logs, hollow logs, upturned roots, rock piles, rock outcrops and other debris.
A Structure created by logs and boulders is critical to small amphibian habitat and
disturbance should be avoided.
Minimize skid trail density and heavy equipment use to avoid crushing the many turtles
such as the spotted turtle, wood turtle and Blanding's turtle that either forage or aestivate
(become dormant during the summer) in these areas.
Minimize ruts deeper than 6 inches below general ground level and regrade trails promptly
to prevent trapping of juvenile salamanders and hatching turtles.
Close logging roads and skid trails to vehicle use after cutting because exposed areas and
pools that form where roads and trails cross wet areas are attractive hazards for turtles.
Avoid clearcutting in favor of harvesting methods that maintain a greater canopy cover
like patch cuts, shelterwood cuts and selection cuts. Where clearcuts are unavoidable, cuts
should be less than 10 acres in size and narrow and irregular in shape.
SPRING SEEPS
Do not skid through seeps.
Fell trees away from seeps.
Maintain at least 50 percent crown cover in the group of trees shading the seep to limit
increases in water and ground surface temperature.
Avoid disturbing the soil around these areas to minimize sedimentation and disturbance of
leaf litter.
Where haul roads must cross seeps, locate the haul road at least 150 feet downslope from
the origin of the seep. Also avoid road building within 150 feet upslope from seeps. Both
limitations are intended to protect the origin and continued flow of the seep.

VERNAL PONDS
Examples of BMP's presented in the section on Vernal Ponds are based on BMP's devel-
oped by researchers, foresters and wildlife biologists in Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and
New York. Research is continuing in this area and changes are expected as more is learned
about the importance of vernal ponds.
Vernal ponds provide critical habitat for a number of amphibians and invertebrates, some
of which breed only in these unique ecosystems, and/or may be rare, threatened or endan-
gered species. Although vernal ponds may only hold water for a period in the spring, the
most important protective measure is learning to recognize these pond locations, even in
the dry season. Foresters can then incorporate the guidelines below into their plans to
ensure that these habitats thrive.
Maintain the physical integrity of the pond depression and its ability to hold seasonal
water by keeping heavy equipment out of the pond depression and away from the perim-
eter walls at all times of the year. Rutting here could cause the water to drain too early,
stranding amphibian eggs before they hatch. Compaction could alter water flow and harm
eggs and/or larvae buried in the leaf litter at the bottom of the depression.
Prevent sedimentation from nearby areas of disturbed soil to prevent disrupting the pond's
breeding environment.
Keep tree tops and slash out of the pond depression. Although amphibians often use twigs
up to an inch in diameter to attach their eggs, none should be added, nor existing branches
removed. If an occasional top does land in the pond depression, leave it. Removal could
disturb newly laid eggs or hatched salamanders.
Establish a buffer zone around the pond two chains (132 feet) in width. Maintain a mini-
mum of 50 percent crown cover and minimize disturbance of the leaf litter and mineral
soil which insulate the ground and create proper moisture and temperature conditions for
amphibian migrations.
Schedule operations in the buffer area when the ground is frozen and covered with snow to
minimize ground disturbance within the buffer area.
Avoid operating in the buffer area during muddy conditions which would create ruts deeper
than 6 inches. Such ruts can result in trapping and predation of migrating juveniles and
dehydration of mistakenly deposited eggs. Ruts should be filled and operations suspended
until the ground is dry or frozen.
Locate landings and heavily used skid trails outside of the buffer area. Be sure any water
diversion structures associated with skid trails and roads keep sediment from entering the
shaded zone and the vernal pond.
Slit fences are formidable barriers to salamander migration. Do not use them in the buffer
area and remove them from nearby areas as soon as practicable.
Close roads in the area to prevent off road vehicle disturbance to the pond and sensitive
buffer zone.
�60

LEGAL REQUIREMENTS
Mechanized land clearing and earth moving activities in wetlands, streams or other water
bodies are regulated at the Federal level under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act. Many
states also have regulatory programs which may require permits for activities in streams
and wetlands. An approved forest management plan may be required by your state regardless
of whether wetlands are involved or not.
Normal silvicultural activities which may involve earthmoving are exempt from regulation
under section 404 of the Clean Water Act. However, to qualify for the exemption, the activity
must be part of an established, ongoing operation. Furthermore, the exemption is interpreted
by some to apply only to silvicultural activities resulting in the production of food, fiber and
forest products. General permits may exist in some Corps of Engineer districts which authorize
silvicultural activities for other purposes.
Any activity which converts a wetland into a non -wetland or affects the flow, circulation or
reach of waters is not exempt. Conversion into a new use, such as clearing forested wetlands for
pasture, crop land or development, requires a permit as well.
Normal silvicultural practices covered by the silvicultural exemption include planting,
seeding, cultivating, minor drainage and harvesting. However, the silvicultural exemption does
not include land recontouring activities such as grading, land leveling, filling in low spots or
converting to upland. Minor drainage is the connection of upland drainage facilities to a stream
or water body. This does not include any new drainage of wetlands or the construction of any
ditches or dikes which drain or significantly modify a stream or wetland.
Maintenance of existing drainage ditches, structures and fill is exempt from federal regulation
provided there is no modification of the original design. Construction and maintenance of forest
roads are exempt if the work is done in accordance with the state approved Best Management
Practices (BMP's).
A Federal permit is not needed to cut trees at or above the stump. However, mechanized land
clearing, excavation, grading, land leveling, windrowing and road construction in wetlands will
require a permit if the activity does not qualify for the silvicultural exemption.
It is recommended that a determination of any specific permit requirements be obtained from the
district office of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as well as the state environmental or natural
resources agency prior to initiating any activities in water or wetlands. This is particularly im-
portant in light of the ongoing changes in wetland regulations at both the state and federal level.
The Food Security Act of 1985 and the Food, Agriculture, Conservation and Trade Act of 1990
contain provisions which could cause loss of U.S.D.A. program benefits to persons conducting
activities which may alter wetlands. Consult with your local U.S.D.A. Consolidated Farm
Services Agency (formerly Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service) or U.S.D.A.
Natural Resources Conservation Service (formerly Soil Conservation Service) if wetland is present
to determine if proposed forest management activities would jeopardize U.S.D.A. benefits.

WHERE TO GO FOR ASSISTANCE
Contact the office of the State Forester for assistance in forest management on both uplands and
wetlands. However, forest management activities on wetlands are subject to special regulations.
The District Office of the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers has the authority to determine which
lands are subject to wetland regulations. The telephone number is listed in the "Government
Offices" section of the telephone directory, normally under "Army," "Department of the Army"
or "Department of Defense." Ask for the "Regulatory" or "Permits" Branch.
The following are the telephone numbers for the Corps of Engineers district offices serving
Virginia and the twenty states of the Northeastern Area.
Baltimore, MD .........................................................
[phone]
Buffalo, NY.............................................................
[phone]
Chicago, IL..............................................................
[phone]
Detroit, MI...............................................................
[phone]
Huntington, WV ......................................................
[phone]
Kansas City, MO ......................................................
[phone]
Little Rock, AR ........................................................
[phone]
Louisville, KY .........................................................
[phone]
Memphis, TN ...........................................................
[phone]
Waltham, MA (New England Division) ..................
[phone]
New York, NY .........................................................
[phone]
Norfolk, VA.............................................................
[phone]
Philadelphia, PA ......................................................
[phone]
Pittsburgh, PA ..........................................................
[phone]
Rock Island, IL ........................................................
[phone] ext 6379
St. Louis, MO ..........................................................
[phone]
St. Paul, MN............................................................
[phone]
Tulsa, OK.................................................................
[phone]
The County Soil Survey Report will provide an indication of whether your property may contain
any hydric or wetland soils. These surveys are available from the county office of the U.S.D.A.
Natural Resources Conservation Service.
The National Wetland Inventory is another source of information. These maps are produced by
the U.S.D.I. Fish and Wildlife Service and correspond to the U.S.D.I. Geological Survey quad-
rangle maps (7.5 x 7.5 minutes). They can be obtained by calling 1 -800 -USA -MAPS. These
maps are very general and should not be used for any regulatory purpose, but can provide useful
information about areas where wetlands can be expected to occur. The only way to accurately
determine the extent of wetlands on a property is to have a qualified individual inspect the prop-
erty.
Information and photography of indicator and threatened and endangered plants can often be
obtained from local botanical gardens or arboreta, such as the Morris Arboretum of the Univer-
sity of Pennsylvania as well as environmental centers and natural resource interest groups such
as the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy.

REFERENCES AND FURTHER READING
Belt, C. B., Jr. 1975 The 1973 flood and man's constriction of the Mississippi River. Science 189:
681-684.
Boelter, D.H.; Verry, E.S. 1977. Peatland and water in the Northern Lake States. General Technical
Report NC -31. St. Paul, MN: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, North Central
Forest Experiment Station; 22 p.
Cassell, R. 1993. The vernal pond, "More than just a mosquito hole" Unpublished draft supplied
by author.
Cowardin, L.M.; Carter, V.; Golet, F.C.; LaRoe, E.T. 1979. Classification of wetlands and deepwater
habitats of the United States. FWS/OBS-79/31. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of the Interior,
Fish and Wildlife Service; 103 p.
Dahl, T.E. 1990. Wetland losses in the United States, 1780s to 1980s. Washington, DC: U. S. Department
of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service; 21 p.
DeGraff, R.M.; Yamasaki, M.; Leak, W.B.; Lanier, J.W. 1992. New England wildlife: management of
forested habitats. General Technical Report NE -144. Radnor, PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture,
Forest Service, Northeastern Forest Experiment Station; 271 p.
Federal Register. 1980. 40 CFR Part 230: Section 404 (b) (1) Guidelines for specification of disposal
sites for dredged or fill material. 45 (249): 85352-85353.
Federal Register. 1982. Title 33: Navigation and navigable waters; Chapter II, Regulatory programs of
the Corps of Engineers, 47 (138): 31810.
Gosselink, J.G.; Conner, W.H.; Day, J.W., Jr.; Turner, R.E. 1981. Classification of wetland resources:
land, timber, and ecology. In: Jackson, B.D.; Chambers, J.L., editors. Timber harvesting in
wetlands. Baton Rouge: Division of Continuing Education; Louisiana State University; 28-48.
Johnson, C.W. 1985. Bogs of the Northeast. Hanover, NH: University Press of New England; 269 p.
Larson, J.S.; Newton, R.B. The value of wetlands to people and wildlife. Amherst: U.S. Department
of Agriculture, Cooperative Extension Service, University of Massachusetts; 20 p.
Mason, L. 1990. Portable wetland area and stream crossings. San Dimas, CA: U.S. Department of
Agriculture, Forest Service, Technology Development Center. 110 p.
Mitsch, W.J.; Gosselink, J.G. 1993. Wetlands, 2ded. NewYork: VanNostrand Reinhold Co.; 539 p.
Newton, R.B. 1988. Forested wetlands of the Northeast. Publication No. 88-1. Amherst: University of
Massachusetts, Environmental Institute; 14 p.
Payne, N.F. 1992. Techniques for wildlife habitat management of wetlands. New York: McGraw-Hill
Inc.; 549 p.
Reed, P.B. 1988. National list of plant species that occur in wetlands: 1988 national summary. Biological
Report 88 (24). Washington, DC: U.S. Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service; 244 p.
Shaw, S.P.; Fredine, C.G. 1956. Wetlands of the United States, Their extent and their value for waterfowl
and other wildlife. Circular 39. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife
Service; 67 p.
Thibodeau, F.R.; Ostro, B.D. 1981. An economic analysis of wetlands protection. Journal of Environmental
Management 12:19-30.
Tiner, R.W., Jr. 1987. Mid -Atlantic wetlands, a disappearing natural treasure. Washington, DC: U.S.
Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service; 28 p.
Tiner, R.W.; Kenenski, I.; Nuerminger, T.; Eaton, J.; Foulis, D.B.; Smith, G.S.; Frayer, W.E. 1994. Recent
wetland status and trends in the Chesapeake watershed (1982 to 1989). Technical Report.
Hadley, MA: U.S. Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service; 70 p.
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. 1987. Corps of Engineers wetlands delineation manual. Technical
Report Y-87-1. Washington, DC; IOOp. + app.
U.S. Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service. 1990. America's endangered wetlands.
Pamphlet.