Available On Demand

As a legal requirement under the Forest Practices Code maximum limits for areas occupied by soil disturbance and access structures must be specified in prescriptions. The survey procedures and methodologies described in the Soil Conservation Survey guidebook are used for assessing compliance with these limits. As a standard practice the Ministry of Forests requires compliance level surveys to be carried out only by accredited surveyors.

This 3-day classroom and field course is specifically designed for forest personnel who will conduct formal soil disturbance surveys following timber harvesting or mechanical site preparation. Successful completion of this course will result in accreditation as a soil conservation surveyor.

Note: For those wanting a less detailed overview of soil conservation and soil disturbance requirements many Forest Service Districts offer a 1-day field workshop. Contact your local district office for information and availability of these sessions.

Audience
Forest personnel who conduct formal audits of soil disturbance following timber harvesting or mechanical site preparation. Successful participants will be required to know the recent changes in legislation and current procedures for: transect surveys, classification of soil disturbance in the field, statistical calculations, site stratification, and assessment of haul roads and landings.

Prerequisites
Participants should be familiar with general survey methodology and have at least one year experience in conducting silviculture surveys, cutblock and road layout, logging supervision, or preparing silviculture prescriptions. For participants who would like to review the Soil Conservation Survey guidebook, it is available from the Ministry of Forests website: http://www.for.gov.bc.ca/tasb/legsregs/fpc/fpcguide/SOILSURV/soil-toc.htm

Equipment
Participants should bring standard field gear and a bag lunch on days 2 and 3.

Workshop Agenda

Day 1 – Classroom

 8:30 am  Description of Soil Disturbance

                  Site Stratification

                  Transect Survey Layout and Calculations

                  Haul Road Survey Layout and Calculations

                  Landing Survey Layout and Calculations

                  Site Summary and Mapping

 4:30 pm  Adjourn

Day 2 – Field

 7:30 am   Field Exercises Classifying Soil Disturbance

                  Transect Survey Layout

                  Site Stratification Examples

                  Haul Road Survey Layout

                  Landing Survey Layout

4:30 pm   Return from field sites

Day 3 – Classroom and Field

    8:00 am  Classroom Exam (1.5 hrs)

                  Field Exam (6 hrs)

TO REGISTER