Mechanical Fuels Treatment

 

Mechanical treatment is the treatment of forest fuels using equipment, including chainsaws or heavy machinery. Mechanical treatments can include a variety and/or combination of techniques including:

• Aspen Enhancement: A treatment where all conifers within and occasionally surrounding an aspen stand are cut to maintain aspen stand health and growth.

• Chipping: The process of reducing larger woody slash into smaller material that is generally three inches or smaller. Material is typically brought to a chipping machine. Chips are then randomly scattered so as not to exceed a predetermined depth.

• Clear Cut: A treatment that cuts all the existing trees within a defined unit. This is generally used for tree species that grow in even-age stands, such as lodgepole pine.

• Patch Clear Cut: A small clear cut that ranges in size from two acres to a maximum of 20 acres.

• Thin: A treatment where individual trees are cut to increase the spacing between the tree.

• Thin from Below: A treatment that cuts smaller understory trees to increase distance between vegetation on the ground and the lowest branches of taller trees.