Environment

Protecting Water Quality

If you watched our steep slope harvesting videos, you already know how foresters go to great lengths to prevent erosion. They even airlift trees to ensure they don’t upset the soils and cause them to wash into waterways below!

But that’s just the beginning of how the forestry industry protects water quality. We follow something called Best Management Practices (BMPs). These state-level guidelines incorporate measures to protect waterways during forestry activities. BMPs set up buffer zones that could be dozens or even hundreds of feet wide. Guidelines within the buffer zone may include: no roads, no heavy equipment and reduced or eliminated harvests.

Aquifers: A critical drinking water resource

Deep underground, aquifers are extremely important resources for our drinking water supply. For example, the Floridan Aquifer provides billions of gallons of water every day!

How do these hidden sources continue to refill with water? Through groundwater, which seeps through the ground and eventually incorporates into the aquifer. Hard surfaces like concrete and pavement block this process. The porous soils of the forest provide an important "recharge" area for water.

The video below shows a special project a forestry team got involved with to divert water into a sinkhole. What made this project important? Who will be impacted by it?

Applying What You've Learned

What are some benefits forests provide for our water sources?

PROTECTING WATER QUALITY

PROTECTING WATER QUALITY

Working Forests Protect Water Quality Across the U.S.

Trees are Nature's Water Filters

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Learn more about the Environment and what comes next in the Forestry Lifecycle:

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