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Virginia Tech

Loggers' perceptions of the costs of best management practices on timber harvesting operations in Virginia

Abstract

dc:description.abstract

Water quality practices can have a financial impact on the cost of harvesting timber in Virginia. Two hundred seventy-two timber harvesters were surveyed to determine the estimated cost for implementing best management practices (BMPs) on harvested sites. BMPs analyzed in this study are pre-harvest planning, road construction, broad base dips, water turn-outs, water bars, streamside management zones, stream crossings, and site stabilization. Loggers provided an estimate of the cost or expense for constructing each BMP. They gave an indication of how costly these practices were to implement. The responses for each BMP were then stratified by region to determine if there were regional differences in the unit costs. With the exception of haul road construction costs, the data showed no regional differences in the unit BMP costs across Virginia. Forty-six harvested sites in Virginia were visited to determine the number of BMPs constructed for the harvesting operations. The total cost of following BMP guidelines was calculated using the state median cost, regional road construction costs, and number of practices installed on the site for each tract. The BMP cost per acre was reported by region.

Degree

thesis:*
Name thesis:degree_name
Master of Science
Level thesis:degree_level
masters
Discipline thesis:degree_discipline
Forestry
Department dc:contributor.department
Forestry
Grantor dc:publisher
Virginia Tech
Year dc:date.issued
1996

Author and committee

dc:creator, dc:contributor.*
Author dc:creator
  • Worrell, E. Glen
Chair dc:contributor.committeechair
  • Haney, Harry L. Jr.
Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember
  • Aust, W. Michael
  • Shaffer, Robert M.
  • Smith, James L.
  • Wisdom, Harold W.

Subjects

dc:subject × 3

Rights

dc:rights
Statement dc:rights
  • In Copyright
Language dc:language.iso
en

Identifiers

dc:identifier.*
Dc Identifier Other
etd-08222008-063315
OAI identifier oai:identifier
oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/44338

Chain of custody

source
Harvested from
Virginia Tech
Base URL
vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/oai/request
Last updated
2026-07-22
Source record
OAI-PMH GetRecord
citation

Worrell, E. Glen. Loggers' perceptions of the costs of best management practices on timber harvesting operations in Virginia. masters thesis, Virginia Tech, 1996. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/44338