POCD 2017 Firewise Fuels Reduction Project Highlight
Diamond Lake, WA
The video below captures the project site AFTER mechanical slash treatment was completed. BEFORE implementation, this site had over 90 commercial slash piles spread across 17 acres. These piles act as both wildfire fuels and habitat for invasive bark beetles. Rather than burning the slash material, mastication was used to chip and scatter piles across the forest floor. This practice reduces fuels while improving forest soil conditions. Contact POCD for a full list of slash treatment practices.
BEFORE
Commercial logging thinned the stand, but left behind many untreated slash piles. These piles were machine stacked and too large to chip by hand.
DURING
Many timber management companies are now offering mastication - a mechanical slash treatment option that uses a rotating drum attachment to shred, and scatter debris across the forest floor.
AFTER
The result is a mulched look that provides nutrients for the soil and improves understory development.
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