I now own a tract of woodlands that was logged last winter (03). The loggers left the roads in pretty poor repair and they are eroding. I used my back blade and made humps to help slow the water. I want to smooth out the roads down this spring and seed them. The roads are in nearly full shade (in the woods). Waht could I seed them down with to curb erosion? Is there anything I could plant that might grow and have the secondary benefit of being a food source for deer/turkeys etc.?
Live to Fish, Fish to Live!
Check out the Blodgett Forest research area. It is N. Calif, but may have data that would help you. I did a Horticulture school field trip there last fall, and toured an area where they were reclaiming a road. They are a research group based from UC Berkeley. It is like 6000 acres of forest where they do all kinds of research for masters and phd projects, as well as commercial and private applications of forest management.
They claim that for all the clearcut and such with logging, the roads are much more of an erosion problem than the rest of the "cut". In one area, the rebuilt a streambed crossing and were removing an old logging road. They put vaious native seed and slash on top of it. They also scarcified parts of it with a Cat.
They may have data that would help you, or may be able to refer you to someone in your state.
www.cnr.berkeley.edu/forestry/properties/blodgett.html
Contact your local wildlife agent. Not only will he be able to tell you what to plant, he may be able to supply it to you for free.
The slower you go, the faster you get there!
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