Glossary

abutment	End support for bridge, culvert or similar structure.
adverse grade	Grade up which a loaded log truck must travel.
annual plan	Plan of harvesting for one year's operation. It is often a long term plan.
back-cut	The final cut involved in felling a tree. The back-cut should be higher than the scarf.
ballast water	Water loaded into a ship to provide weight when sailing without a cargo.
batter	Inclination or shape of side slope of walls, banks, cuttings.
berm	Heap of soil associated with the side of a road or skid track.
biodiversity	The range of species of plants and animals in an ecosystem.
borrow pit	An excavation outside the limits of road construction for obtaining fill used for roadway construction.
buffer zone	Area of vegetation retained around a sensitive area or site. Harvesting and disturbance is excluded from these areas.
butt	The stump end of a log.
buttress	A ridge of wood that develops in the angle between a lateral root and the base of a stem to provide lateral root stability to the stem.
cable logging	Any haul system using a machine with powered drums, spars, blocks, wire rope and butt rigging to haul logs from the felling site to the landing. Also called Cable Yarding System.
cadastral	This term refers to land extent, value or ownership.
camber	The amount of crossfall on a road.
canopy gap	A break in the leaf canopy of a forest. Gaps permit light to reach the forest floor. The amount of light is an important factor in forest regeneration, particularly in rainforests. Usually recorded on a percentage scale (0-100% light reaching the ground).
catch drain	A drain constructed above a batter to prevent erosion of the batter by surface water.
catchment	The area which yields run-off water to a given point.
chain brake	A safety device on a chainsaw designed to stop the chain in the event of a kickback.
chaps	Chainsaw chaps are safety trousers which are cut resistant and contain material designed to protect against chain saw cuts.
clearfelling	Felling and removal, of all or nearly all commercial trees and the trees in the size classes immediately below the merchantable category which provide the next harvest, from a specific area in one operation.
competency	A concept that focuses on what is expected of a person in the workplace rather than on the learning process. It embodies the ability to transfer and apply skills and knowledge to new situations and environments.
conservation area	Areas protected from harvesting by National or Provincial legislation.
cording	Laying of suitable logs, bark or vegetation on the soil to separate machine tyres or tracks from direct soil contact.
coupe	A defined sub-unit of the harvesting area.
cross-cut	Cutting through a felled log. Also called bucking.
cross-drain	Drain constructed across a track to divert water to a stable disposal area.
cultural area	Area of social, cultural, historical or anthropological importance indigenous populations. Includes villages, gardens and sites which are culturally sensitive.
culvert	A channel or conduit carrying water across a road.
cutting cycle	In selection (polycyclic) harvesting systems, the planned number of years between successive harvests on an area of forest. The harvesting activitiy occurs at the end of thr cutting cycle. It is also referred to as felling cycle.
dabob	Diameter above buttress over bark.
dbh	Diameter at breast height.
designated watercourses	Those required to be marked on harvesting plans. They include all classes of streams and gullies where vegetation buffers are to be marked and retained.
directional felling	Felling a tree in a particular direction.
drilling	Inserting a vertical cut into the stem with a chainsaw to determine the presence of internal defect. Defect is indicated by discoloured sawdust or soft wood.
end haul	Excavation and removal of spoil to another site. End haul is used where side casting of material is not appropriate.
endangered	Flora and fauna species in danger of extinction.
enrichment planting	Planting trees within a partial forest canopy to increase the representation of the selected species in the forest.
environmental sensitivity	Classification of the importance of a particular area of land or forest to degradation.
exclusion area	Area which is excluded from harvesting.
feeder road	A road connecting landings to a main road.
felling jack	Tool inserted into the backcut during felling to provide leverage to force the tree to fall in a particular direction.
flume	An open channel or conduit of timber, concrete, metal or flexible material such as plastic to carry water across unstable areas.
flute, fluting	Supporting buttresses at the base of some species.
forest authority	A forest agency authorised by relevant legislation to administer one or more of the forest regulations.
forest officer	Employee of the forest agency or other agency authorised, under the relevant legislation, to administer one or more of the forest regulations.
formation width	The width of a road, excluding batters.
future crop trees	Trees which will provide merchantable timber in the future. See Potential Crop Trees (PCT).
geographic information system	A computerised mapping system and database which uses layers to store information which can be retrieved as required.
geotextile	A material sheet placed on road surfaces to assist in drainage and road stabilisation.
guard log	Log along the outside of bridge, above the main stringer logs to prevent gravel from falling from the bridge into a watercourse.
gully	Gullies are steep-sided channels. The slope of at least one bank exceeds 15°. Depth of the bank adjacent to the bed may be 30 cm or more. Vegetation may be growing in the gully bed. Water will flow for less than 2 months in most years.
habitat tree	Tree used primarily for animal dwellings.
harvesting contract	Legal agreement negotiated between landowners (State, private or customary) and harvesting companies for the harvesting of forests.
harvesting debris	Broken logs, branches, vines or other tree material created as a result of felling and skidding.
harvesting supervisor	Company officer responsible for the management of harvesting operations in the field.
harvesting unit	See coupe.
haul tracks	Tracks linking roads and landings and used for haulage of logs on trucks. May also be called a spur track.
head wall	A retaining wall at the inlet end of a culvert.
hinge wood	The quantity of wood remaining between the scarf and back-cut during tree felling
hung-up tree	A tree which has not completely reached the ground following cutting.
integral arch	An extension to the winch of a harvesting tractor which gives lift to one end of the log.
landing	Area where logs are stored prior to transport to the log pond.
line planting	Planting of trees in lines through forest or regrowth.
log cluster	Group of 3 or more logs placed in a triangular fashion to act as a culvert.
log pond	Main storage area for logs awaiting shipment or processing.
log scaling	Measurement of logs for the purpose of determining volume.
logging arch	See integral arch.
main road	A permanent or semi-permanent road carrying large volumes of timber.
management information system	A computerised system involving GIS used for the management of a forest enterprise.
operational plan	Plan providing precise details of harvesting proposals, including location of roads, landings and skid tracks. Operational plans usually cover relatively small areas.
outlet wall	Retaining wall placed at the outlet end of a culvert.
out-slope	Sloping the surface of a track to shed water to the downhill side.
permanent road	A road which will be maintained after harvesting is finished.
planning officers	Company officers responsible for the planning of harvesting operations.
plantation	A forest crop or stand raised artificially by sowing seed or planting seedlings or clones raised in a nursery.
potential crop trees	These are the stems which make up the residual stand and form the basis of subsequent cutting cycles.
production forests	Forests which are being managed for the production of wood and other products on a sustainable basis.
protected forests	Forest areas which are excluded from harvesting for any reason.
protection zone	Area of forest excluded from harvesting in an operational plan.
reduced impact guidelines	These are mechanisms by which a code of harvesting practice is implemented with particular emphasis on protecting soil, water and forest stand values
reforest	To establish a tree crop on forest land.
regenerating forests	Forests which have been disturbed and altered from their natural state but are growing back to that natural state.
regeneration	Seedlings of tree species.
road crown	To shape a landing, road or track so that it is higher in the centre than the outside, allowing water to drain to the sides.
rotation	The planned number of years between the formation or regeneration of a crop of trees and the time when the same crop is felled for final harvest.
saddle	A low point on a ridge or spur.
scarf	Two cuts to remove a wedge usually made to assist directional felling.
sediment trap	See silt trap.
selection harvesting	Harvesting systems in which crop trees are removed on a cycle based on a cycle of felling entries that occur more frequently than one rotation based on cutting limits or other criteria.
shoreline	Limit of high tide; limit of mangrove growth.
shoulder	See verge.
side cast	Pushing material to the side, usually during road or track construction.
side drain	Drain which diverts water from a table drain.
sight distance	The distance along a road or track that a driver can see other objects (usually other vehicles).
silt trap	Hole dug to catch sediment in run-off water flowing in drains. Log or rock bars may also be used.
skid track	Track along which a log is pulled by a tractor.
skidding	The pulling of logs from the felling point to a landing.
skyline yarding system	A cable yarding system which makes use of a heavy wire rope (the skyline) which is stretched between two spars (or spar trees) and used as a track for a skyline carriage. The system enables the log to be fully suspended during extraction.
spur tracks	See haul tracks.
stakeholders	Individuals or groups of individuals who have an interest in, or an impact on, the outcomes of a decision as well as groups or individuals dependent to some degree on the outcome for their personal or institutional goals.
strategic plan	Long term plan which provides broad description and broad details of future harvesting and forest management plans. More than one strategic plan can be used to allow planning across a range of time periods.
stream	Stream is a watercourse where water may flow for more than 2 months in most years. The beds are generally characterised by the presence of clean, water-washed stone, gravel, or exposed bedrock materials. Class 1 stream: width of the stream base = more than 20 m Class 2 stream: width of the stream base = 10 to 20 m Class 3 stream: width of the stream base = less than 10 m.
susceptibility class	Land classification of susceptibility to degradation.
sustainable forest management	The process of managing permanent forest land to achieve one or more clearly specified objectives of management with regard to the production of a continuous flow of desired forest products and services without undue reduction in its inherent values and future productivity and without undue undesirable effects on the physical and social environment. (Definition of the International Tropical Timber Organisation)
swamp	Surface water present for 6 months of the year.
table drain	The drain parallel to and at the side of a road.
task planning	Undertaken by the harvesting company and details particular jobs such as construction of a landing.
temporary crossing	A watercourse crossing which will be removed after harvesting.
tree crown	Leaves and branches which make up the top of the tree.
understorey	That part of the forest vegetation growing below the forest canopy.
v-drain	“V”-shaped table drain.
verge	The part of the road construction continuous and flush with the pavement on either side. It is generally only used by passing vehicles but may be used for travel by track machines.
village	A cluster of dwellings in a rural environment.
water bar	See cross-drain.
water body	Surface water area such as a lake, lagoon or ocean.
watercourse	Defined line that receives and conducts concentrated overland flow for some period in most years. Flows may be permanent or periodic. Watercourse includes a stream, gully and a waterway. Classes are defined in terms of permanency of flow, bed material, bed width and side slope.
wedge	A high impact plastic or aluminium wedge driven into the back-cut to assist directional felling.
winch rope	Flexible wire rope used to winch logs towards the skidding tractor.
wing wall	Side walls provided at a culvert or bridge to retain road fill material.