Site preparation activities in forested wetlands for the establishment of pine plantations¹ in Louisiana may or may not require a Clean Water Act Section 404 permit.

NO PERMIT REQUIRED
The following are circumstances where mechanical site preparation activities do not require a permit:

• Mechanical silvicultural site preparation² is a non-permitted activity in wetlands that are:
1. Seasonally flooded — Characterized by surface water that is present for extended periods, especially early in the growing season, and is absent by the end of the season in most years but water table is often near the surface.
2. Intermittently flooded — Characterized by substrate that is usually exposed but where surface water is present for variable periods without detectable season periodicity.
3. Temporarily flooded or saturated — Characterized by surface water that is present for brief periods during the growing season but also by a water table that usually lies well below the soil surface for most of the season.
4. Historically 25% or more pine — Conducted in pine plantations and other silvicultural sites that originally or historically contained more than 25% pine in the canopy (except as listed under “permit required” below: "circumstances which do require a permit"). Examples typical of these wetlands include pine flatwoods, pond pine flatwoods and wet flats, such as certain pine-hardwood forests.
• The site preparation activity is conducted in a manner designed to minimize impacts to the aquatic ecosystem and are conducted according to the six BMPs³ listed below:
  
1. Minimize soil disturbance — Position shear blades or rakes at or near the soil surface and windrow, pile and otherwise move logs and logging debris by methods that minimize dragging or pushing through the soil to minimize soil disturbance associated with shearing, raking and moving trees, stumps, brush and other unwanted vegetation.
2. Avoid soil compaction — Conduct activities in such a manner as to avoid excessive soil compaction and maintain soil tilth. 
3. Limit erosion and runoff — Arrange windrows in such a manner as to limit erosion, overland flow and runoff.
4. Keep logging debris out of SMZs — Prevent disposal or storage of logs or logging debris in streamside management zones (defined areas adjacent to streams, lakes and other waterbodies) to protect water quality.
5. Maintain natural contour and drainage — Maintain the natural contour of the site and ensure that activities do not immediately or gradually convert the wetland to a non-wetland.
6. Exercise water management — Conduct activities with appropriate water management mechanisms to minimize off-site water quality impacts. 

PERMIT REQUIRED

The following are circumstances where mechanical site preparation activities require a permit: 

• A permit will be required in the following areas unless they have been so altered through past practices (including the installation and continuous maintenance of water-management structures) as to no longer exhibit the distinguishing characteristics described below (see “circumstances where mechanical silvicultural site preparation activities do not require a permit” above).
1. Permanently flooded, intermittently exposed and semipermanent flooded wetlands
• Permanently flooded wetlands — Characterized by water that covers land surface throughout the year in all years.
• Intermittently exposed wetlands — Characterized by surface water throughout the year except in years of extreme drought.
• Semipermanently flooded wetlands — Characterized by surface water throughout the growing season in most years, and when absent, the water table is usually at or near the land surface. Examples of these three types include cypress-gum swamps, muck-and-peat swamps and cypress strands/domes.
2. Riverine bottomland hardwood wetlands
• Seasonally flooded floodplains — Characterized by seasonally flooded or wetter river floodplain sites where overbank flooding has resulted in alluvial features such as well-defined floodplains, bottom/terraces, natural levees and backswamps. Surface water present for extended periods, especially early in growing season, but absent by end of the season in most years, but water table often near land surface. Field indicators include water-stained leaves, drift lines and water marks on trees.
• Hardwoods dominant — Hardwoods dominate the canopy but do not include sites where more than 25% of canopy is pine.
• Poorly drained soils — Soil characteristics include listed hydric soils that are poorly drained or very poorly drained.
3. Non-riverine forest wetlands — Are rare, high-quality, wet forests with mature vegetation; located on the southeastern coastal plains, with hydrology dominated by high water tables representing two forest community types.
• Non-riverine wet hardwood forests — Poorly drained mineral soil interstream flats (comprising 10 or more contiguous acres), typically on the margins of larger peatland areas, seasonally flooded or saturated by high water tables, with vegetation dominated (greater than 50% of basal area per acre) by swamp chestnut oak, cherrybark oak or laurel oak alone or in combination.
• Non-riverine swamp forests — Very poorly drained flats (comprising 5 or more contiguous acres), with organic soils or mineral soils with high organic content, seasonally to frequently flooded or saturated by high water tables, with vegetation dominated by bald cypress, pond cypress, swamp tupelo, water tupelo or Atlantic white cedar alone or in combination.
• The term “high quality” refers to generally undisturbed forest stands, whose character is not significantly affected by human activities such as forest management. Non-riverine forest wetlands dominated by red maple, sweetgum or loblolly pine alone or in combination are not considered to be of high quality and do not require a permit.
4. Tidal freshwater marshes — Wetlands regularly or irregularly flooded by freshwater with dense herbaceous vegetation, on the margins of estuaries or drowned rivers or creeks.
5. Maritime grasslands, shrub swamps and swamp forests — Barrier island wetlands in dune swales and flats; underlain by wet, murky or sandy soils, vegetated by wetland herbs, shrubs and trees.
   

Four other wetland types in addition to the five above — white cedar swamps, Carolina bay wetlands, low pocosin wetlands and wet marl forests — require a permit for mechanical silvicultural site preparation, but they are not normally found in Louisiana.

Note: Pine plantations that have already been established in the nine wetland types are grandfathered and not subject to the above prohibition. Thus, if a pine plantation already exists in the wetland types, no permit will be required for mechanical site preparation in order to continue pine plantation management on that site. Further, it is important to note that the above prohibition against mechanical site preparation in the above wetlands does not preclude pine management altogether. Pine management can occur as long as the pine trees can be established consistent with the other clearly exempt activities, including harvesting, minor drainage, seeding, plowing and cultivating.

BMPs for Pine Wetlands

•  Site preparation in forested wetlands, as outlined under permanently flooded wetlands above, should be conducted according to the BMPs listed under riverine bottomland hardwood wetlands.

AVOID

• Permanently flooded, intermittently exposed and semipermanent flooded wetlands. 
• Riverine bottomland hardwood wetlands.  
• Non-riverine forest wetlands. 
• Tidal freshwater marshes. 
• Maritime grasslands, shrub swamps and swamp forests.

¹These guidelines were developed for the establishment of pine plantations and do not apply to, restrict or require a permit for mechanical site preparation for the establishment of hardwood plantations.
²Mechanical silvicultural site preparation activities include shearing, raking, ripping, chopping, windrowing, piling and other similar methods used to cut, break apart or move logging and other debris following harvesting for the establishment of pine plantations.
³These BMPs firmly establish that forestry site preparation activities including shearing, raking, moving logging slash, windrowing, piling, etc. are part of normal silviculture; therefore, implementation of the mechanical site preparations BMPs does not constitute “land clearing” or other non-exempt activities.