Land Management and Water Yield in the Appalachians

Watershed treatments on the Fernow Experimental Forest have included individual tree selection, commercial clearcutting, clearcutting upper and lower halves of watersheds, clearcutting all trees greater than 1-inch dbh, and maintaining clearcut watersheds barren with herbicides for several consecutive years. The paired watershed approach was used to compare each treatment watershed to a control watershed. Water yield was directly related to the percent of vegetation removed. Yield increases were greatest during the growing season.