Slash (logging) explained

In forestry, slash, or slashings are coarse and fine woody debris generated during logging operations or through wind, snow or other natural forest disturbances.^[1] Slash generated during logging operations may increase fire hazard, and some North American states have passed laws requiring the treatment of logging slash.^[2] Logging slash can be chipped and used (for example) in the production of electricity or heat in cogeneration power-plants,^[3] or simply burned onsite.^[4]

Where logging takes place on soft ground, loggers can use the branches and tops of trees as part of the timber-harvesting process to provide a track for forest machines.^[5] Using slash in this manner reduces ground damage.

See also

• Coarse woody debris
• Lignocellulosic biomass

References

1. Encyclopedia: Slash . The Dictionary of Forestry . .
2. http://legis.state.sd.us/statutes/DisplayStatute.aspx?Type=Statute&Statute=21-10-27 South Dakota Code
3. Web site: California Board of Forestry and Fire Protection . 2007-02-04 . 2018-06-20 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180620101923/http://www.fire.ca.gov/newsreleases_content/downloads/2001archive/SlashToEnergy.pdf . dead .
4. Web site: Prescribed Fire - Pile Burning . US Forest Service . March 28, 2023.
5. Web site: Managing Brash on Conifer Clearfell Sites, Forestry Commission . 2007-02-06 . 2017-07-08 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170708101706/https://www.forestry.gov.uk/pdf/fcpn013.pdf/$FILE/fcpn013.pdf . dead .

External links

• A Slash/Mulch site in Colorado