General Cutting: Vegetation thinning will be performed throughout the cut and pile units. Most areas in the units are 55% slope or less and will be thinned according to the Zone specifications below. In the smaller areas above 55% slope, work should focus on creating 4-foot-wide pathways between areas of lesser slope that can be readily traveled on foot, and then reducing brush, ladder fuels, and dead & down around these paths and any large trees, so long as piles can be readily created from the cut material in the less steep areas according to the Piling specifications. The use of professional-grade clinometers to accurately determine slope angles within the identified units is a requirement in this rugged mountainous terrain. All cut vegetation must be completely severed from the base/stump, and as flush with the ground as possible: remaining stumps must be less than 6 inches high on the uphill side, have no live limbs remaining below the cut (to prevent growing new vegetative material), and must not be sharply angled (no “punji sticks”) for safety. Cut vegetation must be in contact with the ground and adequately secured so it does not roll down hill, and it must not be hung up on leave trees/vegetation and not block any designated trail or roadway. Servicing, fueling of chainsaws, and storage of fuels, lubricants, toxicants, and hazardous materials is prohibited within or near riparian areas, stream channels, ponds/lakes/reservoirs, springs, and seeps...
