Duck Pond Mulching - Fall 2015

The fuel treatment contractor that was hired to do the work on the Duck Pond unit has proposed that we mulch the piles instead of burning them. He has a skid steer with a mulching attachment mounted on the front that masticates the material in the piles. After seeing a demonstration of the mulching process and visiting sites near Invermere that were recovering from mulching the KNPS agreed that some of the piles could be mulched and some could be burned. We have concerns about the effects of mulching on the plants, lichens and mosses that make up the ground cover and would like to compare the two treatments and see the impacts over time. If the mulched layer is too deep we are concerned that recovery will be significantly delayed.

This is the mulching machine working near Duck Pond Trail.

The forest floor after the mulching of large amounts of coarse woody debris.