Chapter 2—Alternatives 2.2.1.2 Timber Yarding Ground-based yarding In ground-based yarding, a machine travels to the logs and pulls them to the landing. The machines used for skidding are diverse and can have wheels or tracks. Trees and logs are removed from the woods using rubber- tired skidders, tracked skidders, or forwarders. The skidders yard the trees to the landing by lifting the front end of the logs off the ground. Skidders travel on skid trails that are designated and approved by the BLM. A feller-buncher fells and bunches trees mechanically. The typical feller-buncher is track mounted. Some must move from tree-to-tree for felling, while others use a boom to fell multiple trees from a single position. The feller-buncher bundles trees for a skidder to pick up and move to a landing. A forwarder is a rubber-tired machine that typically works with a harvester. Harvesters move through the stand felling, delimbing, bucking, and bunching trees selected for harvest. Forwarders travel into the stands on the slash created by the harvester. They load the logs piled by the harvester and carry them to the road where they are ofF-loaded. The logs carried by a forwarder do not touch the ground during travel. Ground-based yarding is generally limited to slopes of 35% or less. After harvest is complete, skid trails and landings not needed for future management would be ripped, seeded, and mulched. Skyline-cable yarding Skyline-cable yarding uses steel cables to pull logs to the landing. A stationary machine, or yarder, would be located on the road and would pull logs up to the landing with one end of the log suspended. Skyline-cable yarding is typically used where the ground is too steep for ground-based yarding. Helicopter yarding Helicopter yarding can be used on nearly any terrain and is not dependent on road location or harvest treatment. Helicopters use a tag line (cable), generally 150 feet or greater, to lift the logs above the standing timber and fly them to a landing. Predesignated skid trails Skid trail routes would be specifically selected by the BLM to facilitate yarding operations. The skid trail can be an existing skid trail or newly located and is intended to be used by the yarding operator. 2.2.1.3 Reforestation Regeneration harvest units would be replanted after harvest with 300 to 500 trees per acre in the following mix of native conifers: 70% Douglas-fir, 20% sugar or ponderosa pine, and 10% incense cedar. In stands with root rot, no ponderosa pine would be planted; a mix of Douglas-fir, sugar pine, and incense cedar would be planted. In regeneration harvest stands adjacent to stands with Douglas-fir mistletoe, no Douglas- fir would be planted within 50 feet of the perimeter of the infected stand. Target stands would have 280 well-spaced trees per acre. At 1, 3, and 5 years, the BLM would conduct surveys to determine seedling survival, stocking levels, and maintenance needs (e.g., tubing, mulching, shading, scalping). Replanting would occur if needed to meet the target number of trees per acre. If necessary, competing vegetation would be removed for a 3-foot radius around planted seedlings. 15.