Resource Roads and Wetlands Guide

This guide contains best management practices that help plan, construct and maintain resource roads in forested environments in order to maintain the movement of water in wetlands.

Resource roads built over wetlands, without the consideration of how water moves through these systems, can negatively impact wetlands and may require more time and money to build and maintain. Saturated and poor bearing capacity soils found in typical wetlands present unique challenges for road designers and construction crews. This guide focuses on two primary issues: 1) reducing the impacts of resource roads on wetlands; and 2) ensuring that resource roads that cross wetlands function at the required design and industry performance levels to allow forest access and hauling operations in a cost-effective manner.

Project partners include FPInnovations and Ducks Unlimited Canada. This guide was supported with funding from the Sustainable Forestry Initiative Conservation and Community Partnerships Grant Program and Natural Resources Canada under the NRCan/FPInnovations CFS Contribution Agreement.