Best Management Practices for Clearing and Grubbing between May 1 and September 30

Follow these standard best management practices that apply to all roadwork projects.

When brushing in foxsnake habitat, inspect trees thoroughly before removing, limbing, trimming, or topping them.

When brushing in bat habitat or where bats are known to occur, wait until between November 1 and March 1 to remove trees with a diameter at breast height of 25 cm or more, or trees with loose shaggy bark. If the tree must be removed during the active bat season, remove it after dusk.

Near reptile overwintering habitat, do not significantly alter or clear-cut areas during their overwintering period between September and May.

Clearing or grubbing should not occur too far ahead of construction to ensure vegetation cover is maintained for as long as possible. There should be less than 48 hours between removing vegetation and placing permanent cover.

Minimize the area cleared by only clearing or grubbing vegetation that is necessary.

Establish a no grub zone on either side of watercourses. There should be a minimum of 30 metres of vegetated buffer retained around waterbodies.

Avoid grubbing near wetlands or sandy soils prone to rutting and compaction.

Avoid grubbing within two metres of standing trees to prevent damage to root systems.

• Retain wildlife trees (e.g., snags, cavity trees). Where full retention is not possible, preserve dead or decaying trees by limbing or topping instead of full removal.
• Prune or top trees instead of clearing or grubbing.
• Leave the stump and root system of cut trees.

• If some removal is necessary, prune or top vegetation instead of full removal.
• Fell trees away from all watercourses.
• Do not use wetlands, waterways, or water bodies to transport or dispose of vegetation.
• All accumulated debris, vegetation, or logs that are removed from the site is temporarily stored and stabilized a minimum of 30 m away from watercourses above the highwater mark.

• Leave brush piles in place. Use logs, branches, and shrubs that have been removed to create brush piles within or along the edges of clearings.
• Maintain or replace all naturally occurring snake habitat structures, including cover objects like rocks, brush piles, logs, and rock piles.

Brush, clear or grub to create openings that are mostly exposed to sunlight during the day and leave some shrub and ground cover.

Fill in depressions remaining after grubbing with suitable earth material.

When grubbing, soil or other debris from stumps and roots should be removed within the work area prior to transporting off-site.

Organic material (trees, stumps, woody debris, shrubs) removed from work sites can be turned into mulch and used for local revegetation projects. If used, ensure all organic material is free of weeds or invasive species prior to use.