Forestry Terms  - K,L -

KERF -Width of the cut made by a saw blade

KG AND PILE - A site preparation method in which stumps are pushed up, sheared off, or split apart by a specially designed blade mounted on a bulldozer. Debris is then piled or placed in long rows (windrows) so that an area can be bedded or flat planted.

KG BLADE - A bulldozer-mounted blade used in forestry and land-clearing operations. A single spike splits and shears stumps at their base.

KNUCKLEBOOM -Hydraulically operated loading boom whose mechanical action imitates the human arm.
--See harvesting machine classifications, single function machines: loader.

KRAFT PAPER -Comparatively coarse paper particularly noted for its strength; unbleached grades are used primarily as a
wrapping or packaging material. -Paper made primarily from wood pulp produced by the sulfate pulping process.

LAND/AQUATIC TYPE ASSOCIATION: Code numbers given to a mapped unit of land in which land forms, soils, vegetation and water have the dominating influence.

LAND COVER CATEGORY: That which overlays or currently covers the ground, especially vegetation, permanent snow and ice fields, water bodies, or structures. Barren land is also considered a "land cover" although technically it is lack of cover. The term land cover can be thought of as applying to the setting in which action (one or more different land uses) takes place. Classes include Built-up land, Cultivated Cropland, Grassland, Shrubland, Treeland, Water areas, and Barren land.

LAND LOCATION (GLO): Area identifiers composed of MERIDIAN, TOWNSHIP, RANGE, SECTION, and SUBDIVISION.

• Meridian: Two lines, one extending north and south along the astronomical meridian and the other east and west along a true parallel of latitude, intersecting at the initial point, along which township, section, and quarter-section corners are established. The meridian and Base line are the lines from which the survey is initiated for the township boundaries along the parallels.
• Township: The unit of survey of the public lands; normally a quadrangle approximately 6 miles on a side with boundaries conforming to meridians and parallels within established limits, containing thirty-six sections, some of which are designed to take up the convergence of the meridianal township boundary lines and accumulated measurement errors
• Range: Any series of contiguous townships situated north and south of each other; also sections similarly situated within a township.
• Section: The unit of subdivision of a township; normally a quadrangle 1 mile square, with boundaries conforming to meridians and parallel within established limits, and containing 640 acres.
• Subdivision: The sixteen standard forty-acre aliquot parts of a section.

LAND LOCATION (Metes and Bounds): Area identifiers consisting of QUADRANGLES and PARCELS.

• Quadrangle: A 1:24,000 scale topographic map, based on the USGS Quadrangle, each 7.5 minutes by 7.5 minutes for each State and Territory (except Alaska and outlying areas).
• Parcel: An identifier for an area of land, described by definite boundaries, which was acquired or purchased from an individual, company, or other entity.

LAND SURFACE FORM CODE: The land surface form code number in which the inventory/sample is located. Determined from the Ecoregion land surface form and hydrologic unit maps of the United States

LAND USE CLASS: The predominant purpose for which an area is employed. Classes include Agricultural Land, Forest land, Rangeland, Wetland, Urban/suburban, and Utility/Transportation Corridors (Roads, Railroads, Utility Corridors).

LANDFORMS: Any physical feature of the earth's surface having a characteristic, recognizable shape and produced by natural causes. Landforms include:

• Alluvial Fan: A body of unconsolidated clastic material and debris flow, conical in shape, forming at the point where a stream emerges from a narrow valley onto a broader, less sloping valley floor.
• Backslope: The component of the hill slope that forms the steepest inclined surface and is frequently the principal element. The surface is dominantly steep and linear in profile and erosional in origin.
• Badlands: Intricately stream-dissected topography characterized by a very fine drainage network with high drainage densities and short, steep slopes. They have little or no vegetative cover overlying consolidated or poorly cemented clays or silts.
• Bajada: A broad, gently inclined slope formed by the lateral coalescence of a series of alluvial fans, and having a broadly undulating transverse profile.
• Basin: A depressed area with no surface outlet.
• Butte: An isolated, usually flat-topped upland mass characterized by summit widths that are less than heights of the bounding

erosional escarpment. It is produced by differential erosion of nearly horizontal, interbedded weak and resistant rocks. See also mesa.

• Caldera: A large, basin-shaped volcanic depression, more or less circular in form, and having a diameter many times greater than the included volcanic vents. See also crater.
• Canyon: A long, deep, narrow, very steep-sided valley with high and precipitous walls in an area of high local relief.
• Cirque: Semicircular, concave, bowl-like area with steep face primarily resulting from erosive activity at the head of a mountain glacier.
• Cliff: A high, very steep to perpendicular or overhanging face of rock or earth.
• Cone: A conical hill of lava or cinders that is built up around a volcanic vent.
• Crater: A basin-like rimmed structure, usually at the summit of a cone; its floor is approximately the diameter of the vent. See also caldera.
• Divide: The line of separation marking the boundary between two adjacent drainage systems.
• Draw: A small stream channel, generally more open and with a broader floor than a gulch. Also locally called "arroyo" or "wash."
• Dune: A mound, ridge, or hill of loose, wind-blown granular material (generally sand), either bare or covered with vegetation.
• End Moraine: The moraine produced at the front of an actively flowing glacier at any given time.
• Escarpment: A relatively continuous and steep slope or cliff breaking the general continuity of more gently sloping land surfaces and produced by erosion or faulting. When applied to cliffs formed by faulting, commonly abbreviated to "scarp."
• Flat: A level or nearly level area of land marked by little or no relief.
• Flood plain: The nearly level alluvial plain that borders a stream and is subject to inundation under flood stage conditions.
• Foot slope: The component of the hill slope that forms the inner, gently inclined surface at the base. The surface is dominantly concave in profile and is transitional between erosion and deposition.
• Gorge: A narrow, deep valley with nearly vertical rocky walls; used especially to identify a restricted, steep-walled part of a canyon.
• Ground Moraine: An extensive, fairly even and undulating layer of rock debris which has been primarily deposited from underneath the glacier.
• Gulch: A small stream channel, narrow and steepsided in cross section. Also called "ravine."
• Hill: A natural elevation of the land surface, rising as much as 1000 ft (see mountain) above the surrounding lowlands, usually of restricted summit area and having a well-defined outline. Hills fringing a mountain range are called "foothills."
• Hill slope: The steeper part of a hill between its summit and the drainage line or valley floor. Components of the hill slope may be further classified as shoulder, backslope, footslope, and toe slope.
• Hogback: A sharp-crested, symmetric ridge formed by the differential erosion of highly tilted and resistant rock layers.
• Karst: A type of topography characterized by closed depressions, sinkholes, caves, and underground drainage. It is formed by the underground solution of limestone, dolomite, and other soluble rocks and the associated processes of subsidence and collapse.
• Knob: A small, rounded hill, commonly isolated or rising above adjacent landforms. Also called "knoll."
• Lateral Moraine: A ridge-like moraine carried on and deposited at the side margin of a valley glacier.
• Mesa: A broad, nearly flat-topped, and usually isolated upland mass characterized by summit widths that are greater than the heights of bounding escarpments. As summit area decreases relative to height, mesas are transitional to buttes.
• Moraine: An accumulation of rock material, with an initial topographic expression of its own, built chiefly by the direct action of glacial ice or by running water emanating from the glacier. Moraines may be classified as end moraine, ground moraine, lateral moraine, recessional moraine, or terminal moraine depending on their relationship to the movement of the ice mass.
• Mountain: A natural elevation of the land surface, rising more than 1000 ft (see hill) above the surrounding lowlands, usually of restricted summit area (see plateau), and generally having steep sides.
• Peak: Sharp or rugged upward extension of a ridge chain, usually at the junction of two or more ridges; the prominent highest point of a summit area.
• Piedmont: An area or feature at the base of a mountain or mountain range.
• Plain: An extensive lowland area that ranges from level to gently sloping or undulating.
• Plateau: An extensive upland mass with a relatively flat summit area that is considerably elevated above adjacent lowlands, and is separated from them on one or more sides by escarpments. A comparatively large part of its total surface is at or near the summit level. See mesa and mountain.
• Playa: The usually dry and nearly level lake plain that occupies the lowest parts of a closed basin.
• Recessional Moraine: An end moraine, built during a temporary but significant halt in the final retreat of a glacier.
• Ridge: A long, narrow elevation of the land surface, usually sharp crested with steep sides and forming an extended upland between valleys.
• Saddle: A low point on a ridge or crestline, generally a divide between the heads of streams flowing in opposite directions.
• Shoulder: The component of the hill slope that forms the uppermost inclined surface. The surface is dominantly convex in profile and erosional in origin.
• Stream Terrace: One of a series of platforms in a stream valley, flanking and generally parallel to the stream channel, originally formed near the level of the stream, and representing the dissected remnants of an abandoned flood plain produced during a former stage of erosion or deposition.
• Structural Bench: A platform-type, nearly level to gently inclined erosional surface developed on resistant strata in areas where valleys are cut in alternating strong and weak layers with an essentially horizontal attitude.
• Summit: A general term for the top, or highest level, of the relatively undissected upland between two adjacent valleys.
• Terminal Moraine: An end moraine that marks the farthest advance of a glacier and usually has the form of a massive arcuate ridge, or complex of ridges.
• Toe Slope: The component of the hill slope that forms the outermost, gently inclined surface at the base. The surface is dominantly linear in profile and depositional in origin.
• Valley: An elongate, relatively large, externally drained, gently sloping depression of the Earth's surface commonly situated between two mountains or ranges of hills or mountains. It is usually developed by stream erosion.
• Valley Floor: The gently sloping to nearly level bottom surface of a valley

LEAVE STRIP -Strip of uncut timber left between cutting units or adjacent to another resource such as a stream. Also known as a buffer strip, green strip, or streamside management zone (20).

LIMB -To remove the limbs from a felled tree. -To cut branches from trees or logs.

LIMBWOOD -Part of the tree above the stump that does not meet the requirement for saw logs or upper stem portions. Includes all live, sound branches to a 4-inch outside bark diameter minimum.

LITHOLOGIC UNIT: A system of rock classification based on manner of origin, composition, and texture (or grain size). No one system is universally recognized; the following nomenclature is offered as a guide to common terms that would be significant in most Forest Service work.

• Alluvium: Deposited by running water
• Amphibolite: A dark-colored, medium-grained rock containing amphibole and plagioclase.
• Andesite: Extrusive equivalent of diorite
• Anhydrite: Anhydrous (does not contain water) calcium sulfate, similar to gypsum but harder and slightly less soluble.
• Aphanitic Texture: Individual components can not be identified with the unaided eye.
• Arkose: Feldspar-rich (usually greater than 25%) sandstone that is not well-sorted.
• Asphalt: A dark brown or black, low-melting point, bitumen (a natural inflammable substance) comprised almost entirely of carbon and hydrogen.
• Basalt: Extrusive equivalent of gabbro
• Breccia: Consolidated gravel composed of broken, angular particles.
• Carbonaceous: Rich in carbon or organic matter.
• Carbonate: A general rock type formed from organic and inorganic precipitation of calcium and magnesium carbonates.
• Chert: A dense, very hard rock composed of microcrystalline silica (varieties also called flint, jasper, agate)
• Coal, Anthracite: A very hard, black coal, actually classed as metamorphic.
• Coal, Bituminous: A harder, more compacted, black coal.
• Colluvium: Deposited by rainwash or slow downslope creep
• Conglomerate: Consolidated gravel composed of rounded particles.
• Dacite: Extrusive equivalent of granodiorite
• Diatomite: A light-colored, soft rock composed of the siliceous skeletons of diatoms (water-dwelling organisms)
• Diorite: Plagioclase (Sodium-rich) feldspar, quartz less than 10%, mafic minerals about 25%
• Dolomite: Contains more than 90% of the mineral dolomite (calcium-magnesium carbonate)
• Eolian: Deposited by wind
• Evaporite: A general group of rocks produced by the extensive evaporation of a saline solution.
• Foliate: A general term for planar or layered structure
• Gabbro: Plagioclase (Calcium-rich) feldspar about 50%, mafic minerals about 50%
• Glacial: Deposited by action of glaciers or ice sheets
• Glassy Texture: Amorphous rock without distinct crystallization
• Gneiss: A rock with alternating bands of granular and flaky (or elongate) minerals. Generally less than 1/2 the minerals show a preferred parallel orientation.
• Granite: Orthoclase feldspar greater than 2/3 total feldspar, quartz greater than 10%
• Granodiorite: Plagioclase (Sodium/Calcium) feldspar greater than 2/3 total feldspar, quartz greater than 10%
• Gravel: Particle size greater than 2mm.
• Graywacke: A dark-gray, coarse-grained, poorly-sorted sandstone.
• Gypsum: A soft mineral consisting of hydrous calcium sulfate
• Halite: Native salt
• Hematite: A common iron oxide mineral, occurring in several forms, with a distinctive brick-red color when powdered.
• Hornfels: A fine-grained rock with a mosaic of equidimensional grains.
• Igneous: rock that has solidified from molten or partly molten material (magma).
• Lacustrine: Deposited on the bottom of a lake
• Latite: Extrusive equivalent of monzonite
• Lignite: A soft, brown coal formed by the further compression of peat.
• Limestone: Contains more than 95% calcite (calcium carbonate)
• Limonite: A general group of hydrous (contains water) ferric oxides, commonly having a dark brown or yellow-brown color.
• Man-made: Landfills and earthworks
• Marble: Recrystallized calcite and/or dolomite, usually with a sugary texture.
• Marine: Deposited on the bottom of a sea
• Massive: A general term denoting lack of foliation
• Metamorphic: Rock that has been derived from pre-existing rocks, essentially in the solid state, in response to changes in temperature, pressure, shearing stress, and chemical environment.
• Metaquartzite: Recrystallized sandstone or chert, consisting mainly of quartz.
• Migmatite: A composite rock containing both igneous and metamorphic materials
• Monzonite: Orthoclase/Plagioclase ratio about equal, quartz less than 10%
• Mud: Particle size less than 1/16mm. (Called "silt" when greater than 1/256mm, "clay" when less than 1/256mm)
• Mylonite: A compact, chertlike rock without cleavage, but with a banded appearance produced by extreme shearing and pulverizing during metamorphism.
• Obsidian: Black to dark-colored volcanic glass, similar in composition to rhyolite.
• Organic: Accumulations of organic matter
• Peat: A soft, brown material containing the partially decomposed remains of plants.
• Pegmatitic Texture: Exceptionally coarsely crystalline, usually with a composition similar to granite. Commonly referred to as "pegmatite."
• Peridotite: Mafic minerals greater than 90%
• Phaneritic Texture: Individual components can be identified with the unaided eye.
• Phosphorite: Rock containing quantities of precipitated or reworked phosphate minerals.
• Phyllite: Contains platy minerals too small to be clearly identifiable, distinguished by a glossy sheen.
• Porphyritic Texture: Larger crystals set in a finer-grained groundmass. Takes name from dominant rock type (e.g., "granite porphyry.")
• Pumice: Light-colored, vesicular (filled with small cavities formed by entrapment of gases) glassy rock, similar in composition to rhyolite.
• Rhyolite: Extrusive equivalent of granite
• Sand: Particle size between 1/16 and 2mm.
• Sandstone: Cemented sand. When used without a qualifier, generally contains about 90% quartz.
• Schist: Can be readily split into thin flakes or slabs due to more than 1/2 the minerals showing a well-developed parallelism.
• Sedimentary: Rock that has formed from the accumulation of materials on the Earth's surface
• Serpentine: A rock with a greasy or silky luster and a tough, conchoidal fracture, having a common greenish color and often veined or spotted.
• Shale: Finely laminated, clayey rock with about 1/2 silt.
• Silica: A general term for silicon dioxide
• Siltstone: Similar to shale, but has greater than 2/3 silt and lacks the fine laminations.
• Slate: A very fine-grained rock, most often generated from the metamorphism of shale, exhibiting excellent cleavage.
• Soapstone: A light-colored rock with a soft, soapy feel, having a fibrous or flaky texture, and composed chiefly of talc
• Syenite: Orthoclase (Potassium) feldspar greater than 2/3 total feldspar, quartz less than 10%
• Trachyte: Extrusive equivalent of syenite
• Travertine: A dense, frequently concentric, form of calcium carbonate created by the rapid chemical precipitation from ground waters (limestone cave formations) or by evaporation around hot springs.
• Tufa: A spongy form of calcium carbonate created by evaporation around springs or from a lake surface.
• Tuff: A general term for all consolidated pyroclastic material, but typically refers to volcanic ash.
• Unconsolidated: Sediment that has not been lithified. Describes the surficial layer below the soil horizons but above bedrock.

LOG: A section of a tree bole at least 8 feet long, not containing a fork, sufficiently straight and sound enough to yield at least an 8-foot board.

LOG RULE or LOG SCALE - A table based on a diagram or mathematical formula used to estimate volume or product yield from logs and trees. Three log rules are used today in North Carolina: Scribner is the common scale for pine; Doyle is the common hardwood scale; and the International 1/4" Rule best measures mill output, although it is used less frequently than the other log scales.

LONGWOOD -Pulpwood 120 inches or more in length.
-Pulpwood over 10 feet long.
-Stemwood delivered in lengths that exceed 15 feet.

LONGWOOD HARVESTING -Timber harvesting method in which harvested trees are moved to the landing either as whole trees or as topped and limbed tree-length logs. At the landing, further processing such as limbing, topping, bucking, chipping, or loading is carried out as necessary.

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