Stefano Grigolato

Influence of characteristics and extension of a forest road network on the supply cost of forest woodchips

A forest road network in northeastern Italy was explored by field investigations to evaluate the cost of covering annual demand of woodchips according to three scenarios. The first scenario (A) considered the current extent of the forest road network (mainly tractor road) and the associated qualitative characteristics; the second scenario (B) evaluated the possibility of increasing the availability of the technical amount of forest biomass by extending the forest road network by three tractor roads (3.9xa0km); the third scenario (C) considered the impact on woodchip supply of converting 9.3xa0km of tractor forest road into truck forest road. At a woodchip price of 60xa0€xa0t−1, the cost–supply curve of scenarioxa0C indicated a woodchip amount of 2886xa0txa0year−1, which was 561xa0txa0year−1 greater than scenarioxa0A and 161xa0txa0year−1 greater than scenarioxa0B.

Ecological risk and accessibility analysis to assess the impact of roads under Habitats Directive

We propose a method for the appropriate assessment of adverse effects of roads in compliance with the European Union Habitats Directive. The method incorporates an analysis of ecological risk of edge effects by the proposed roads with the related increase in accessibility. The method was tested on 30 km of planned forest roads inside an 8,000-ha reserve included in two Natura 2000 sites. As a result, the cumulative effect of 19 road segments was judged as not significantly affecting the integrity of the sites, although they made accessible an extra 314 ha. On the basis of the accessibility calculation, 20 ha of land were set aside from forest exploitation as a mandatory mitigation measure. The method objectively determined the cumulative adverse effects, enabled comparison of plan revisions and alternatives and proved to measure direct and indirect significant effects with a realistic effort in terms of field survey and geographic information system processing.

Light-lift helicopter logging operations in the Italian Alps: a preliminary study based on GNSS and a video camera system

Terrain access is a critical factor influencing the feasibility of forest operations in steep mountainous terrain. Long extraction distances coupled with terrain obstacles can favor the use of helicopters in timber extraction in such areas. However, helicopter logging in the Italian Alps is not commonplace when compared to other Alpine regions, for example, in Switzerland and Austria. The use of light-lift helicopters has recently caught the attention of practitioners as an alternative to more traditional medium- to heavy-lift aircraft in the Alps. This article reports the findings of two preliminary case studies using light-lift helicopters for the extraction of high value timber and fire-damaged timber subsequently exposed to bark beetle disturbance. In order to provide a comprehensive analysis of the factors affecting helicopter logging productivity, the two case studies were separately analyzed using time-element analysis supported by on-board global navigation satellite system (GNSS) devices. Additionally, an external video camera was used to continuously monitor the operations. The payload utilization was 86% for the extraction of high value timber and 70% for fire-damaged timber subsequently exposed to bark beetle disturbance. Variation in the turn time was mostly related to the hooking, choker return, and load times, as well as flying distance. Above all, the load hooking time explains c. 27% of the variance, revealing its critical influence on logging productivity.

Retrospective Study on Search and Rescue Operations in Two Prealps Areas of Italy

OBJECTIVESnThe rising number of people involved in outdoor recreation and tourism in mountain forest and wilderness areas close to urban areas has led to an increase of rescue efforts in the last decades. The study analyzes rescue operations in 2 mountain areas of the Veneto Prealps in Italy.nnnMETHODSnA retrospective review of search and rescue incident reports for a 20-year period was performed. The study also takes into consideration any differences between accidents in the 2 areas in relation to the morphology and mountain activities involved.nnnRESULTSnThere has been an increase in accidents, and the greater participation in mountain activities does not seem to be accompanied by an improvement in knowledge of the specific risks in this kind of environment. Inexperience is reflected in many reasons for callouts and is related to the remarkable rise in the number of rescued but uninjured people; the trend of fatalities and injuries is otherwise stable. Comparison of the 2 areas reveals differences in accidents mainly attributable to diversities in mountain activities involved that led to different health consequences.nnnCONCLUSIONSnSearch and rescue missions in mountain areas are dangerous for rescuers and made difficult by the severe environment. The knowledge of accident characteristics is therefore very important and is necessary to reduce risks for tourists and healthcare costs. To tackle the problem of safety there is also a need for more information in the form of preventive education and publicity about the typical hazards.

Assessment of noise level and noise propagation generated by light-lift helicopters in mountain natural environments

AbstractThe use of helicopter rises discussion about environmental noise propagation especially when it operates in proximity of environmentally sensitive areas (ESAs) for an extended period because of its potential implications in wildlife behaviours. In order to support decisions on helicopter logging operation management in proximity of ESAs, this study focused on (i) analysing the noise spectrum of a light-lift helicopter during logging operations and on (ii) assessing the noise propagation in the surrounding environments. This study investigated a helicopter logging operation for wood fuel extraction in the eastern part of the Italian Alps. The potential disturbance area covered for the entire helicopter logging operation was evaluated by a specific GIS application according to hearing sensitivity of the most sensitive wildlife species in the study area (different strigiform species). The noise level at the ground appeared to be affected by the location regardless both the use of equivalent continuous sound pressures level dB(A) (LAeq) and the single-event level (SEL) noise metrics. The lowest values were recorded when the helicopter was flown over the sound meter level located under the forest canopy, while the highest was recorded when the helicopter was unhooking the loads at the landing. The GIS application highlighted the consistent of the exceeded noise area (weighted to strigiform hearing range and sensitivity) for the lower frequency bands (0.016–0.250xa0kHz). A more restricted exceeded noise area concerned instead the most sensitive frequency bands for the strigiform (1–2xa0kHz).n Graphical abstractᅟ