It is documented that well managed forests provide us with clean water. They also absorb rainfall, refill aquifers, slow and filter stormwater runoff, reduce floods, and provide habitat for fish and wildlife. Forestry operations, if done improperly, can negatively impact these benefits. Forestry Best Management Practices  (BMPs) were developed to prevent these impacts from occurring.

Forestry BMPs are a set of guidelines that involve the application of conservation practices that effectively prevent or minimize the amount of nonpoint source pollution (NPS) generated during forestry operations. BMPs can include such measures as leaving a buffer zone of trees next to a stream, installing a culvert to cross a stream, or establishing grass on forest roads to prevent erosion.

In 1989, the Texas Forest Service established the BMP program to focus on minimizing any threats to water quality from forestry activities. The program educates landowners, loggers and foresters about the threats to water quality and provides technical assistance on how to minimize those threats through the use of non-regulatory forestry BMPs.

The BMP program also monitors BMP implementation throughout the state. Every three years, the BMP program publishes a report, Voluntary Implementation of Forestry Best Management Practices in East Texas, which describes the level at which BMPs are being implemented. The TFS is also currently conducting a study designed to measure the overall effectiveness of BMPs in Texas.