Forestry mulching is a method for clearing dense brush and small trees. It has become increasingly popular for its low environmental impact and cost efficiency. Forestry mulching uses a single piece of machinery, called a masticator, to chip wooded material into mulch. The mulch is left in place to help control erosion and enrich the soil. It eliminates the need of clear grading and bulldozers, which scrape down to bare mineral soil, leaving the land prone to erosion and left with large piles of debris to be removed or hauled away.

• Cost & Time Efficient: Forestry mulching is the quickest method for clearing and removing brush. A single forestry mulcher is capable of masticating 5 acres a day. It would take hand crews with chainsaws and wood chippers a week to cover the same amount of land as a forestry mulcher and it eliminates the number of people on each job.

• Low Environmental Impact: Forestry mulching is the most environmentally friendly method for clearing brush. Non-native and invasive species, dead and decomposing trees, and overgrown brush are turned into mulch on the spot. It eliminates the need to scrape down to bare mineral soil, which creates large piles of debris that would likely be hauled off to a landfill. Instead, the mulch creates a layer over the topsoil to help prevent the regrowth of invasive species. The mulch also prevents erosion on steep terrain.

• Access: Forestry mulchers are typically mounted to tracked machines which can navigate steep terrain that a truck and wood-chipper would not be able to access. These machines are able to work in most weather conditions without the risk of getting stuck. Masticators mounted on excavators have the ability to reach 10-15 feet off the side of roadways and down steep embankments.

• Reduce Fuel Load: Forestry mulching helps reduce the fuel load for wildfires. Fuel is anything that is combustable if a fire were to burn through the area. Removing dense areas of brush creates a fire break. Flames are capable of reaching 4x the height of the fuel they are burning. By turning 6-8 foot tall sections of brush into a layer of mulch, you are turning 30 foot flames into 6 -12 inch flames which are much safer and more manageable to extinguish.