Steep-Slope Land Clearing: What Changes

On a steep slope the number that governs is side slope, not grade. A machine can climb far more than it can safely traverse, and machines go over sideways rather than backwards. Everything else follows from that: the work is planned across the fall line, production drops to roughly half of the equivalent flat site and sometimes a third, and the machine selection shifts toward low-ground-pressure tracked carriers or remote-controlled units where an operator on board is not acceptable.

It sets out why it decides the job across 7 rows, covering fall-line grade, side slope, what lies below the work and more. It is on this page so the comparison can be read directly rather than reconstructed from prose.

Photograph the slope from the side, from across the valley if possible. That comes first because everything after it depends on the answer, and reversing the order is what makes this scope expensive.

1. Photograph the slope from the side, from across the valley if possible. 2. Measure side slope as well as fall-line grade. 3. Identify everything downhill of the work zone. 4. Check for seeps and soft seams after rain, not in a dry week. 5. Confirm a turnaround and an escape route exist. 6. Plan stabilisation for the first heavy rain after the work.

Plan stabilisation for the first heavy rain after the work. It gets skipped because by that point the visible problem is solved, and the cost of skipping it does not appear until the following season.

Photographing a slope from the top, which flattens it completely. Close behind it: Treating fall-line grade as the whole answer. Working wet. Assuming clearing a bank makes it more stable.

1. Photographing a slope from the top, which flattens it completely. 2. Treating fall-line grade as the whole answer. 3. Working wet. 4. Assuming clearing a bank makes it more stable.

Because machine selection, soil, ledge, side slope, downhill exposure, access, and erosion planning — and none of those variables can be answered by a number. A range is arithmetic on assumptions; this page is the list of assumptions worth checking first.

No. Nothing here is a permit determination, a wetland delineation, a boundary opinion or a safety finding — including "photograph the slope from the side, from across the valley if possible", which is guidance about what to establish, not a statement that it has been established. The property owner is the applicant for every approval on steep-slope land clearing: what changes, and the authorities behind the 2 rules cited on this page are the ones whose answers count.

The 2 rules cited on this page each carry the authority it came from and the date it was checked against that authority's own published material. The "What to record before anyone quotes slope work" table is dated the same way. Rules change — the check date is printed so you can see how old the answer is rather than having to guess, and on steep-slope land clearing: what changes the figures most likely to move are the ones with a scheduled change already announced.

The Act regulates land within 250 feet of the mean water level of any lake larger than 10 acres. Creating "cleared area" — removing trees, shrubs or disturbing natural ground cover — needs a permit or a registration, the same as creating impervious surface. Standards inside the protected shoreland: the site must be on a slope under 20%, no more than 20% of the parcel inside the area may be impervious, and no more than 40% may be cleared area. Registration B covers up to 500 sq ft of new cleared area or impervious surface between 100 and 250 feet from mean water level, if those three standards are met. On steep-slope land clearing: what changes specifically this bears on step 2 of the sequence on this page — measure side slope as well as fall-line grade — because that is where the boundary between what you may do and what you may not gets fixed. Source: Vermont DEC Lakes and Ponds Program, 10 V.S.A. Chapter 49A, effective 1 July 2014, checked 2026-09-01.

Construction activity disturbing one acre or more of earth needs coverage under General Permit 3-9020 — and so does a smaller disturbance that is part of a larger common plan of development that will ultimately reach one acre. Low Risk coverage caps concurrent disturbance at five acres and requires temporary or final stabilization within 14 days of the initial disturbance. Whether a mulching pass counts as "earth disturbance" depends on how much soil is exposed — ask the Stormwater Program before assuming it does not. On steep-slope land clearing: what changes specifically this bears on step 2 of the sequence on this page — measure side slope as well as fall-line grade — because that is where the boundary between what you may do and what you may not gets fixed. Source: Vermont DEC Stormwater Program, General Permit 3-9020 for Stormwater Runoff from Construction Sites, checked 2026-09-01.

Why it decides the job: Sets whether a conventional machine can climb it at all. Read across the "What to record before anyone quotes slope work" table on this page for how it compares with the other 6 rows.

Why it decides the job: The number that governs stability — machines tip sideways. Read across the "What to record before anyone quotes slope work" table on this page for how it compares with the other 6 rows.