There is growing concern over the materials left behind in the course of conducting field work. In the case of hip chain or string box string, this material can be detrimental to the health of fish and wildlife, where entanglement can result in injury or death. Unfortunately the degradability of these materials is unknown, making it difficult to accurately weigh one product against another. The goal of this project is to compile information on the biodegradability of hip chain string and flagging and provide hip chain alternatives for making distance measurements.

Proposed by Elaine Rybak and Richard Toupin, of Region 6, this project was modified and approved by the Inventory and Monitoring Steering Committee.

Using a weather acceleration method, we will investigate the relative degradability of various types of hip chain and flagging. This information should be available in late FY07. This weather acceleration cannot be directly correlated to actual outdoor degradation without conducting outdoor testing. Therefore outdoor testing will begin in the summer of FY07. Shade cloth will be used to mimic different levels of forest canopy cover. These results will be posted as they become available.

Alternate distance measurement methods will also be listed in FY07.