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Logging Nightmare in Wilkinson County
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Another wood duck habitat devastated
by logging. There are five of these prime wood duck habitat
sloughs devastated by logging on this 500 plus acre site.
It will take 75-100 years just to begin replacing the wildlife
habitat destroyed by logging at this site in just a few short
weeks. |
Located in the flood plain of the Oconee River about five minutes
by boat from the Balls Ferry Bridge is a 500-acre logging site practically
surrounded by water. The site is bordered on the north and east side
by the Oconee River and by Tobe Lake on the south and west side. This
site has ephemeral streams, intermittent streams, perennial streams
and sloughs that have several visible hydrological connections to
the Oconee River and Tobe Lake.
The ARK was invited to the site by property owners concerned about
the violation of Best Management Practices (BMPs) for harvesting
timber in Georgia on their property. The owners recently purchased
the property from the Thompson Hardwood Company and agreed to sell
the timber rights to the company. The price on the property was reduced
and the timber would be cut and sold as a condition of the sale. The
new property owners were assured that BMPs would be used so they
assumed their new property would be properly logged and that the streams
and buffers would be protected during harvest.
Our initial site visits revealed cases where the stream banks were
pushed down and temporary access roads had ruts that were almost three
feet deep. The entire site is part of the active flood plain for the
Oconee River and regularly inundated by floodwaters so the number
and intensity of BMP violations are a major concern because of the
potential to negatively impact water quality.
According to Georgia's BMPs for Forestry, Stream Management Zones
(SMZ's) or (buffers) should be marked and in place prior to beginning
the timber harvesting. The SMZ size requirement for an intermittent
stream is 20 feet wide measured from the banks of the stream. Size
requirements for a perennial stream are 40 feet as measured from the
banks of the stream. The reason these buffers are called SMZ's is
because harvesting of some timber is allowed in the buffer area. The
BMP Manual requires a SMZ on an intermittent stream to allow at least
25 basal feet of trees per acre or that a 25% tree canopy remains
evenly distributed through out the SMZ after the harvest.
In many areas the SMZ markings on the site were an abomination because
instead of the required 20 feet out from the stream bank the markings
were located directly on the bank. The BMP Manual for a SMZ on a perennial
stream requires at least 50 square feet of basal or 50% tree canopy
cover remain evenly distributed through out the SMZ after harvest.
The site also contains areas that had SMZ's clearly marked (flagged)
to protect stream areas that were ignored by the loggers. The logging
crew entered the protected area and removed the trees leaving nothing
for the SMZ to protect. Cypress was the dominant tree in many of these
areas. Over the entire site, many wet areas were harvested leaving
deep ruts in the stream bed and slough areas. A number of the areas
had no visible SMZ remaining.
There was a substantial oil spill on the site in the water of a large
slough. It appeared that a large piece of logging equipment malfunctioned
while working in the bed of the slough and that the logging crew continued
working in the spill area. The oil was spread over approximately one
acre of water and stumps. This slough, dominated by old cypress, should
have been protected with a SMZ to begin with, prohibiting the harvest
of timber in this area. The logging company left the site without
cleaning up the oil spill. And only after EPD ordered the area cleaned
did they return and clean up their mess. The oil spill site clean
up began on New Years Day and the final equipment was removed from
the site on the 24th of January. The company estimated the oil spill
to be 15-20 gallons.
Fortunately, Jeff Darley and Jeffery Williams from the Augusta EPD
regional office responded to our complaint and are to be commended
for a fine job of quickly getting the company back on site to start
the oil spill clean up.
It was on New Years Day that I met Thompson Hardwood's Procurement
Manager, Steve Burton on site. We were discussing SMZ's and the removal
of trees from the streams and stream banks when he told me his company
did not remove trees from the streams and stream banks. A little later
in our discussion Mr. Burton recanted his statement about not removing
trees from the streams and banks and indicated that Thompson Hardwood
did remove some trees from the streams and stream banks but that he
mitigated for that. He went on to say that they left more trees in
some SMZ areas than required for mitigation of the trees they removed
from the streams and stream banks. Despite Mr. Burton's rationale,
the Georgia Forestry BMPs do not allow harvesters to pick and choose
which SMZs to protect. All SMZs must be respected.
Because of its unique location and the various streams on the site
we wanted an expert to assist in the investigation of what we deemed
to be wide spread misuses of the BMPs for harvesting timber in Georgia.
ARK called upon the Southern Environmental Law Center and the Turner
Environmental Law Clinic to secure the ecological expertise to properly
evaluate the damage to this site.
Both of these organizations came to our assistance and hired environmental
attorney and ecologist, to assist on this project.
She spent two grueling cold days in January on the site with the
Altamaha Riverkeeper, the property owners and long time ARK member
and volunteer Wyndell Berryhill from Cochran. A formal report
is being prepared that will identify all of the violations at this
site.
ARK has been concerned about forestry practices in our wetlands for
a long time. The Wilkinson County site has more than convinced us
that we need to change the way the BMPs for harvesting timber are
employed in Georgia. Like the erosion and sedimentation laws that
were voluntary and became mandatory, it is time for the forestry industry
to come under more stringent guidelines for working in our forests.
The forestry industry is the only industry not required to leave
an undisturbed buffer on all streams. Stream buffers are of the utmost
importance to water quality and we believe the forestry industry
is
widely abusing the enforcement of their voluntary stream buffers.
The EPD does not allow a developer to leave the roads in the condition
observed on this site, nor does the EPD allow a developer to gut
a
wetland the way we observed at these sites without a federal Clean
Water Act Section "404" permit.
The United States Army Corps of Engineers does not allow a developer
or farmer to use a stream crossing in the manner that some logging
companies are observed doing either, especially if they left them
in the condition of some of the sites that we have investigated over
the past 42 months.
ARK plans to fully document violations at the Wilkinson County sites
in a letter to the appropriate state and federal agencies. In addition,
the ARK will take a hard look at pursuing other options in order to
ensure that the company comes into compliance with the applicable
BMPs and laws.
Not only did the harvesters fail to comply with Georgia's forestry
BMPs but this site also qualifies for protection under the Georgia
River Corridor Protection Act (GRCPA). In passing this statute the
state acknowledged these river corridors as "vital areas of the state"
and stated further that the "state has an essential public interest
in establishing minimum standards for land use in order to protect
and preserve its natural resources, environment, and vital areas."
Under the GRCPA timber harvesting is allowable if two requirements
are met: (1) it is consistent with the BMPs and (2) it will not impair
the drinking water quality of the river as defined by the federal
Clean Water Act. This site is also within the 100 square mile radius
of the water supply intake pipe for Dublin, located approximately
14 air miles away. Therefore the standard 40 foot buffer BMP buffer
is inadequate to protect water quality.
Georgia Forestry's position is that the manner in which this company
harvested this site qualifies the company for an exemption under the
GRCPA. The problem is that if wholesale noncompliance with forestry
BMPs is deemed sufficient to exempt logging companies from the River
Corridor Protection Act, then our rivers will continue to be degraded
by these activities.
In the coming weeks and months, in order to protect the state's river
corridors and water quality through out the state, the ARK will seek
changes to make the BMPs for harvesting timber in Georgia mandatory
not voluntary. With the assistance from our members and others who
share concerns about forestry issues we hope to be able to accomplish
these changes. Please contact your appointed and elected officials
and demand that improvements be made in the methods of harvesting
timber in our state. |
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Help us to protect the environment! |
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Loggers are
responsible for contour restoration of damaged banks, according
to BMP manual.
One property owner collecting oil sample.
Property owner standing in rut of stream crossing left by the logging crew.
Oil spill clean up under way
Section of "Dead River" logged out during low flow period
Scenes from Tobe Lake (a perennial lake), logging took place during low water stage
Temporary access road with ruts leading into slough
Temporary access road with ruts under water, this road should have been on high ground
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