Logging program kicks off this year

January 2, 2006
By Elliott Minor
The Associated Press

ALBANY, Ga. - The state is taking applications this month from candidates willing to dive into the rivers for sunken logs - one of the few remaining sources of Southern old-growth timber, renowned for its tight-grain lumber streaked with light and dark colors.

Anglers and environmentalists have opposed the underwater logging, citing water quality concerns and fears that it could disrupt sports fishing and boating. Opponents have also questioned whether the state would be adequately compensated for the logs, a natural resource that belongs to the people of Georgia.

Underwater logging has been illegal in Georgia since 1998, but earlier this year the legislature authorized a two-year trial and instructed the Department of Natural Resources to develop a program, which it has.

Prospective loggers will be able to apply for DNR permits until Jan. 20. They'll have to pay $10,000 for an annual permit that covers only a two-mile stretch of either the Flint or Altamaha rivers; get a $50,000 bond to cover any damage they might cause; and pay the state $1.28 for each board foot of lumber they remove.

Because of the hefty fees, DNR officials expect few applicants.

"We've been getting calls," said Rob Weller, DNR's regional fisheries supervisor in Albany. "People are interested."

But with the hefty fees, Weller said he expects only a handful of applicants.
Logging will be allowed on the Altamaha from the confluence of the Oconee and Ocmulgee rivers near Hazlehurst to just beyond the U.S. Highway 17 bridge between Darien and Brunswick. On the Flint, the logging area will stretch from the Broad Street Bridge in Albany to Bainbridge.

Decades ago, Southern loggers lashed logs together in rafts and floated them downstream to ports and sawmills. An estimated 3 percent to 5 percent of the logs sent down river sank before they reached their destination. Those logs, known as "deadheads" or "sinkers," remain well preserved on the river bottoms. They yield exquisite lumber that is about 10 times more valuable than conventional lumber.

Georgia's program is patterned after one in Florida, where deadhead logging has been authorized for six years.

"We hope the policy we've developed will be as protective of the environment as possible," Weller said. "We've put a lot of stipulations in it as to where a log can be taken, how they're removed and loading sites.

"I've heard there are certain sections of the river where there are a lot of logs," he said. "Some of them are pretty huge."