Appendix iii

Dear Friends,

As we come to the end of 1999 and are on the verge of the new millennium, we would like to take a few minutes to share with you all the projects that CCRC has worked on this year and is going to work on in 2000. This has been an very interesting and productive year.

January began with a meeting with Lt. Governor Dennis Wicker to discuss development and sustainability in North Carolina and the impacts of chip mills to rural communities.

In February, CCRC met with community members in the Union Mills Community to address logging truck traffic safety issues. Several communities in Rutherford County have dealt with undesirable industries such as a proposed landfill in Golden Valley, a chip mill in the Union Mills Community, an asphalt plant in the Bostic Community, a race track and a proposal for an incinerator in the Harris Community, and most recently the expansion of the gun club in the Washburn Community. Public outcry has been significant, and communities do not have the protection for their quality of life and safety due to lack of zoning in the rural residential areas of Rutherford County.

March took CCRC to Stokes and McDowell Counties to attend the North Carolina Chip Mill Assessment Study Public Forums. These meetings were open to the public and over 350 people attended. The purpose of the meetings was for the researchers involved in the study team to give presentations on the various segments of the study such as an Analysis of Stormwater Runoff Impacts, Wildlife Species, Community Issues, Non-Industrial Private Landowners, Tourism and Related Forestry Practices, Water Quality, Forest Trends, and Industrial Forest Trends. After hearing the presentations, it was clear that there were some large gaps in the study such as: plant diversity, aquatic species, issues surrounding off-site cumulative impacts of clear-cutting, and community issues.

In April, the Federal Government announces that it would be doing a Southern Forest Sustainability Assessment. Consequently, CCRC took community issues to Raleigh for one of a series of public hearings sponsored by the Federal Government. The North Carolina Center for Public Policy Research came out with an article titled "Do Wood Chip Mills Threaten the Sustainability of North Carolina Forest?" The Center offered the following recommendations that CCRC supports: 1) The Legislature should repeal the tax credit for exporting wood chips or at least allow it to expire when it sunsets in 2001, 2) The legislature should amend the Sedimentation Pollution and Control Act to make Best Management Practices (BMPs) mandatory on all commercial timber harvests, 3) The General Assembly's ammendments to the Sedimentation Pollution and Control Act should include a requirement that commercial timber harvesters notify the Division of Forest Resources of the intent to harvest to aid the task of water quality inspectors, and 4) The North Carolina Division of Forest Resources should develop a plan of enhancing its reforestation program to further the goal of sustainable forestry. The Division should seek funding for the plan, and the Governor should include this in the proposed budget for 2001.

CCRC, a member of the North Carolina Advisory Committee for the Chip Mill Study met in October to hear presentations of updated research from four researchers. The remaining researchers will be presenting their data at the December meeting. After this, the researchers will begin to put together a draft of the collected information that will be reviewed by DENR opfficials in January and February 2000 with the final draft being sent to the Governor in March.

The Study has provided a viable platform for education and media throughout North Carolina and the Southeast on chip mill issues. However, there are other recommendations that the environmental community will be considering, such as: tax incentives for the non-inducstrial private landowner who does not reforest in pine plantations and cultivates wildflife habitat; a manditory Pro-Logger Course and statewide certification of loggers; incentives for loggers who pass the Pro-Logger Course and praactice BMPs; and incentives for communities that are dealing with the distress and impacts of intensive resourse-extractive types of industries (chip mills).

CCRC will continue to address truck safety issues, not only in Rutherford County, but throughout the state, hold Landowner Outreach Meetings and Workshops to provide private landowners with a variety of options on what they can do with their forestlands, and support land use planning in Rutherford County.

On November 6th, CCRC sponsored a Horse Logging and Sawing Fun and Field Day on Donna and Rodney Robbins' Farm. Over 400 people attended the event to watch a draft horse logging demonstration by Clifford Cox and Roy Morgan. At Rodney Robbins' sawmill, people saw the logs cut into boards to be used for pallets. Horse logging offers yet another way to harvest timber.

Our work depends on grants and generous donations that we receive from people who care about the sustainability of our human and natural ecosystems. Your support, volunteer efforts, and contributions have allowed us to accomplish a lot of important work this past year. Continued support will provide us with the means to continue our work within the arena of this campaign. Contributions are tax deductible. Please make checks payable to: CCRC, Inc., PO Box 623, Rutherfordton, North Carolina 28139-0623. Members will receive our newsletter, periodic updates, notices of meetings and workshops, and other activities.

CCRC's message continues to be that the kind of legacy which should be left behind, particularly for our children, is that we, the people, persevered to retain the beauty and prosperity of our forest for many years to come...