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Concerned Citizens of Rutherford County, NC
Forest Watch! Program
Forest Watch is a monitoring program, which documents logging activities by taking pictures and video; filing site evaluation forms; and building the case for protective forestry legislation in North Carolina. These efforts will reflect:
- Regional moratoriums on any new or expanding chip mills
- Permit applications and inspections of active logging sites
- Local, state, and federal incentives that will provide landowners with the ability to practice sustainable forestry
- Prior-Notification of Timber Harvesting
- Mandatory Best Management Practices
- Logger Registration and Certification
CCRC's Forest Watch Program
In May 2000, CCRC began a Forest Watch Program after attending a Best Management Practices Workshop conducted by Greg Yates, North Carolina Division of Forest Resources' (NCDFR) Water Quality Forester, Asheville office. CCRC began receiving calls through our local office from citizens who were distressed about timberting and water quality impacts in their communities. Although this Program started out in Rutherford County, we soon received calls from Henderson, McDowell, Buncombe, Burke, Haywood, Union, Chatham, Polk, Brunswick and Wilkes Counties.
What Is Happening?
To date, CCRC has evaluated 228 logging sites and the NCDFR has been notified of 75% of these inspections by phone calls, e-mail and/or written reports. We have sent written reports to the NCDFR and the NC Division of Land Resources (NCDLR) who typically handle land development issues. Notices of Non-Compliance and Violation have been issued on sites
evaluated by the NCDFR. Often, the Division does not know where the logging is occurring, because there are not any state requirements in place for Prior-Notification of Timber Harvesting. Thus, it is difficult for the Division to adequately monitor, oversee enforcement, and recommend appropriate restoration measures on the timbered sites. Since the inception of CCRC's Forest Watch Program, the NCDFR has been very supportive of our reporting efforts and we feel that we have a good working relationship with them.
The Future of North Carolina's Forests?
During the next five years, CCRC sees the Forest Watch Program as a critical piece in the promotion and support for statewide protective forest legislation. This legislation and state policy would include Prior-Notification of Timber Harvesting, Mandatory Best Management Practices (BMPs), and Logger Registration and Certification.
Documenting Logging Sites
Of the 228 sites visited and documented, 75% were active logging sites. CCRC has set up a filing system which includes a notebook with written evaluations of each site (CCRC designed its own evaluation form to fill out at the site based on the Division of Forest Resources' Site Evaluation Form), topographical maps of each site, road map copies of pertinent information from courthouses, and panoramic photographs.
Conducting a Forest Watch Site Visit and Building the Case for Protective Forestry Legislation
- CCRC's office receives a phone call or notification of an active logging operation;
- The site is visited to scope, inspect, photograph, and document the harvesting activity;
- Name and contact information and person receiving the information is taken;
- Recorded will be the type of forestland and timber cut (hardwood, mixed trees species, or pine), type of operation (clearcut, selective cut, thinning, or other cutting process), diameter of the trees cut or left on site, acreage of site cut, potential violations and/or list of problems, people talked to at the site, and a narrative description of the site according to the North Carolina Forest Practices Guidelines and BMPs compliance ratings;
- Copies of maps (topographic and road) are made and photographs of the site developed;
- The evaluations are typed and a packet is put together. This packet includes a copy of the Site Evaluation, topographic map showing the location of the site, road map of the site, photographs, landowner information obtained from the county courthouse, and other pertinent data;
- The packet is sent to the NCDFR and provides the Division with the necessary data which it needs to conduct on-site inspections, monitoring, enforcement for compliance, education, and restoration options; and lastly,
- CCRC follows up with the NCDFR and the NCDLR to learn about the outcome of the report.
What Is Next?
It is CCRC's intent and hope that the Forest Watch Program can become the "eyes" of what is happening throughout the state of North Carolina. CCRC is interested in networking with other environmental and advocacy groups who are currently working on water quality issues, policy, and forest-related legislation. There are already several groups actively engaged in conducting workshops and doing on-the-ground monitoring of streams, rivers, and lakes which includes documentation of sedimentation, erosion, and siltation involving for example wetlands and riparian areas. Our task would be in conducting presentations to these groups and partner with them to contact CCRC to evaluate, document, and monitor these active sites and send the reports to the Division.
Although, North Carolina is not in a "crisis" situation at the present time, the Study entitled Economic and Ecologic Impacts Associated with Wood Chip Production in North Carolina does show that if we continue harvesting timber at the rate which is currently being done, that within the next ten years, logging removals will exceed growth within our hardwood forests. Perhaps one of the most important and glaring pieces of data from the Study is the following: "In 1997, 15 (out of 18) responding chip mills in North Carolina reported that 78% of their combined process throughput by volume was made up of hardwoods." This is the very reason why, as the Study points out, that our hardwood forestlands will suffer from both overcutting and pine conversions within the next ten years. Lynne Faltraco, member of the Concerned Citizens of Rutherford County, participated on the Advisory Committee for the North Carolina Study from 1998-2000.
CCRC feels that the data and documentation, which is collected through this Forest Watch Program, will help support the need for protective forest policy and legislation. With the evidence of what is truly happening on these logging sites, our case will be strengthened and visibly paramount to concerned North Carolina citizens, environmental groups, agency officials, legislators, and the media. This data will also provide the "proof" that eighteen chip mills in North Carolina are more than enough with the ever growing competition for timber. Since the sourcing area of one chip mill is 1-125 miles, there is not one community in North Carolina, which is not directly impacted by the location and/or operation of these facilities. Thus, CCRC, along with other groups throughout the state, support a statewide moratorium on any new or expanding chip mills until adequate policy is in place that will protect our human and natural communities, water quality, and wildlife.
WANTED-Looking For Responsible Loggers
CCRC is compiling a resource list by talking with local loggers and landowners. This list will include loggers who truly harvest timber following Best Management Practices, are sensitive to the landowners' objectives, and practice compliance keeping aesthetics and ecology in mind.
"We don't mind stumps in a forest; we do mind a forest of nothing but stumps." (Logger-NPR-May 5, 2001)
CCRC
Supports local communities where the threats of chip mills are occurring
Empowers local citizens, leaders, and activists and
Promotes sustainable forestry through Forest Watch in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions.
Site erosion in Rutherford and McDowell counties.
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