The Virginia Department of Forestry (DOF) cites loggers, timber buyers and landowners when they find that they have violated Virginia's Water Quality Law. This is done in a couple ways depending upon the severity of the violation.

A Notice of Required Action (NORA) has been eliminated and a Special Order is now issued only if a logger is causing sediment to enter a stream. The SO asks the logger to correct the problem by a certain date.

If the logging is causing a serious sedimentation problem, the DOF issues an Emergency Special Order (ESO), which can stop all logging until the problem is corrected. Once DOF issues an ESO, the logger has the right to hearing.

Out of the hearing the DOF may issue a Special Order (SO) as to what must be corrected. If the problem is not corrected to DOF's satisfaction, the company can be ordered to pay a fine. However, this does not happen very often and the amount of the fines are usually quite low.

DOF has divided Virginia into six regions and keeps data spreadsheets on the violators for each region. Forest Watch receives this information each month under Freedom of Information. You can see which loggers in your county have been cited with a NORA, ESO or SO by selecting your region below.

We realize that just because a logger has received one NORA that does not necessarily mean he is a bad logger. But when loggers have ESOs, SOs, or are repeat offenders, they are the ones that we need to watch!

If you want to find out more about a particular logger contact us and we may be able to find out more for you.

Notification: Loggers are also required by law to notify DOF within three days of starting a logging job. However, because the penalty for not notifying is very small ($250 first time) many of them still do not.

You can help by letting us know of any recent logging jobs that you see so we can report them to DOF. We will not use your name!!

WHAT WILL YOU SEE ON THE SPREADSHEETS:
From left to right:
1. DOF Case Number
2. Tract Number: letters specify the county, first two numbers indicate the year DOF first visited the tract, the last three numbers are DOF job identification numbers. (FRA 00-026 is Franklin County, 2000, job number 26)
3. Name of Logger
4. Name of Land Owner
5. Name of Timber Owner (buyer)
6. Name of Consulting Forester
7. Did the company give 3 day notification as required by law
8. The next columns note what type of notice was given, the date of notice, and hearing dates
9. These are followed by dates when specific actions must be complied with
10. Penalties/fines are then listed with amounts
11. Date case closed followed by name of DOF conference officer

WHAT REGION AM I IN?

October 1, 2008: The Virginia Department of Forestry has closed three of its six regional offices to save money. The offices in Abingdon, Waverly and Farmville will merge with the three remaining offices in Charlottesville, Salem and Tappahannock. VDOF has also realigned the counties and cities served by those offices. The map below reflects the new regions: Western, Central and Eastern.

VDOF Regions as of Oct. 1, 2008

Updated: Dec. 26, 2008

Western Region includes: Alleghany, Bath, Bedford, Bland, Botetourt, Buchanan, Carroll, Craig, Dickenson, Floyd, Franklin, Giles, Grayson, Henry, Highland, Lee, Montgomery, Patrick, Pulaski, Roanoke, Rockbridge, Russell, Scott, Smyth, Tazewell, Washington, Wise and Wythe.

Central Region includes: Albemarle, Amelia, Amherst, Appomattox, Arlington, Augusta, Buckingham, Campbell, Charlotte, Clarke, Culpeper, Cumberland, Fairfax, Fauquier, Fluvanna, Frederick, Greene, Halifax, Loudoun, Louisa, Lunenburg, Madison, Mecklenburg, Nelson, Nottoway, Orange, Page, Pittsylvania, Prince Edward, Prince William, Rappahannock, Rockingham, Shenandoah, Spotsylvania, Stafford, and Warren.

Eastern Region includes: Accomack, Brunswick, Caroline, Charles City, Chesterfield, Dinwiddie, Essex, Gloucester, Goochland Greensville, Hanover, Henrico, Isle of Wight, James City, King & Queen, King George, King William, Lancaster, Mathews, Middlesex, New Kent, Northampton, Northumberland, Powhatan, Prince George, Richmond, Southampton, Surry, Sussex, Westmoreland, York, and counties and cities of Chesapeake, Suffolk, and Virginia Beach.

VDOF Regions prior to Oct. 1, 2008

Department of Forestry Spreadsheets*

*2001 and later spreadsheets are in xls format; if you can't view the spreadsheet then get the viewer HERE

Region 1: 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008

Region 1 includes Accomack, Brunswick, Chesapeake, Dinwiddie, Greenville, Isle of Wright, Norfolk, Northampton, Prince George, Southampton, Sussex, Surry, Virginia Beach


Region 2: 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008

Region 2 includes Caroline, Charles City, Chesterfield, Essex, Gloucester, Hanover, Henrico, James City, King William, King & Queen, King George, Lancaster, Mathews, Middlesex, New Kent, Northumberland, Richmond, Stafford, Spotsylvania, Tappahannock, Westmoreland, York