Virginia’s Department of Forestry has a long list of suggestions on how
loggers can prevent water pollution. The DOF publishes a hefty 216-page
manual “Best Management Practices for Water Quality,” which explains the
most effective strategies for preventing soil erosion and water
pollution on logging sites, plus a 90-page pocket-sized version of the
same information. None of these best management practices (BMPs) is
mandatory, however, and a recent survey by the Department of Forestry
indicates loggers, including some in Albemarle, don’t always comply.

That’s why environmentalists say the guidelines should be mandatory.

In a recent random survey of 30 logging sites in Virginia, the DOF
found that 26 sites did not use all the recommended BMPs, and 22 sites
had inadequate water protections. Erosion was occurring, or just a hard
rain away, on 10 sites. In 2003, the DOF listed 585 statewide
violations, including 145 in Region 3. Albemarle, Charlottesville and 26
other cities and counties comprise Region 3. Also in 2003, the DOF found
25 sites in Albemarle with compromised water quality due to improper
logging practices. (To view the record of water-quality citations, see
www.virginiaforestwatch.org.)

What do these statistics mean? The debate over Virginia’s forest
typically plays out as a shouting match between an environmental group
called Virginia Forest Watch and the Virginia Forestry Association
(VFA), a group of loggers and paper manufacturers.

Not surprisingly, then, Forest Watch says the survey indicates
Virginia needs mandatory regulations to govern logging on private lands.
“The voluntary program is simply not working,” says Gerald Gray,
director of Forest Watch. “The DOF needs to mandate compliance with BMPs.”

“Forest Watch continues to bleat the same old worn out and unproven
propaganda,” counters VFA vice-president Paul Howe on the group’s
website (www.vaforestry.org). “As long as [loggers] adhere to already
existing laws, it is not appropriate to require them to seek approval
for government or private groups before implementing forestry plans and
operations.”

The DOF mediates this ongoing argument. The agency’s current board of
directors is slightly skewed to favor industry—seven of the 12 board
members represent industrial interests. In contrast to the western
United States, where environmental activists have made more gains in
local government, regulatory agencies in Virginia and the rest of the
Southeast echo industry’s claims that rules are an affront to private
property rights.

Virginia’s current rules say that loggers must notify the DOF before
beginning a job, or face a fine. Many don’t, however. Virginia Forest
Watch says that last year at least 145 loggers didn’t tell the State
about their operations.

Matt Poirot, Water Resources Program Manager, says the DOF usually
finds loggers who try to duck the rules anyway. “We’re going to see a
logging truck, or somebody’s going to call us,” he says.

Once the DOF knows about a site, they inspect it for potential water
pollution. The DOF first asks the loggers to fix water problems, and
then fines them up to $5,000 per day if the loggers don’t comply.

Many of those fines never get collected, however. Last year, the DOF
assessed $155,000 in fines but collected only $29,000, according to a
Forest Watch press release that cites DOF statistics. In the past
decade, only $184,000 of the $685,000 in fines has been collected.

Poirot says that if loggers don’t pay, the DOF can get a court
judgment against the land on which the violation occurred. The DOF will
collect the money when (or if) the land is sold.

More strict laws would only make timber sales more cumbersome, and
“probably wouldn’t improve anything,” Poirot says.

Of the 15.5 million acres of forest in Virginia, about 12 million
acres are held by private landowners. Paper companies own 1.5 million
acres, and another 1.5 million acres are in the National Forest System.

—John Borgmeyer