Group: Study backs stand on chip mills

Research shows threat to hardwood forests

By Sherry Wilson

JOURNAL SURRY COUNTY BUREAU

PINE HALL

Stokes County residents fighting a chip mill in the southeastern part of the county say that a new study of the mills' effects on hardwood forests supports their position.

Preliminary results from the study, which was conducted by the state and scientists from N.C. State and Duke universities, indicate that an increase in wood-chip mills in North Carolina could threaten the state's hardwood forests. By 2008, the number of trees being cut down will exceed new growth of hardwoods, the study says.

"It's a relief to know that what we've been seeing and what we've been saying is supported by scientific study,'' said Meredith McLeod, a spokeswoman for Hickory Alliance. The group is made up of about 150 families in Stokes, Guilford and Forsyth counties.

The results of the 18-month study will be announced tonight at Mitchell Community College in Statesville.

When controversy erupted over chip mills proposed for Stokes and Rutherford counties two years ago, Gov. Jim Hunt suggested that the state take a closer look at how the mills affect the economy and environment.

Godfrey Lumber Co.'s wood-chip mill in Pine Hall has been on hold since 1997, when a storm-water permit was revoked by the state.

Although an administrative-law judge later ruled that the state did not give the company enough notice before the revocation, Godfrey and the state still cannot agree on a modified permit, said Bud Connor, the vice president of Godfrey. The company, which is based in Statesville, is suing the state and the state's former director of water quality because it has not been able to operate the chip mill. Godfrey has invested more than $1 million in the mill, Connor said.

Connor says he thinks that the study is politically motivated. And, of the two sections of the study he has seen, he thinks that one supports the wood-chip industry. ''Really, it's a harvest study,'' Connor said.

''Nothing is clear-cut just for chip mills. A lot of people say clear-cutting is for chip mills.''

But that's not the case, he said. ''We are scavengers.''

Godfrey uses material that is not suitable to make lumber, Connor said. About half of the wood the company uses for production in its Statesville mill are scraps from lumber mills. Most people who are clear-cutting are private property owners, he said.

But citizens' groups disagree and fear that more chip mills would mean a bigger loss of hardwood trees. They consider the study a victory and say it provides a good outline for future state policy.

''We want Gov. Hunt to put a stop to new mills until the study has been read and studied and put into law,'' said Josh Abrams, a spokesman for the Dogwood Alliance, a citizens group based in Brevard.

The organization, which supports sustainable forestry, isn't opposed to logging, he said, but there need to be policies protecting communities, water and wildlife.

Published: January 18, 2000