GOALS:

To create an objective study balanced in its review of environmental and economic impacts of chip mills

To prevent, in Virginia, the negative economic and environmental impacts already occurring in other states

THE STUDY SHOULD:

Evaluate the experiences other states/regions have had in regards to these issues. Include: Alabama, Missouri, North Carolina

Include the trends of chip mill production. Trace history and reasons for their progression from pacific northwest to south east, regional as well as state trends; projections for the future; and the change of strategies of paper industry regarding wood/chip procurement; how wood is procured to provide material for chip mills; summarize different types of chip mills in VA (satellite, portable, whole log at lumber yard, whole tree, residue chipper, pulp mills, chip board mill/oriented strand board)

Determine current location, ownership, capacity and production of all wood chip facilities in VA

Determine destination of chips and mode of transportation.

Analyze the impact to Virginia of chip mills from neighboring states

Analyze impact at small scale (stand, local community, non-industrial private forestlands (NIPF) and large scale (state, regional, watershed, landscape)

Involve EPA, USFW, USGS, US Army Corp. of Engineers

Request DEQ to host an initial scoping hearing followed by periodic public meetings, at night, in various parts of the state several times during the study process

Determine if existing laws adequately mitigate impacts

Establish from onset that Forest Inventory Analysis (FIA) data is 10 years old, and now largely irrelevant. Determine harvest levels of both hardwoods and softwoods

Use only paper made from post consumer recycled or non-wood sources be used in this study

I. ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS:

"In chip milling operations wood is harvested and chipped. The two activities are part of a single industrial activity and are not separable." (Letter from U.G. Hutton, USEPA, Region VII to John Young, Director, MO Division of Environmental Quality, Oct., 1997)

THE STUDY SHOULD: focus on the forest sites and mill sites, the direct, indirect, and cumulative environmental impacts of chip mills. Experts from outside forest products industry/forestry academia should be included as consultants

A. THESE TOPICS SHOULD BE COVERED FIRST:

1.Silvicultural practices likely used in wood chip production. Unannounced visits by the committee to actual harvest sites
2.Optional logging practices reviewed
3.History of silvicultural practices reviewed
4.Thorough study/evaluation of current Best Management Practices/ and actual compliance records

B. WATER: FOREST SITE QUALITY AND QUANTITY

1.Best Management Practices (BMP): adequacy of current BMPs; adequacy of voluntary basis; better models exist
2.Sedimentation
3.Watershed protection
4.Water temperature
5.Riparian zones
6.Site prep practices
7.Wetlands
8.Aquatic ecology
9.Water volumes: (Envir. Defense Fund: "increased volume affects stream bank erosion downstream, aquatic wildlife, filling of reservoirs, and costly water treatment, with associated economic impacts.")
10.Flooding/hydrological functions of the forest
11.Problems with stream crossings
12.Herbicides

C. WATER: MILL SITE POINT SOURCE DISCHARGE

1.Storm water and
2.Waste water runoff
3.Adequacy of current DEQ permitting process: review of all existing permits and consideration of additional ones to provide complete protection which should include off site protection as well
4.Water invertebrate population survey; erosion; pollutants

D. SOIL

1.Erosion: runoff and roads; erosion effects in flatlands vs. mountains
2.Land slide
3.Soil nutrient drain: loss of productivity
4.Effects of roads and skid trails on eco-system
5.Effects of short rotation cycles on nutrients and productivity
6.Herbicide use in monoculture
7.Compaction

E. HABITAT

1.Fragmentation
a. Increased edge effect
b. Loss of interior forest
2 Forest structure
a. Loss of mature hardwood forest (Eastern old growth forests are an endangered eco-system)
b. Conversion from hardwood to pine plantation
c. Loss of natural understory and herbaceous layer
d. Types of species
e. Age class distribution
3. Loss of habitat types (i.e., Eastern old growth, Table Mt. pine communities)

F. FAUNA AND FLORA

1.Non-game species
2.Game species
3.Especially sensitive species impact (ex: forest interior neotropical migratory birds)
4.Connectivity of genetic resources
5.Wildlife and aquatic ecology, malacology (mollusks)
6.Micro organisms
7.Natural Heritage data
8.Vegetative changes
9.Fungi

G. AIR.

1.Airborne wood fiber particles
2.Odor and dust from logging trucks
3.Adequacy of emission permits for sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, sulfur compounds
4.Forests filter and cool the air

H. NOISE

1.Noise when chip mill is not enclosed
2.Noise from machinery

I. ADDITIONAL VALUES OF FORESTS

1.Pollution filtering
2.Forest products (pharmaceuticals, herbs, foods, spring water, traditional crafts)
3.Quality of life
4.Aesthetics, mental health
5.Recreation and tourism

J. PRIVATE PROPERTY RIGHTS

1.Ethical and moral obligation to be respectful of neighbors

K. QUALITY OF LIFE

1.Review Sara Warren's NC Study on Social Impact
2.Demographic analysis comparing counties in VA with largest private/corporate timber holdings and highest pulp production (i.e. poverty rates, unemployment rates, money allocated to education, etc.) and those counties not dependent on the timber industry
3.Community opinions
4.Rural cultural impacts

L. SAFETY

1. Transportation safety issues:
a. Compliance with posted speed limits
b. Reduction of speed limits/change signs from original posted speed
c. Dialogue needed between loggers/drivers and DMV, sheriff, citizens to promote safety
d. Truck load limits, violations, no enforcement

M. INFRASTRUCTURES

1.Roads
2.Schools
3.Tax revenues to state/local, etc.

N. PRIVATE FOREST LAND OWNER

1. Dept. of Forestry needs to provide private land owners with equal information on management alternatives: conservation easements, selective logging in addition to industrial harvesting plans

II. ASSESSING ECONOMIC IMPACTS

Must first assess Virginia and regional forest resources, positive and negative trends, then focus on pulp wood trends. For instance, predictions of the entire south is that removals will soon exceed growth

"If only suitable rural forestland is considered to be the basis for long term sustainability, current levels of consumption meet or exceed current growth." (Liu & Scrivani, 1997, Virginia Forest Land Assessment, VA Dept. of Forestry.)

A. STATISTICS

1.Maps/data on chip mills:
a. Locations
b. Ownership
c. Capacity
d. Production
e. Minimum viable production
f. Suppliers
g. Species consumption ratio (hardwood to softwood)
h. Modes of transport
i. Buyers (who is buying the chips)

B. JOBS

1.Income
2.Number of jobs in mills
3.Failed sawmills
4.Automation

C. SOLID WOOD INDUSTRY/HIGH VALUE FORESTS PRODUCT

1.Price of chips versus sawboard timber
2.Future impact on hardwood furniture/flooring industry, lumber
3.Myth: chip mills only chip "undesirable" or "junk" trees. They consume the future forest

D. TOURISM AND RECREATION

1.Jobs including balance of jobs in chip mill business vs. tourism jobs
2.Revenue: hunting, fishing, hiking, leaf viewing, bird and wildlife watching, etc.
3.Economic contributions of outdoor recreation (ex: direct and secondary expenditures, tax revenues, etc.)
4.Review park service, forest service, state visitor surveys and other public opinion polls to quantify attitudes of tourists/recreationalists/general public towards industrial logging

E. ECONOMIC FOREST SUSTAINABILITY:

Current Forest Inventory Data is old and irrelevant. 50% of new data will not be available until January, 2000. The definition of sustainability is critical: not just sustainable yield, but also sustained ecosystems

1.The capacity of VA's forest resources to sustain increased chip mill production levels
2.Long-term profitability of private forests: i.e., comparison of the economics of select logging vs. clearcutting
3.Current Forest Inventory Analysis
4.Current additional forest health problems impacting long term forest sustainability (i.e. Air pollution,
5.pests, etc.)
6.What company benefits? Who gets the profits? Where is the money going?

E. PROPERTY VALUES

1.Potential devaluation
2.Increased economic incentive for cutting on shorter rotation, thereby keeping the forest artificially young
3.Property appraisal of mature hardwood lot versus pine farm versus clearcut

F. CORPORATE SUBSIDIES

1.State port export subsidies
2.Tax free and other tax bonds
3.Associated road building
4.Local tax incentives

G. EXPORTS

1.Statistics on chip/pulp exports
2.Loss of value-added jobs versus loss of rail/port jobs
3.International pulp and paper market trends

H. DISINCENTIVE TO EMERGING MARKETS

1.Van Yahres hemp bill and the disincentive for alternative pulp fibers
2.Disincentive to recycling and cleaner technologies by direct and indirect subsidies to chips (Mt. Forest Products $250,000 grant, etc.)
3.Encouragement of disposable paper product production and loss of landfill space (40-50% of landfills are wood products)
4.Loss of jobs in the recycling economy
5.Opportunity cost to farmers of non-timber fibers