Over the River and Through the Woods.....
BMP Forester Rocky Tucker Works with Local Landowners

When water springs out of the earth and trickles into a rocky mountain stream it is clear, cold, and clean. One stream merges with another and the water flows out of the mountains, through the foothills, under bridges, past towns and cities, fields, forests and pastures. As it travels toward the sea it turns a little muddier, warmer, more polluted. This is a natural process. The water in the Edisto or the Little Salkehatchie River may not be as clear as it was when it started as a natural spring, but the more forests the water flows through on its long descent the cleaner it will be, because forests act as natural filtration systems. This is why the quality of the entire watershed is so critical to the quality of the water you drink.

Forester Rocky Tucker travels from Walterboro to Hampton to Orangeburg to Charleston making sure that the rivers and streams in the lowcountry keep that critical forest buffer.
 


Point vs. Non-Point

There are two types of pollution that commonly occur within a watershed that can affect the quality of water downstream. Point source pollution comes from an identifiable source, like a discharge pipe or a factory. Nonpoint source pollution is introduced by natural processes, including precipitation, seepage, percolation and runoff. Nonpoint source pollution can occasionally result from land clearing, farming, and forestry practices like logging, that leave the land bare and allow sediment to drain into a river or stream.

Forestry practices account for a relatively small percentage of the pollution affecting our waterways, but South Carolina is a heavily forested state and the wood products industry is our third largest manufacturing industry. On large tracts of forestland where timber is being harvested, nonpoint source runoff due to poor logging practices can be a threat to water quality.


Guidelines for Forestry

Working closely with other members of the forestry community, the South Carolina Forestry Commission compiled a set of guidelines to prevent nonpoint source pollution resulting from forestry practices. Published in 1994, these guidelines are called South Carolina's Best Management Practices for Forestry or  BMPs. Following BMPs carefully will minimize impacts on water quality, reduce soil erosion, and protect streamside areas.

There are enforceable regulations in the Clean Water Act that relate to nonpoint source polluters, but, for the most part, BMPs are voluntary in South Carolina, and, as it turns out, that is a good thing.

Rocky Tucker is the Forestry Commission's BMP forester in the Coastal Region. He regularly checks harvesting and site preparation operations for compliance with BMPs and has found, to his satisfaction, that the percentage of forestry operations that comply with the guidelines is very high. Part of the reason for this is the cooperation among the state's major forest industries, the SC Forestry Association, the Forestry Commission, loggers, forestry consultants and contractors.

Mack Gordon of Gordon Logging Company in Estill does a lot of work for Westvaco Corporation in Summerville. "We always use Best Management Practices. In fact we try to go beyond what's recommended" says Gordon, "Westvaco is a good company to work with and if you want to keep working with them you have to have high standards."
 


Which BMPs Apply to Your Land?

The BMP manual is a 60+ page booklet with specific recommendations for practices to be followed and warnings about practices to be avoided. However not all of the BMPs described will apply to your land.

For example, the term ‘streamside management zone’ refers to a buffer of undisturbed ground cover on either side of a stream, river, pond… any body of water. The recommended width of a streamside management zone (SMZ) will vary depending on the slope of the bank adjacent to the body of water. That slope is likely to be steeper the more hilly the terrain. In flat country, recommended buffers might be only forty feet wide. In mountainous terrain, where the slope might be greater than 40%, the guidelines could recommend 160 feet or more. The width of recommended SMZs around sensitive trout streams in the mountains could be over 200 feet. The reason for the difference, of course, is that as slope increases so does the potential for runoff and erosion. The wider the SMZ, the more effective the natural filtration. Trout require cool, clear streams. They and the aquatic insects they feed on are sensitive to both increased sedimentation and increased water temperature. The broad SMZ around a trout stream guards against runoff and provides cooling shade.

Here in coastal wetland and bottomland hardwood areas, flat, wet conditions sometimes contribute to the formation of shallow, braided streams, so-called because of their multiple, interconnected channels that resemble the strands of a braid. These streams have broad valleys and defined floodplains. A characteristically high water table results in soil with rich organic content. The process of determining the recommended width of a streamside management zone around a braided stream can be quite complex. There are supplemental BMP guidelines that address protection of braided streams.

Collum's Lumber Mills in Allendale is a medium-sized forest products company that competes very successfully, partly because its owners are scrupulous about Best Management Practices. "We follow the guidelines to the letter on our own land, and we require our contract loggers to do the same," says Collum's Micky Scott.
 


Forest Roads

Roads and trails will probably have to be built to provide access for forest management and forest fire protection activities, timber harvesting, and recreation. Again, topography comes into play in recommended BMPs for road and trail construction. The Clean Water Act mandates BMPs for the design, construction, and maintenance of roads in forested wetlands. In hilly terrain it is critical to build roads following the contour of the land and to avoid steep, narrow ridges, slide areas, and gullies. In the lowcountry, avoid marshes and low-lying wetlands. And never block streams! BMP guidelines recommend the proper size for culverts and bridges depending on the size and flow of the stream to be crossed.

There are BMP guidelines for timber harvesting, site preparation and reforestation, plus recommendations for common forestry practices like prescribed burning, application of pesticides and fertilizer, improvement of wildlife habitat including protection of endangered species, and drainage and ditching activities.

The Skeet Burris family owns Cypress Bay Plantation in Hampton County. When they purchased the tract in 1986, they began restoring its cutover farmland and dense thickets of unmanaged, stunted trees with the help of a professional forester. Now Burris and his wife, Gail, are experienced forest managers. They were named National Outstanding Tree Farmers in 2000; a coveted honor and one that requires demonstrated sensitivity to the environment. In the December issue of The American Forest Foundation's Tree Farmer magazine, Burris explains his commitment to responsible management, "How forestry is implemented affects wildlife, timber production, recreation, aesthetics and, perhaps most importantly, soil and water."

Protect Your Land and Water

As a landowner getting ready to make a timber sale, it may be a little daunting to think about reading through sixty pages of BMP guidelines. How can you be certain you are protecting your land? Which guidelines apply? How can you make sure the timber buyers, loggers, and site prep contractors follow the appropriate BMPs? Who is accountable if the Clean Water Act is violated?

Ask for a Courtesy BMP Exam

Fortunately you don't have to work all this out for yourself. The South Carolina Forestry Commission offers a free Courtesy BMP Exam, conducted by specially trained BMP forester Rocky Tucker, to help you identify potential environmental impacts before you begin a logging operation (or any other forestry practice). Anyone can request the exam — the landowner, forester, contractor, or logger — but permission from the landowner must be obtained before Tucker visits the site. Written recommendations for treatment will be given to the landowner and the forester, contractor, logger — whoever is responsible for the work — to assure that the appropriate BMPs are implemented. Ideally a courtesy exam should be done before a contract is drawn up so that BMPs can be stipulated in the contract. After the operation is complete, Tucker will re-examine the site to make sure that the recommended BMPs were followed and to determine if there was an impact on soil or water quality.

Tucker also flies over the state's major drainages each month to locate active logging and site preparation operations. Once sites are identified, he contacts the landowner for permission to conduct a courtesy exam. It is not too late for recommendations to be made and followed even after logging has begun. If damage has already occurred, Tucker will suggest ways to mitigate the damage. A Forestry Commission statistical survey shows that compliance with BMPs is 99% on sites where a Courtesy BMP Exam has been conducted.

At the end of each month, results of exams from all over the state are summarized in a report that lists the operators who failed to implement BMPs, with the failure resulting in a water quality impact. This report is sent to the SC Department of Health and Environmental Control and to the state's forest industries. If a water quality impact resulted from a forestry operation, DHEC may initiate enforcement action under the South Carolina Pollution Control Act. Individual forest products companies, through the Sustainable Forestry Initiative SM, may use this information to take corrective action as they deem necessary. For most loggers, this is a real incentive to stay off the list. But the majority of South Carolina's loggers don't need to worry. They are professional operators who have an investment in preserving the quality of our environment.


Working Together Works

Another important component of the BMP program is education. BMP foresters conduct training throughout the state, tailored to the unique operating conditions in each physiographic region. More than 1800 loggers, landowners, foresters and other forestry operators have attended the Timber Operating Professional (TOP) Logger course since it began in 1995. TOP Logger is produced in cooperation with The South Carolina Forestry Association. Additional short courses are offered in site preparation, forest road construction, and other areas as needed.

The forestry community in South Carolina can be justifiably proud of our environmental record. The Forestry Commission's proactive strategy to prevent non-point source pollution due to forestry practices has proven very effective. Compliance with BMPs has risen from 84.5% in 1989 to 91.5% in 1999 and 99% on tracts where a Courtesy BMP Exam was conducted. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has promoted our program for use as a model, and similar approaches have been adopted by other states. In the fall of 2000, South Carolina's BMP program and its director, Darryl Jones, received a national environmental protection award from the EPA.

Forestry is a very important business in South Carolina. Hurricane Hugo dealt a terrible blow to the industry in counties from Sumter to Colleton, but it also made us very aware of the value of our forests.  The quality of our lives and our livelihoods depend on them.
 


Before You Harvest Timber or Make a Timber Sale

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