Log miners may strike Altamaha
Work under way to establish rules for deadhead logging of pine, cypress
June 03, 2005
By HANK ROWLAND
What's on the bottom of the Altamaha River could end up on the walls
and floors of some of the nation's finest homes.
It will happen if enough enterprising individuals plunk out $10,000
for the privilege and challenge of mining the bottoms of the Altamaha
and Flint rivers for century-old pine and cypress.
The tree stalks they will find below are from rafts that failed
to make it to their destinations during the 1800s and early 1900s,
when
Georgia rivers served as a major highway in the commercial harvesting
of logs. Historians estimate that about 5 percent of the logs shipped
down the rivers now rest on the bottom.
Until now, the logs have been off-limits to harvesting.
Legislation introduced during the 2005 session of the General Assembly
changed that.
The measure, Senate Bill 283, sponsored by Sens. Tommie Williams,
R-Lyons, and John Bulloch, R-Ochlocknee, makes harvesting the logs
legal.
No permits will be issued, though, until the Georgia Department
of Natural Resources develops regulations and sets ground rules for
retrieving the logs.
Its objective will be to minimize the impact of the process, known
as deadhead logging, on the river and the environment.
Authors of the legislation expect there will be takers.
The sunken logs, from trees a century or more older, are considered
extremely valuable.
Their tight grain pattern is resistant to moisture, making them
choice lumber for unique flooring and paneling, as well as for
other specialty
products.
Williams, whose ancestors rafted logs down the river more than
100 years ago, said the bill he helped get through the Senate is
patterned
after a Florida law that was supported by Riverkeeper organizations
in that state.
"Each person bidding to retrieve logs from the river must
pay $10,000 for a two-mile stretch of river and put up a $50,000
bond to cover
any damages," Williams said.
"They must also provide the DNR with a proper plan of retrieval.
"The proven process in Florida and the similar provisions
in the Georgia law ensure that the environment will be protected."
Permits to recover the logs will be valid through Jan. 1, 2008.
"These logs and the wood they yield are extremely beautiful
and cannot be found or duplicated except by cutting down old growth
trees or
destroying historic buildings," Williams said, noting he does
not favor destroying live trees.
"Virgin timber and historic buildings should be enjoyed standing."
Not everyone is anxious to pull trees up from the river.
That includes the Altamaha Riverkeeper, an environmental group
based in Darien.
Riverkeeper James Holland wonders about the impact on freshwater
fishermen and the effect on the environment.
"What happens to the fishermen on the river when all of sudden
here comes the loggers? I see a confrontation coming," Holland
said.
Holland is also concerned about the impact of disturbing the river
bottom and habitat.
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