Georgia to Allow Underwater Logging

Professur

Professur

Well-Known Member
CAIRO, Ga. — Along with regular lumber, Ryan Lee's sawmill supplies wood from sunken cypress and pine logs, which fell into rivers while being rafted to ports and sawmills during the heyday of Southern logging in the 1800s and early 1900s.

Retrieving the valuable logs from river bottoms has been illegal in Georgia since 1998 because of legal and environmental concerns, forcing suppliers like Lee to buy them in other states.

Ryan Lee leans against a section of an ancient cypress in Cairo, Ga., Friday, July 29, 2005. Recovered from a river bottom, the cypress wood is used to produce high-end flooring, paneling and furniture with beguiling patterns and tighter grain than modern woods.

But that's about to change.

Earlier this year, Georgia lawmakers approved legislation authorizing underwater logging for two years on parts of the Flint and Altamaha rivers mostly in southern Georgia. If there are no problems with the logging, the law may be extended.

Environmentalists oppose the work, citing concerns for spawning fish, water quality and the legality of disposing of the logs — which are technically state property — at less than market value.

"This is the nursery grounds of the river. To create a business that benefits a few ... certainly is not in the public interest," said Deborah Sheppard, executive director of Altamaha Riverkeeper, a Darien-based river watchdog group.

But Republican state Sen. Tommie Williams of Lyons said the law has been patterned after Florida's program, which he called a "safe way to do this."

"I didn't see a reason, as long as we could protect the environment, that we shouldn't do it," Williams said.

An estimated 3 to 5 percent of the millions of logs sent down the rivers in the 19th and 20th centuries sank to the bottom before they reached their destination. These "deadheads," also known as "sinkers," remain well-preserved on river bottoms.

The wood that comes from the logs is revered for its tight grain and colors such as blond, caramel and black. It's up to 10 times more valuable than conventional wood.

The Georgia Department of Natural Resources plans to begin accepting applications from loggers in early January. Applicants will have to post a $50,000 bond to cover damages and they'll need a $10,000 license. A proposal, not yet approved by the state Board of Natural Resources, also would require loggers to pay the state 20 percent of the logs' value to compensate for the loss of state-owned property.

Each license will cover only a two-mile stretch of a river. Deadhead logging will still be prohibited in areas where it could cause contamination, endanger fish or conflict with the rivers' recreational use.

Lee said his company, Riverwood Flooring and Paneling of Cairo, has been pushing the idea for nearly three years and already has a small barge with a winch to lift logs to the surface. But to attach cables to the logs, Lee would dive down to the logs in the Flint, which is infested with alligators, cottonmouth snakes and snapping turtles.

"This is not a job for the faint of heart," he said. "It's physically hard and demanding. Not everybody wants to do a job where every time you go to work, you could die. You're playing pixie sticks with 20-foot logs weighing 3,000 to 5,000 pounds."

Williams sees underwater logging as a way to pay tribute to the backbreaking work of the old loggers, including four generations of his family, who felled trees with axes or crosscut saws and hitched them to mules or oxen to haul them to the rivers.

"It's really a treasure," Williams said. "The quality of the wood and the uniqueness of the wood is something we can't duplicate. There really aren't any virgin forests left."
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There goes your bass fishing.

source
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Along with another nonreplacable slice of our environment.

I ain't no Seattle tree hugger...far from it. But we keep depleting our natural resources, and our kids and grandkids are gonna suffer for it.

Better get outdoors and do some hiking/canoeing/biking/skiing/whatever you do...while there's still something left to see.
 
The modern yuppie mountain bikers have already fucked up all of the hiking trails. What used to be yard wide barely discernable paths are now ten foot wide murky mudbogs.
 
unclehobart said:
The modern yuppie mountain bikers have already fucked up all of the hiking trails. What used to be yard wide barely discernable paths are now ten foot wide murky mudbogs.
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Not around here they ain't. I have hundreds of miles of gorgeous hiking trails nearby. Come up sometime, we'll do a few.
 
unclehobart said:
The modern yuppie mountain bikers have already fucked up all of the hiking trails. What used to be yard wide barely discernable paths are now ten foot wide murky mudbogs.
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Come on down to Texas and hike Big Bend. Only things you have to watch out for are mountain lions and horses.
 
Professur said:
*scribble**scribble*

Damn, it's gonna take me most of my vacation just to get to my vacation.
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There's a nine-mile stretch from Paint Creek (just a ten minute drive from me porch) to Hot Springs, NC that I am dying to get to. Two mountains climbed along the way. Can't get anybody to go with me, and given my aversion to legless reptiles I don't get that deep in the woods alone. Passing out is a very real possibility when I encounter Satan's shoulderless emissaries.
 
Thought of you this weekend, Unc. Went up to Mom's and put about 40 rounds through the .357. She's got a turtle she needs whacked, as he's cleaning out her fish. Problem is, he a cagey little fucker. Knows when someone's got a gun in hand, and doesn't make an appearance.

I saw only his head, for a split second. I had time to flash on the fact that ny backstop was, indeed, OK, and get the gun about 1/2way up, and that sucker was gone. I never got the shot off, and he never did resurface, even though I hung around for an hour or two.
 
HomeLAN said:
Problem is, he a cagey little fucker. Knows when someone's got a gun in hand, and doesn't make an appearance.
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I think they are all like that.
That's why I do it like I'm hunting deer....use a treestand, and a 30.06. :D
 
unclehobart said:
I've got a .38 snub filled with mini ratshot shells strictly for snakeypoos. I should go with ya.
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Come on. From Chattanooga, I 75 to Knoxville, I 40 East to I 81 North, exit 23, bear right, gimme a call and I'll meet ya and bring you the rest of the way in.
 
Professur said:
I just want you all to know, I hate you. I hate you all. I hate you all with a passion.
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Nearest airport would be either TriCities Regional or Asheville NC. Bring yer gripin' ass on down here too.

At this rate, before too long we could get up a search expedition and go look for Jimmy Hoffa.
 
4 weeks next year. As much canuck beer as I can sneek past the border, and a pound of canadian bacon.

Unless we buy a house, in which case, I'll see you in 15 to 25.
 
Professur said:
4 weeks next year. As much canuck beer as I can sneek past the border, and a pound of canadian bacon.

Unless we buy a house, in which case, I'll see you in 15 to 25.
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Is your camper a real camper, fit for habitation? Paint Creek has a campground. Lots of trout in the stream, a few bears in the woods, and all the...umm..."local flavor"...you can tolerate. :D

I really got to get the newfangled digitalisticalized camera thingamabob doohickey workin again.

We have the trails at Paint Creek, some more at Horse Creek, and several other spur trails, most of which at some point or another will get you to the AT. Every degree of difficulty from the one mile stroll to Margaritte Falls to the two-day very rugged 30-some mile AT stretch near the Shelton graves. I personally have no camping equipment...being this close, I just day hike. But I got me a trout rod or three, and know some real hip little fishin holes.

I love it here. *sigh*
 
HomeLAN said:
Thought of you this weekend, Unc. Went up to Mom's and put about 40 rounds through the .357. She's got a turtle she needs whacked, as he's cleaning out her fish. Problem is, he a cagey little fucker. Knows when someone's got a gun in hand, and doesn't make an appearance.

I saw only his head, for a split second. I had time to flash on the fact that ny backstop was, indeed, OK, and get the gun about 1/2way up, and that sucker was gone. I never got the shot off, and he never did resurface, even though I hung around for an hour or two.
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I'll bring the 10 guage. Thats always been good for making a cubic meter of water go FUCKIT!
 
SouthernN'Proud said:
Is your camper a real camper, fit for habitation? Paint Creek has a campground. Lots of trout in the stream, a few bears in the woods, and all the...umm..."local flavor"...you can tolerate. :D

I really got to get the newfangled digitalisticalized camera thingamabob doohickey workin again.

We have the trails at Paint Creek, some more at Horse Creek, and several other spur trails, most of which at some point or another will get you to the AT. Every degree of difficulty from the one mile stroll to Margaritte Falls to the two-day very rugged 30-some mile AT stretch near the Shelton graves. I personally have no camping equipment...being this close, I just day hike. But I got me a trout rod or three, and know some real hip little fishin holes.

I love it here. *sigh*
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*yosimite sam*Ahhh hates you, rabbit

My camper is a 2300lbs popup tent trailer. It was habitable enough a few weeks back.
 
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