WVFA Mountain State Forestry Winter 2020-21

22 West Virginia Forestry Association Mountain State Forestry | Winter 2020-2021 www.wvfa.org WEST VIRGINIA HAS A FOREST HARVESTING REGULATORY SYSTEM that is one of the finest in the U.S. The federal Clean Water Act of 1972, amended in 1977, specified under section 208 that states must reduce silvicultural nonpoint source (NPS) pollution. This law led West Virginia to enact the Logging Sediment Control Act (LSCA), West Virginia Code 19-1B in 1992. The LSCA mandates the use of Best Management Practices (BMPs) to limit and control erosion and soil movement into streams. Every timber harvest must be done by a qualified logger with a timber license. Every timber harvest must obtain a permit to harvest. Only a small tract forest owner is exempt. The West Virginia Division of Forestry is tasked with inspecting the thousands of permit issues annually. Timber permits are inspected for compliance to the Best Management Practice standards. The BMP Manuel is 37 pages, is continually updated, and contains extremely detailed requirements to achieve compliance. West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) under WV State Code Chapter 22: 1. Logger licensing. 2. Logger certification. 3. Timbering operation notification. 4. Logging operation posting. 5. Enforcement for activities causing erosion and/or stream sedimentation or the potential thereof. 6. Reclamation to be complete within seven days of the planned completion date on the notification form. If it cannot be done within seven days, the DOF must be contacted. What have we seen in that past year? Here is a brief chart showing the level of compliance for all timber permits in the State: CleanWater US I NG BES T MANAGEMENT PRACT I CES We see a 92% compliance rate statewide on all logging operations. Loggers are getting the message clear. We strive for 100%. We are focusing our training and assistance on the 8% that falls short. January – September 2020 Summary for Non-Compliance Reason for Non-Compliance Total Total Inspections 3482 Total Non-Compliant Inspections 335 Total % Compliant 90% Legal Non-Compliance 74 % Legal Compliance 98% BMP Non-Compliance 271 % BMP Compliance 92% W V L O G G E R S C O U N C I L N E W S