ed regulation of forestry practices. The consensus 
of most professional foresters in the Southern 
States is that silvicultural activities are generally not 
responsible for major water-quality problems and 
that formal regulation is not needed to ensure that 
good practices are followed. The belief is wide- 
spread that the various voluntary programs incorpo- 
rating recommended management guidelines are 
working well for the most part, and that continual 
education and training will be sufficient to prevent 
degradation of waters in forested areas and to re- 
tain site productivity. 
Upgrading the technical skills of personnel to 
deal with forest-practice problems is probably the 
most consistent issue addressed by State agen- 
cies. The reason is that training of agency personnel 
results in multiplying benefits as these persons in- 
teract with landowners and timber operators. In 
Arkansas, for example, the Forestry Commission 
has trained 100 of its field employees to allow them 
to assess local conditions associated with forestry 
practices (National Council of the Paper Industry for 
Air and Stream Improvement 1983). In Virginia, all 
Division of Forestry field personnel have been 
trained in the use of BMP's, together with 123 em- 
ployees of other resource agencies. And in Florida 
the Division of Forestry provides slide material and 
a general script to forest landowners and timber 
operators. The Georgia Forestry Commission has 
assigned a training coordinator to each of its 14 
districts to provide local expertise and foster onsite 
training. 
Perhaps the best measures of benefits resulting 
from the voluntary programs in the South are the 
generally favorable assessments of program ac- 
complishment by State agency personnel. All of the 
Southern States have assessed their voluntary BMP 
programs, and all report a significant level of accom- 
plishment. Most States have confirmed that the rec- 
ommended BMP's have been widely incorporated 
into forest-management activities. For example, a 
recent Alabama Forestry Commission report on the 
State's silvicultural BMP program stated that". . the 
voluntary approach is a great success. Over time, 
major industries have changed their systems of 
management and site preparation measures." 
Agency personnel from other States report similar 
improvements and widespread cooperation with 
their voluntary control programs. The Oklahoma 
Forestry Division has found that ". . .good manage- 
ment practice guidelines have been established 
and accepted by EPA, State agencies and indus- 
try." 
Another measure of program success or failure 
is the number of enforcement actions and com- 
plaints concerning forestry operations. The Al- 
abama Forestry Commission annual reports have 
consistently found few or no complaints concerning 
forestry practices. Similar findings are reported by 
the other Southern States. Many of them have con- 
ducted field assessments of their programs. All of 
these reviews have shown as increased awareness 
of and use of BMP's in the conduct of forestry activi- 
ties. For example, in Arkansas 200 sites were in- 
spected several years ago by district foresters 
trained in the BMP program. The survey showed 
that operators were doing a consistently good job 
overall and that there had been a significant im- 
provement in practices since development of the 
BMP guidelines. 
Several States have awarded regulatory ex- 
emptions to forestry operators because of the wide 
acceptance of BMP's. In Florida, a storm runoff law 
that required a management plan to contain initial 
stormwater runoff was not imposed on silvicultural 
Operators--even though initially considered-- 
because of the effectiveness of the State's voluntary 
BMP program. 
In conclusion, therefore, it appears that the 
overall status of voluntary silvicultural control pro- 
grams in the South can be termed "highly success- 
ful." Wetlands protection measures and other spe- 
cialized controls may be appropriate for certain 
environmentally sensitive areas in some States. As 
a general rule, however, the voluntary approach is 
seen as working well and should be encouraged. 
The passage of the 1987 amendments to the 
Federal Water Pollution Control Act, coupled with 
the recently released Corps of Engineers Section 
404 regulations, indicate that preventing water pol- 
lution will continue to be a national priority. In this 
regard, the forestry community in the South should 
be aware that most of the existing general water- 
quality laws could be more forcibly implemented, 
through either administrative regulation or by rela- 
tively minor amendment. Thus a strong focus on the 
voluntary BMP programs to protect water quality 
should be a continuing priority. 
To encourage timber productivity and regener- 
ation, detailed guidelines for site preparation and 
regeneration could be developed and incorporated 
into the various State voluntary programs. 
Regulatory alternatives that could be adopted 
to enhance timber productivity include the regula- 
tion of a wide range of silvicultural activities through 
a comprehensive forest-practice law or more- 
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