Coastal Federation, the N.C. Environ- 

 mental Defense Fund, the National 

 Audubon Society and the Sierra Club, 

 the Southern Environmental Law 

 Center hopes to use the East Dismal 

 as a test case for further regulation of 

 forested wetlands. 



On the other side of the ditch is 

 the Weyerhaeuser Corporation, 

 owners of the East Dismal tract. The 

 company wants to clearcut the old- 

 growth hardwoods there and turn the 

 cleared land into a pine plantation. 



To do that, the clearcut land must 

 be drained and bedded and roads must 

 be built into the property. Weyer- 

 haeuser says all of this activity is 

 exempt from Section 404 of the 1972 

 Clean Water Act, the legislation that 

 regulates the types of activities that 

 can occur on wetlands. 



The act says that any activity that 

 discharges dredge or fill into wetlands 

 must first go through the permitting 

 process. Traditional interpretation of 

 the regulations has allowed turning 

 wetlands into pine plantations, 

 claiming that this activity does not fit 

 into the dredge-and-fill definition. 



"But what we're contending in 

 the suit is that making roads, clearing 

 land, etcetera meet the dredge-and-fill 



\ 



Can the two sides 

 strike a balance? 

 The timber industry 

 has noted that they 

 are achieving a 

 balance already. 



requirements," says Derb Carter, an 

 attorney with the Southern Environ- 

 mental Law Center in Chapel Hill. 



Carter says the Clean Water Act 

 exempts agriculture and "normal 

 silviculture" from the permitting 



process. But the timber companies 

 argue a strong case when they claim 

 that turning wetlands into pine 

 plantations is "normal silviculture," 

 or the growing of trees. 



• Because pocosins are located 

 on mostly level ground, large tracts 

 of timber are easier to manage and 

 harvest, saving time and money. 



• Pocosins that are not in public 



Sycamore plantation, Roanoke River floodplains 



"We're contending that Weyer- 

 haeuser's actions in the East Dismal of 

 draining, clearing, bedding and 

 replanting trees is not normal silvicul- 

 ture," Carter says. "Clearly, to us, 

 changing the use of this wetland from 

 hardwood to pine plantation is a 

 violation of the exemption." 



The timber companies claim that 

 changing the type of tree grown in the 

 wetland doesn't change the use of the 

 land and that draining, clearing, bed- 

 ding and building roads does not 

 change the site's hydrology — the 

 action of water on the land. 



Why are these wetlands so 

 attractive to the timber industry? Why 

 are large companies now vying to hold 

 on to wetlands as a place to grow 

 trees? 



The forestry people give several 

 reasons: 



• Wetlands, especially pocosins, 

 represent expansive tracts of land that 

 are as yet undeveloped and uninter- 

 rupted by civilization. 



• Trees planted in bedded and 

 drained pocosins grow two to three 

 times faster than trees planted on 

 upland agricultural lands. 



protection represent some of the 

 cheapest land in the coastal plain. 

 (Some companies have accumulated 

 vast tracts of wetlands for as little as 

 $5 per acre.) 



• Plantation growing provides 

 the most timber for the least money, 

 an important criteria for the future, 

 when timber officials say the world's 

 supply of timber will be short. 



There are negative sides, say the 

 environmentalists. "Forestry is the 

 primary cause of wetland degrada- 

 tion and loss," says Derb Carter. "It's 

 essential that this activity require 

 some environmental review." 



Carter cites startling numbers. 

 More than 1.2 million acres of North 

 Carolina's coastal wetlands system 

 have been lost to tree plantations in 

 this century. 



A recent study by a Duke 

 University graduate student showed 

 that more than 52 percent of North 

 Carolina's wetland loss can be 

 attributed to timber companies. 



If the trend continues 

 unchecked, the U.S. Fish and 

 Wildlife Service estimates that the 

 number of pine plantation acres in 



12 MARCH/APRIL 1992 



