First State Chip Industry Study - Public Hearings Announced

[Arthur Clark <aclark@essential.org>]

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TAXPAYER ASSETS PROJECT
- NATURAL RESOURCES POLICY ADVISORY
(please distribute
freely)

TAP-RESOURCES
October 2, 1997

INTRODUCTION

In a precedent-setting move, the North Carolina Department of
Environment and Natural Resources has begun preparing a 
state-wide study on the impacts of the wood chipping 
industry.  This move is seen as a response to growing pressure 
from concerned citizens across the South, who are demanding 
that the total impact of industry be properly assessed.  At 
the forefront of this citizen movement has been the Dogwood
Alliance, a grassroots coalition of organizations and 
individuals dedicated to seeing appropriate land and forest 
management practices used throughout the southeastern U.S.

In the release shown below, the Green Highlands Project, a 
member group of the Alliance announces the first public 
meeting called by the NC DENR to solicit input on the scope 
of the study.


*     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *


PRESS RELEASE - FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

October 2, 1997

Contact:        Danna Smith  (704) 877-5865
                Andrew George (704) 258-8737

      FIRST PUBLIC HEARING ON CHIP MILLS 
           TO BE HELD IN ASHEVILLE

        A public hearing will be held in Asheville on October 6 to 
receive citizens' comments on the environmental and economic impacts of 
chip mills in North Carolina.  The North Carolina Department of 
Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) is conducting the first-ever 
state study on the impacts of chip mills.  This precedent setting meeting 
will be held to receive public comments on what should be included in the 
study.  Impacts that the state will be looking at include the direct, 
indirect, and cumulative impacts on soils, water quality, wildlife, and 
forest sustainability, productivity, health, and diversity, as well as 
economic impacts on landowners, industry, and government.
        Chip mills are the most unregulated, highly mechanized arm of 
industrial forestry, easily turning 100 truckloads of trees a day into 
chips.  According to the Dogwood Alliance, a network of more than 30 
grassroots citizen conservation groups,  an estimated 1.2 million acres 
were cleared last year alone to feed the 140 chip mills in the Southeast.
        Chip mills have been a topic of much public concern and debate in 
North Carolina.  Concerns in western North Carolina have been especially 
acute since Willamette Industries announced plans to build a high 
capacity chip mill in Union Mills.  The chip mill would consume 
approximately 10,000 acres of forests per year in a seventy mile radius 
around Union Mills, including trees from national forests.
         This study will be the first statewide study in the Southeast to 
explore the direct, indirect, and cumulative impacts of chip mills.  
Citizens are encouraged to attend this public meeting on October 6 at 
7:00 pm in the Laurel Auditorium at Asheville-Buncombe Technical 
Community College, 340 Victoria Road, Asheville.  

Written comments may also be submitted by October 24 to Dan 
Whittle at DENR, PO Box 27687, Raleigh, NC 27611-7687, 
(919) 715-4195.  For more information, contact Andrew George 
at (704) 258-8737.

                         ###



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