Speaking of Trees-Bush Administration Proposes More Logging in Sumter Forest By AMANDA PRESLEY i Photos by ERIC K. WARD Sumter National Forest in western South Carolina is awash in the sounds of nature o birds singing overhead, water bubbling in nearby streams, and the steady hum of ... chainsaws? The cacophony of logging equipment that sometimes permeates the air in Sumter Forest might be annoying, but itis legal. Unlike national parks, national forests like Sumter were intended for a variety of uses, including recreation, wildlife preservation, hunting and, yes, logging. The National Forest Service estimates that about 35 percent of the trees it oversees are available for harvesting through the federal timber sale program, which the Forest Service also oversees. And some conservationists, who say logging has irreparably damaged the forest system, are urging the government to take national forests off the commercial chopping block. About 200 scientists from across the country joined the Sierra Club, National Forest Protection Alliance and U.S. Public Interest Research Group in asking President Bush to abandon timber harvesting in the national forest system. In an April 16 letter, the group told Bush that logging is turning forests iinto a patchwork of clearcuts, logging roads and devastated habitat.i National forest timber revenues total about $4 billion a year, according to the letter, which scientists from Clemson University and the College of Charleston signed. iLogging has caused devastating impacts on the ability of our national forests to provide wildlife habitat and economically valuable goods and services,i the letter says. iThe loss of biodiversity is the folly our descendants are least likely to forgive us.i In South Carolina, about 6,700 acres of timber were harvested from Sumter National Forest in 2000, according to Forest Service literature. The forest, which covers about 365,000 acres, is home to more than 20 endangered or threatened plant and animal species and encompasses waterfalls, forests and trails at the base of the Appalachian Mountains. Meanwhile, Forest Service administrators have set their sights on another possible logging project in Sumter. However, a North Carolina-based environmental group is attempting to put the brakes on the sale. The Southern Appalachian Biodiversity Project is fighting a proposed timber harvest in Sumter Forestis Long Cane Ranger District, located on the western edge of South Carolina. The group says the sale would encompass about 1,600 acres of trees along the Horn Creek and further threaten an endangered species in the area. Marty Bergoffen, a campaign coordinator with the Biodiversity Project, says logging would send sediment and debris flowing into forest waters, which could upset the habitat of the Carolina heelsplitter, an endangered aquatic mussel. In 2000 the group applied for and won the right to protect the heelsplitteris habitat. iWe donit like the fact that theyire selling our trees,i Bergoffen says. iItis a billion-dollar-a-year subsidy, and theyire converting the land to pine plantations ... If you went there, you would see no wildlife, no undergrowth. Thatis not a forest. Thatis a tree farm.i In March the group appealed the sale. The appeal is pending. If the sale goes through, Bergoffen says the project will harm other plants and animals as well. iAll species that live in the forest have an inherent right to be there without disturbance of their natural habitat,i he says. iHowid you like to have your house knocked over by a backhoe?i While some conservationists like Bergoffen criticize logging for harming wildlife, Sumter Forest spokeswoman Stephanie Neal-Johnson says damage from timber harvesting is minimal. iIt mimics the disturbance in nature that would have occurred if man wasnit around,i Neal-Johnson says, adding that rehabilitating forests is ipart of the plan.i Ranger Beth LeMaster, who oversees the Horn Creek area, says logging actually benefits some wildlife. For example, Forest Service literature says that if hardwood trees grow too tall, they block pine trees where the red-cockaded woodpecker makes its home. iDifferent animals need different types of habitats,i LeMaster says. iEverything you do to a habitat benefits some and hurts others.i Conservationists worry that images of tire track will replace trees if timber harvesting is not curtailed. In addition, LeMaster says the proposed Horn Creek logging area is 180 acres, not 1,600 as the Biodiversity Project suggests. And she says most of the trees tapped for cutting were already ailing. iBasically, they were falling apart,i LeMaster says. iTrees that are older and falling apart are prime candidates to regenerate.i Once the Forest Service cuts down the trees, it will plant seeds in those areas, LeMaster says. iGenerally, the purpose is one for forest health,i she says, adding that a team of wildlife specialists, biologists and others identifies which trees are suitable for timber production. Clemson professor Timothy Spira, who signed the letter to Bush, says he thinks the Forest Service probably is concerned about threatened and endangered species when it decides where to log. But Spira says he would rather see timber produced on private land rather than in national forests like Sumter. iI feel there are many benefits to preserving national forests for the purpose of biodiversity, recreation and tourism o and the economic benefits resulting from those activities,i Spira says. iMy own view, as an ecologist, is for retaining old-growth forests or those rich in species ... [and] that these areas ought to be protected and not logged; those areas are becoming increasingly rare.i Rare or not, national forests can legally be logged. Whether the practice does more harm than good might be debatable, but one thing seems certain o unless Bush decides to listen to conservationistsi predictions and ban the practice, timber harvesting in serene locales such as Sumter National Forest is likely to continue. Andrew GeorgeNational Forest Protection AllianceSoutheast Field Organizer20 Battery Park Ave, Suite 704Asheville, NC 28801