Good News Comes in Little Known Letter

Last week we heard some great news regarding Louisiana’s cypress forests, and it came in the form of an obscure letter between the EPA and Army Corps of Engineers.

The letter addressed whether a 200-acre cypress logging operation in Livingston Parish was subject to the Clean Water Act, and thereby required a special permit. Normally, silviculture (the cultivation of trees) is specifically exempted from the Clean Water Act even though it can have significant impacts on water quality and wetlands (that’s an issue for another day).

The problem with logging in coastal Louisiana is that it is not sustainable, and, thereby, should not fall under the Clean Water Act silviculture exemption. As the Governor’s science working group found, 70 to 80 percent of cypress-tupelo forests in Louisiana are unlikely to regenerate if logged because of changing environmental conditions such as coastal erosion and saltwater intrusion.

In its letter, the EPA said that a cypress logging operation must provide reasonable assurance that the forest will re-establish itself and must implement management measures to ensure regeneration. The letter also notes that it may be difficult to develop management measures that will ensure regeneration in some circumstances.

In this case, the EPA made the correct decision and set an important precedent that cypress logging is not exempt from the Clean Water Act. We have a long way to go in preserving coastal cypress forests, but this was very encouraging news. If you want to do your part to help, don’t buy cypress mulch, and spread the word about the plight of Louisiana’s cypress forests.

Jeff Grimes is GRN's Water Quality Outreach Associate