This Week's Feature
Protecting Georgia’s Coastal Wetlands
©Georgia Forestry Commision
The lax enforcement of wetlands protections is a serious threat to the Georgia coast, as more and more coastal properties are developed with little effective oversight by government regulators.
- As part of this trend, timber companies that own large tracts of coastal land that were once legitimate forestry operations often decide to sell these tracts to developers.
- To make these properties more marketable, timber companies may attempt to skirt the requirements of the Clean Water Act by adding roads and other improvements and claiming they are part of forestry or “silviculture” activities, which are exempt from Clean Water Act safeguards.
- Government regulators may bless the roads or improvements as part of legitimate forestry or silviculture activities without close scrutiny.
SELC is tackling these issues head on in a case against a timber harvesting company in Bulloch County, Georgia. Through this litigation, SELC seeks to prevent other companies from abusing environmental laws as they attempt to sell off old timberlands, and to ensure that government agencies keep a sharp eye on these transactions.
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