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MISSOURI CHIP MILL REPORT The final report of Missouri Governor Mel Carnahan's Advisory Committee on Chip Mills, convened last year, is anticipated in December. Meanwhile, our review of a late draft, dated October 19, reveals the Committee's distinctly regulatory bent, in spite of its ambiguous assessment of the state's timber resource. Acknowledging the comparatively small size of the Missouri forest industry, and that "in the issue at hand, many would agree that chip mills can be either good or bad for Missouri's forest resources," the Committee draws heavily on statistical and anecdotal reports from neighboring states Kentucky and Arkansas in its attempt to evaluate the interaction of industry wood demand, landowner behavior, and logging practices. Although the Committee presents its extrapolated conclusions cautiously, and admits a lack of dependable data, in a final section, it finds itself well on the way to recommending passage of a sturdy Forest Practices Act, regulatory Best Management Practices for Water Quality, licenses for loggers, excise taxes on unprocessed wood shipped out of state, and establishment of various incentives for landowners to manage their forests better. In addition, having determined that less than 10% of Missouri landowners receive any professional forestry advice or assistance, it calls for a major landowner education campaign, and contributes several suggestions for funding one. What the Committee has not done is to provide any evidence that Missouri has a current forest sustainability problem, although once it establishes that growth currently exceeds harvest by only 250% in current chip mill drain areas, it proposes concerns with respect to future consumption trends. Notably, amid all its suggestions for regulating forest management in the state, the Committee at no point recommends direct regulation of chip mills with respect to off-site impacts. Back to "News" Forest Resources Association
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