Court Ruling Limits 404 Silviculture Exemption

The continuing loss of southern hardwood forested wetlands may be slowed by a recent federal court decision and the Environmental Protection Agency's increasingly restrictive practices. Bayou Marcus Livestock v. United States Environmental Protection Agency is the first case to interpret the silviculture exemption, an important provision of §(f) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act. Portions of he ecologically important southern hardwood forests are being aggressively cut to meet expanding demands for pulp, limber, and other hardwood products. Once cut, these former hardwood forest areas are often converted into pine-tree farms because pine trees grow fast and straight, and yielf more wood fiber in less time that any other tree. Environmental groups oppose this practice due to the diminished ecological value of the converted forest.