|
| Click to Go Back |
Commentary
Private Stewardship Rocks For Rolling Stones Keyboardist
By Benita M. Dodd
“This ol’ Alabama boy has some pretty deep roots in Georgia,” Chuck Leavell remarked recently as he proudly shared the news of his upcoming induction into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame on Sept. 18.
Leavell, keyboardist since 1982 for the Rolling Stones, has also played for artists including Eric Clapton, George Harrison and The Black Crowes. The native of Tuscaloosa, Ala., has lived in Georgia since 1970. He landed a gig with the Allman Brothers band in 1972 and married Rose Lane White a year later.
But while his pride in his “pretty deep roots” could refer to his residency and musical history in Georgia, it could just as well refer to the trees of Charlane Plantation, their 2,200-acre family forest in Middle Georgia. They’ve earned numerous accolades for their management practices at the plantation, expanded from 1,200 acres of land Rose Lane’s grandmother left her.
“We’ve twice been named Outstanding Tree Farmers for the state of Georgia, and in 1999 Rose Lane and I were selected out of 65,000 family forest landowners in the U.S. as the National Outstanding Tree Farmers of the year,” Leavell notes.
Both are active in private forestry issues in Georgia and the nation, and Leavell is a trustee for the American Forest Foundation and the Georgia Conservancy. He has testified before Congress and authored “Forever Green: The History and Hope of the American Forest,” a book outlining his views on forestry and private stewardship. (His autobiography, “Between Rock and a Home Place,” is due out in November.)
Leavell’s advocacy of private stewardship developed as he learned about forestry and practicing good stewardship of the family forest and realized the challenges that face private landowners of forests.
“We face things like disease and insect infestations, damage due to weather events including storms, wildfires and droughts; these days we face very sluggish markets, especially for the lower quality wood,” he says.
“But we also face problems with taxes, private property rights issues, urban sprawl. In other words, like our friend Kermit the Frog says, ‘It ain’t easy being green!’”
While forestry in Georgia may not face the tougher regulatory challenges of other states in the Northeast and Northwest, Leavell still sees the harm rendered by excessive government regulation.
He points to the estate tax, the “death tax,” as one government regulation that conservation-minded landowners could do without, because it forces many family forest owners to break up or sell their land to pay taxes: “It cuts against the bedrock of Southern forest conservation – the heritage of family stewardship that people bring to the land.”
Leavell also opposes the “very detailed and expensive rules that are intended to tell us just what we have to do to protect water, wildlife and other environmental values,” pointing out that, “Most of us want to do this anyway, and it would be cheaper and less cumbersome to educate people about what to do, and they’ll do it.”
Additionally, Georgia foresters face regulatory challenges regarding private property rights and the Endangered Species Act: “When you’re told that you can’t do any harvesting whatsoever on large tracts because there is one pair of red-cockaded woodpeckers nesting in one tree on your place, that’s just unreasonable,” he notes.
“People want to do the right thing and I believe they will, as long as the science is sound and the facts are straight. We just need to be more sensitive to the needs of landowners in these situations.”
As for regulations regarding water, Leavell says that although the forestry industry successfully fought Environmental Protection Agency regulations on water quality – Total Maximum Daily Loads – a few years ago, “I predict it will come back around.”
“The amazing thing to me is that we as family forest landowners help provide the clean water that others use ... and they want to make it even more difficult for us to provide that clean water with some unnecessary restrictions and fees,” the forest owner says. “We have to be vigilant about it, and believe me, we will be.”
When it comes to water allocation, Leavell says the state should work on a way to fairly and efficiently allocate water resources through the statewide comprehensive planning process, and “We should address any potential changes in the water permitting and allocation system only at the end of that process.”
(The Foundation advocates a market-based approach in which owners of water withdrawal permits are allowed to transfer all or part of their right to use that permit to another person or entity within that watershed, with the approval and oversight of the state Environmental Protection Division, and without harm to the waterway.)
Above all, Leavell laments the misinformation about forests and forestry.
“Traveling around in the music business, sometimes I get comments like, ‘Oh, you’re into trees? Well, isn’t it just terrible what’s happening to our forests?’
“‘What do you mean?’ I ask. And the typical response is something like, ‘Well, they are cutting them down!’
“Yes, we do actually harvest some of our wood resource! It’s so weird how some people look at this thing. They tend not to know anything about sound forest management, sustainability and such. The fact is that our American forests are healthy, vibrant and growing.
“Hey, I wouldn’t have my piano if it weren’t for the resource of wood!” the musician points out. “Wood grows back. It grows back even better if it’s properly managed."
Benita M. Dodd is vice president of the Georgia Public Policy Foundation, an independent think tank that proposes practical, market-oriented approaches to public policy to improve the lives of Georgians. Nothing written here is to be construed as necessarily reflecting the views of the Georgia Public Policy Foundation or as an attempt to aid or hinder the passage of any bill before the U.S. Congress or the Georgia Legislature.
© Georgia Public Policy Foundation (September 10, 2004). Permission to reprint in whole or in part is hereby granted, provided the author and her affiliations are cited.