Newspapers / Brevard College Student Newspaper / April 8, 2002, edition 1 / Page 2
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page 2 April 8,200 NEWS Flat Rock Music Festival -by WENDY JO ALLEN, guest writer- Brevard College students earned their way into the 2001 Flat Rock Music Festival dur ing the fall. Volunteers saved over $50 in workshop fees for a few hours directing traf fic, leading the rope course and climbing tower or nursing at the infirniary. Partici pants choose from workshops and entertain ment to concerts and sports events as re ward. The third annual music festival engulfs an entire weekend in an ever-changing kaleido scope of food, fiin, craftsmanship and mu sicians. V^tarian and Australian food ven dors blended in with the barbeque, cappuccino, fresh squeezed lemonade scent that filled the air. Color-filled tents of Indo- Crafts and hand woven hammocks added to the array of jewelry, stone and wood carv ings, and hempcrafts. A CD of the 2000 festival sold as musi cians hoped their performances this year would be included in the 2001 CD. Doc Watson and grandson Richard sang classic tunes and Opry favorites. Groups like Dixie Flyers, Acoustic Syndicate and Momma Said performed a wide range of music to please most music fans. All proceeds support E.C.O (a group dedicated to the preserva tion and conservation of the area) and Camp Merry Time (providers of camping trips to children and their families over Memorial Day weekend). For more information on how to volun teer log on to WWW.flatrockmusicfestival.com. Logging on the Southeastern Waterways -by MATT GAUDETTE, guest writer- Every year millions of people use our beau tiful rivers and streams for leisure and rec reation. At the same time millions of indi vidual organisms and intricate ecosystems rely on the purity and consistency of these wild places in order to survive. Due to poor logging practices the Southeastern waterways are becoming some of the most threatened wetlands in the country. The balance be tween the human race and nature has been an issue for years. However, this balance that humankind has tried so hard to main tain is being tipped in the wrong direction. According to Kevin Colburn of American Whitewater, logging began in the Southeast when the first Europeans arrived. The big gest and best trees were selected to construct masts for ships. From the late 1800s to the early 1900s, forestland was clear-cut. Rail roads were built up creek beds in the Smoky Mountains making for easy transport of trees. “Currently in the Southeast there are over 150 high-capacity chip mills in operation. These chip mills consume over 1.2 million acres of trees per year.” Kevin Colburn of American Whitewater said. These chip mills use a method of land clearance called clear- cutting. In clear cutting land logged is stripped, desecrating the area. Age, size, or species of tree is of little consequence when clear-cutting an area. The immense hard woods forests are replaced by “mono-culture” pine plantations. A mono-culture pine plan tation is an area that had been clear-cut and is now being replaced by pine trees planted unnaturally in straight lines to maximize, the use of the land. As a consequence, “the qual ity of our Southern Appalachian Rivers is threatened due to both the increased runoff of silt and sediment from clear cuts, and pes ticides and herbicides from the pine planta tions,” according to American Whitewater’s Nick Lipkowski. What are the main effects that logging has on our waterways? First, the building of roads for the logging trucks disturbs the top- . . .,/,L -King’s Creek. Photo by Jeff Headrick.- Editorial Corner Editor-in-Chief Tyler 1 larbour Advisor )ill l{iij»lish Student Art and Design; Katie Goetz layout and Design: Lindsay Shields Photography Jeff Headrick and Meg MacDonald Scciion Editors 1 IV. .>pr : Dusnn l-rct Contributors; Fall semester 2001 1 .n.,fr..:mmfni.«:iub Tncws; Jessica Williitms RC Ph.r. > Club, Tyler Brooks, Tracey Cobbs, soil. Second, the roots systems, which serve as “rebar” for the soil, in order to hold it back, rot when the trees are separated from them These events leave the soil more prone to erode and flow into the rivers. With irre sponsible logging practices come road fail ures and landslides, which causes much of the sedimentation problems in the rivers. Third is the critical disturbance of the trees along rivers. These trees serve several fimc- tions including, but not limited to, cutting down on sedimentation flowing into the river, as well as decreasing the erosive forces of the river on its banks. Due to soil com paction and the loss of evapotranspiration from the trees, the riverside ecosystems lose their ability to store and slowly release wa ter. Consequently, when an area receives precipitation the run off quicker than a non effected area causing the high water flows to be higher and the low water flows to be lower. Chips mills are allowed to continue these devastating practices because currently there are few to no prohibiting regulations. Ac cording to The Southern Forest Resource Assessment (SFRA) these forestry practices will be continued; “through 2040 thirty mil lion acres of forests will be lost to sprawl and 270 million acres will be cut by the tim ber industry. Logging is projected to increase in the South by 50 percent through the year 2040. The increasing share of pulp and en gineered wood products and the removal of pines currently exceed growth throughout Dustin Free, Maria Fuentes, Katie Goetz, Jesse Janicula, Megan MacDonald, Jae McCadden, Montressa McGowan, Alissia Norman, Jessica Price, Lance Ru^eri, John Shirk, Jeffrey Stofey-Pitts, Matt Weinzapfel, Staff Mentbers, Spring semester 2002 BC Photo Club, Cortoey Chatman, Melissa Cosby, Maria Fuentes, Cait Johnson, Carly Ixvy, Will Lutz, Phil McGrath, Heather Ochse, Jimmy Strom the region, and removals of hardwoods willjl exceed growth by 2025. One in every foi : acres of the Southern forest will be inten sively managed as pine plantations, totaling 52 million acres of pine plantations.” These are all alarming figures when they refer to the places that many revere for their incred ible beauty and purity. There are several practices that foresten could follow to prevent the degradation of our beautiful waterways. 1. No more logging of old growth and road less areas. 2. The creation of strict buffers around creeks and rivers in \*iiich no logging is al lowed. 3. Commitment to obliterate or maintain roads to prevent failure and erosion. Awareness is probably the strongest asset that we could have. Be aware of national issues such as road less initiative as well as forest service poUcies regarding logging Also be aware of things going on in your own backyard. Take part in public processes, including potential logging projects in the area and conservation opportunities. Be ing active can help. Currently, American Whitewater and the Dogwood Alliance are both striving to help solve this never-ending dilemma. Protection of these areas begins with people getting involved and doing ev erything or anything to protect these places. Contact either one of these organizations for more information on how you can help- Direct questions and comments to; The Clarion Brevard CoOegc 400 N. Broad St. Brevard, NC 28712 The Claiion is the student publication of Brevard College. Views expressed in The Clarion do not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Clarion staff, advisor, or the administration, staff, faculty or af filiates of Brevard CoUege.
Brevard College Student Newspaper
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April 8, 2002, edition 1
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