SPENCER LOGGER MAKES PLEDGE - "We Will Take Care Of The Overload Problems"

(02/03/2001)

By Bob Weaver

After overloaded log trucks had been spotted by Rowel's Run residents, one of which was lodged in the "Holl Kerby Turn" last Saturday night, Spencer logger Jerry Saunders has agreed to improve his logging practices. "I will take care of the overload problems," he told The Hur Herald Thursday night.

Local Forester Joe Taylor had cited Saunders with "several violations of best management practices" at his logging site in "Hippie Hollow" about two weeks ago. Joe Webb, the assistant Calhoun road supervisor, evaluated stretches of the newly topped Rowel's Run road this week. "They have ruined what we did last summer. It is showing severe damage," he said. (SEE February 1 story in The Herald regarding road damage)

Jerry Saunders, owner of Saunder's Logging, said "I will not move the new logs we are cutting until the ground is frozen or dry."

Forester Taylor said he issued a compliance order to Saunders, which allowed him to sell the logs he had already cut, but suspending new activity on the site. Taylor said logs and trees were down in the drainage and there was a log jam in the creek. "It was a mess. He was supposed to have contacted me before he moved to the other site."

Taylor explained one of the best practice rules is to "keep mud out of the stream." He said most loggers in Calhoun County are currently idle because of the thaw and "Most of them try to do the right thing." Meanwhile, the West Virginia Department of Highways is evaluating the current damage.