In 2001, Charlie Osborne’s home, along Dry Creek, near Dungannon, Virginia, was flooded by three feet of water. “It was all we could do to get out of our house in time back in 2001 and then we had to replace the floors, walls and ceilings because of the damage,” but Osborne is still here to speak about it. A home in a nearby community was completely washed off its foundation by the flooding, killing its occupant. 

The Clinch Coalition, a local organization and a member of Virginia Forest Watch, believes that that flooding was caused by extensive timbering on both public and private land at the headwaters of Dry Creek. So when the U.S. Forest Service started planning a new timber cut in the Dry Creek watershed, they were concerned.

“As the Forest Service moved forward with the timber cut,” Steve Brooks of Virginia Forest Watch said, “in July, they placed a required public notice in the Coalfield Progress, a Wise County newspaper that isn’t widely circulated in Scott County. They did not put the notice in the Scott County paper. And the only landowners that got a notice were those that owned property adjacent to the sale, not the families that actually live downstream on Dry Creek.”

In August, members of the Clinch Coalition and Virginia Forest Watch had asked Ron Bush, the new head of the Clinch Ranger District of the Jefferson National Forest, to extend the comment period, but at that time he refused to do so.

Clinch Coalition members wrote in their request for the extension, “We believe the citizens who live on Dry Creek are very much affected by this proposal and should have been given public notice.” The request went on to say, “As far as we know, none of the residents of Dry Creek received a scoping notice from the Forest Service nor was the announcement published in their local newspaper.”

The Clinch Coalition then organized a public meeting in Dungannon. About 25 Scott County citizens attended the public meeting to voice their concerns about the timber cut. Many of the residents attending had suffered extensive property damage from the 2001 flooding, and were very upset that the Forest Service had not informed them about its plan to log 400 acres above their homes. They were concerned that additional timbering in the Dry Creek watershed would increase the danger of future flooding. Some residents brought photos of the flood damage from 2001. A reporter from the local paper was present.

Ron Bush and four of his staff members attended the meeting. After hearing the concerns expressed, Bush agreed to a 30-day extension of the public comment period, passed out forms for folks to fill out and gave them his email address for sending comments. He said the additional comment period would begin in a few days with an official notice sent to the papers.

Dick Austin, who lives outside of Dungannon and has been dealing with issues under the authority of the Forest Service for more than 30 years, wanted answers to three questions directed to Bush.

“Have you prepared figures comparing the financial benefits of the timbering that you propose, with the costs of repairing Route 653 where it crosses Dry Creek, as well as the road up Dry Creek?” Austin asked. 

“Are you and the Forest Service willing to accept moral, legal and financial responsibility if your timbering causes death and damage to private property, as Forest Service timbering caused on Stony Creek a few years ago?” 

“Finally, are you — or perhaps a member of your staff — prepared to move to Dry Creek to personally share the consequences of the timbering you propose?”

Bush answered the final question by saying that if a home had been available on Dry Creek when he moved here a few months ago he would have considered it then, but not now. Dry Creek residents are now waiting to hear how their other questions and concerns will be answered.

For more information on this timber cut, designated as the Back Valley Timber Cut, visit the national forest web site at www.fs.fed.us/sopa for a full range of proposed actions planned by the U.S. Forest Service or visit The Clinch Coalition website at www.clinchcoalition.net.