Timber harvesting and flooding: Emerging legal risks and potential mitigations

Abstract

The relationship between timber harvesting in steep terrain and natural calamities such as flooding has recently coalesced as extensive litigation in West Virginia. Accusations that timber harvesting was responsible for widespread flooding includes novel uses of the legal theories of negligence per se and strict liability. Managing for increases in water yield, application of best management practices (BMP), and predictability of flooding events all play a role in whether timber operations are ultimately susceptible to liability for flooding events. The authors suggest that recent legal actions and difficulties in predicting the outcomes of such lawsuits necessitates a fundamental review of best management practice design and implementation. Consideration of water quantity BMP may be warranted. Copyright © 2004 by the Society of American Foresters.