Legal Action Against S&S Aqua Logging
On 13 March 2009, the Washington Department of Natural Resources (DNR) seized more than two dozen logs that may have been illegally salvaged by S&S Aqua Logging. DNR officers served a search warrant on the company to retrieve timber they had pulled from the Hoquiam River without a permit.
Jimmy Smith, who owned and operated S&S, said on the show that the logs were worth about $10,000, according to search warrant records.
"These are valuable materials that belong to the public and this looks like theft, plain and simple. They are part of the functioning ecosystem, so removing the log would be like removing part of the bed," state Public Lands Commissioner Peter Goldmark said.
Accoording to Greg Hueckel, the DNR's fish and wildlife habitat programs director, "Logs provide a key function for rivers in trapping sediment, harboring insects and other food for fish, and creating pools and riffles where fish can rest." Hueckel said his agency typically grants permits to remove logs in situations where flooding causes log jams and it's unlikely that a permit would be granted for timber harvest.
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