Michael tore like a buzz saw through more than 2.8 million acres of timber – literally destroying almost 95 percent of the timber trees on 347,000 acres of land in Bay, Calhoun, and Gulf counties.
The damage was categorized as catastrophic in a post-storm report by the Florida Forest Service. That’s $1.289 billion in damage to an industry that contributes $25 billion annually to Florida’s economy and accounts for 124,000 jobs, according to the Insurance Journal.
Further inland from the Gulf Coast you will find Liberty County. It is one of four counties in Florida that is classified as critically dependent on the timber sector – with over 20 percent of the workforce dependent on the timber industry. About 10 percent of the workforce in Calhoun County depend on timber while over 5 percent of the workforce in Franklin and Gadsden Counties are dependent on the timber industry.
All totaled, about 516,673 acres were damaged in Liberty County. More than 1.04 million acres suffered severe damage in Bay, Calhoun, Gadsden, Gulf, Jackson and Liberty counties.
Impact of Hurricane Michael
Without a doubt, the impact of Hurricane Michael on people’s lives and their livelihoods will be felt for many years to come. “A lot of people are unable to work. A lot of people have lost their jobs. The logging industry looks like it got turned upside down,” said Liberty County Commissioner Jim Johnson.
“It’s just a trickle-down effect that could affect the economy of this county tremendously in the future,” he said. And like dominoes falling in a line, the effects of the storm has hit the lumber mills, and other businesses dependent or related to the timber sector.
However, what really hurts today is to drive down a panhandle road, and instead of seeing acres and acres of 30+-year-old slash pines – all one sees is fields of lush grass hiding row after row of stumps decaying into the soil.
Joe Leonard makes his living off the land. Today, the Leonards and other panhandle families face wrenching decisions about how to carry on. Less than a fifth of the nearly 2.8 million acres (1.1 million hectares) has been salvaged. Sadly, tons of the damaged timber will just be left to rot.
There is a reason for leaving all that timber where it fell. “There are many who simply don’t have the money to clean it up. They may try and sell the property. Or they may just leave it and let Mother Nature take its course,” said Alan Shelby, the executive vice president of the Florida Forestry Association.
“By some estimates, an acre of 30-year-old trees might fetch about $2,500. Clearing an acre of downed trees and replanting costs about $1,300 upfront. It takes more than a broom and it takes more than your typical farm equipment,” he said.
According to the Associated Press: “There are so many fallen logs that they’d fill more than 2.6 million logging trucks, which would circle the equator 1.5 times if parked end on end.”
Another kick in the head for timber farmers is their crop of trees is not insurable because of the length of time trees take to grow. Yes, farmers can get private insurance, but its cost is prohibitive.
“If you were to carry that premium for those amount of years, you would have spent all of your profit at the end of that growing cycle,” Shelby says.
Shelby also adds that there was a six-month window to salvage the wood before it became unusable. Added to this is the fact there are restrictions on burning and the risk of wildfires. “With these trees laying on the ground like pixie sticks, the forest service is unable to get into those vast stands of timber to plow lines around the fire if one does start and put it out. They just can’t get their equipment to it,” he says.
Federal disaster relief slow in coming
After Hurricane Michael, the federal government authorized a $19 billion relief package — held in limbo until June this year because of political infighting in Washington. The relief package was supposed to assist communities across the country hit by wildfires, flooding, tornadoes, and hurricanes. Florida officials estimate that the timber industry sustained nearly $1.3 billion in losses.
In early June, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis met with U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue in Tallahassee to discuss the disaster aid. Of the $19.1 billion aid package, Perdue said $480 million in the bill will assist Florida farmers, ranchers and producers dealing with extensive damage. He also promised the federal government would work with the state to administer the aid fairly and efficiently.
State Sen. Bill Montford, who himself has a tract of timberland in Liberty County, says the impact from Michael will be felt for generations. “Cotton, soy and peanuts, you plant the crop and hopefully you have a good return,” he said. “Timber takes 20 to 25 years before you begin to have a return on that investment.”
“A lot of timber on the ground is going to the mills for pulp that would have been a far more lucrative product,” Montford said. “In a lot of cases, you have people who were depending on a small stand of timber for their retirement. They wake up the next morning and it’s gone.”
