BUFFALO NEWS

County forester faulted in timber sale process

Bid solicitation, revenue discussed

By John F. Bonfatti
News Staff Reporter
August 5, 2006

Erie County Comptroller Mark C. Poloncarz criticized the county forester for problems with the controversial cutting and sale of trees from county forests. "There's no one big item that jumps out," Poloncarz said of the timber operations overseen by county forester Brian Grassia. "But there are a lot of little things that, when put together, could be the equivalent of a big item."

The criticisms, contained in a report released earlier this week and available online at www.erie.gov, questioned how the county solicited bids for the logging and whether the county will receive as much as it budgeted from timber sales.

It also acknowledges sales and auctions of the timber generated more money for the county than similar timber sales elsewhere in the state, a point Grassia emphasized.

"The taxpayer is benefiting from the design of this program," he said. "I think the proof is in the finances, and I'm very proud we're making more money for the taxpayer than other municipalities."

The report states the county received $133,000 as its share of the proceeds of sales so far this year. Grassia said subsequent payments have brought the total closer to $170,000. That's still well below the amount the county budgeted for timber sales, $490,600.

Grassia said the county could reach its budgeted amount if a second phase of logging is approved by the County Legislature.

But environmentalists, who have been told they will have a say in the second phase, insist the scale of operations needed to produce that kind of revenue would be devastating to the county's 3,500 acres of forest in southern Erie County.

"That would destroy the woods," said Larry Beahan, forestry chairman for the Niagara Group of the Sierra Club and a frequent critic of the logging.

The comptroller's report says the county failed to solicit bids for the forestry work, which resulted in only one bid being received, by Hillside Logging of Holland. Hillside was awarded the work.

"Some major players in the timber industry in Western New York were unaware of it," Poloncarz said.

Grassia said the limited number of bidders was a result of the county's desire to use horses to do the logging instead of more disruptive heavy machinery.

"The fact is there really aren't a lot of people in the business [of logging with horses]," said Grassia, who could not say how many there are in the area.

The report criticized Grassia, the lone member of the county Forestry Department, for not attending all of the auctions and sales to protect the county's interest. Grassia said it was "impractical" for him to attend all of them.

The report praised the sale for producing more revenue than comparable sales elsewhere in the state, which Grassia said validated the methods used.

Poloncarz, who said he supports responsible timber removal from county forests, disagreed.

"It's not so much the process that accounted for higher prices, it was the value of the timber," he said. "We believe if the process had been followed as it should have been . . . it may have resulted in even higher sales."