Water Logged; Virgin Longleaf Pine Wood is a Pricey Commodity. Some Suppliers are Risking Arrest to Pull "deadheads" off River Bottoms

The Tampa Tribune, by Jim Tunstall, March 7, 1997

They're called "deadheads" or "sinkers."

They're just about all that's left of what once was our seemingly endless supply of virgin longleaf pine, commonly known as heart pine. While supplies last, folks pay plenty for floors, staircases and furniture made from them.

George Goodwin knows.

"The heart wood is the nonliving part of the tree," the thick center, he says, running the palm of one hand almost lovingly along the surface of a log. "That's where these trees produce resins that make them harder, bug- and rot- resistant and give the wood its beautiful red color."

Twenty years ago, he gave up his antiques business and laid the foundation for Goodwin Heart Pine Co., even though he knew there was a limited supply of raw materials.

Folks barely can find live virgin longleaf anymore, much less cut it.

In Florida, even long-submerged logs can't be salvaged - legally.

Which brings us back to deadheads and sinkers.

A century or so ago, there were 85 million acres of virgin longleaf pines growing in vast forests throughout the Southeast. Some of the trees were 300 years old and had enormous dimensions, not to mention enormous appeal to the logging industry, which descended on the pines like flies on fried chicken.

There was no environmentalism to stop it, and, with a 200-mile-wide belt of forest from Virginia to Texas, there was a common sentiment among loggers and lumbermen that the resource would last forever.

Today, only 3,000 acres are left, plus the deadheads that sank to the bottoms of rivers when loggers formed huge timber rafts and floated them to the mills.

Virgin, or old-growth, longleafs grew slowly. That made them dense, strong. That they have been under water for up to a century takes nothing away from that toughness. The water doesn't rot them - the resins keep water and oxygen out.

Back to Goodwin, who points to the outer growth on an old log.

"It took 100 years to grow those three inches.

"The unique thing about heart pine is the old growth. You can't go out and cut down the virgin growth anymore. There isn't enough around, and it takes too long to produce the heart wood.

It's the most decimated ecosystem on the planet," he adds.

His supplies primarily come from Alabama and Georgia.

Sometimes he gets lightning-killed trees from the remaining 3,000 acres of virgin longleaf forest, but most come from divers who search murky rivers for logs that fetch a couple of hundred dollars apiece. The logs usually are raised with a cable and winch mounted on a boat.

"In Florida, it's illegal to salvage," he says, parking himself on a half-ton heart pine log that bears ax scars that might be a century old. "On the Suwannee, if you saw a game warden he'd arrest you right away.

"But I guarantee you there are at least two groups this morning in West Florida doing it illegally. I'm not trying to preach. I'm not trying to get anyone in trouble. But there's selective enforcement."

Florida Department of Environmental Protection spokeswoman Kathalyn Gaither says the state considers river bottoms to be state-owned land, and, therefore, anything on the bottom can't be salvaged without a permit.

But:

"We don't issue permits," Gaither says. "We haven't for 20 or 30 years, because (removing deadheads) raises some environmental concerns, including the disruption of fish nurseries."

A state attorney general's opinion supports state ownership.

"The state could cite and fine people," Gaither adds, "but right now we are just trying to warn people not to do it."

Goodwin doesn't believe removal threatens the environment. But, he adds, he doesn't get his materials from Florida waterways. He gets them from Alabama or Georgia, where deadhead logging is legal.

Still, he says, there are no guarantees he's not buying poached deadheads when someone pulls into his mill with a load of logs.

"There was a fella I used to work with who was working the Florida-Georgia border, and they arrested him."

When that happens, Goodwin says, he quits buying from that person.

Heart pine salvaged from old buildings is another source.

"Just about everyone in Florida who does heart-pine flooring recovers old timbers, including us," says Goodwin, 51.

But long-submerged logs are much of his supply.

He also uses deadhead cypress, though it's a softer wood, less durable and less valuable.

Seventy percent of his business is making flooring. The rest is staircases and rails, molding, window frames, door casings and a handmade furniture line that is assembled the old way - with wood pegs instead of nails.

Once the logs arrive at Goodwin's mill, they're cut to saw length, usually 12 feet. The ends are waxed to keep them from cracking, then they're stacked, waiting for the trip to the saw, which uses a soapy solvent to keep the dense wood from warping or jamming the blade.

The cut boards are stacked outside to air dry for three months, then they go into a kiln to finish drying. Finally, they're milled into a finished, tongue-and-groove board, three quarters of an inch thick for flooring and one inch for stairs. Then they're graded.

John Bast, owner of Bast Hardwood Floors & Custom Wood Staircases in Tampa, buys as much as he can from Goodwin's mill.

"It's hard to come by, but George usually has it available," says Bast, whose family business has been around since 1914.

Goodwin, who holds a bachelor's degree in marketing from the University of Florida, began his company after he bought some deadheads to build his house. He still hasn't built it. The logs don't stick around long enough for him to start.

Mill owners and their suppliers have an accepted payment scale by weight. Goodwin won't reveal it. But the heart pine he sells goes from $ 4 or $ 5 a square foot for the lesser grades to $ 16 for the fancier ones, such as a rare curly grain. Comparatively, oak flooring runs $ 3.50 to $ 4 a square foot, and Southern yellow pine goes for $ 1.50 to $ 1.75, Goodwin says.

Furniture easily can cost thousands of dollars.

The price range:

"It's sky-high to unbelievably high," Goodwin says.

Furniture craftsman Mark Webb is his partner in that side of the business. A $ 600 desk, $ 650 chair and $ 2,200 dining room table are among the pieces the two are offering.

In addition to heart pine and cypress, Goodwin also works with cherry wood.

That's a safeguard for the day when the deadhead supply will run out.

Business is good enough that he's grown to 12 employees and has a toll-free number, 1-800-336-3118.

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