‘If the logging industry was an irrigator they would be charged millions for using this water’ Melbourne’s catchments are empty, so we’re looking at the skies searching for rain. Right idea, but wrong direction. Look at the Thomson dam, and ask why we still allow clearfell logging in its catchment, then look at Steve Bracks …
The Victorian Farmers Federation (VFF) and the National Party has criticised the Bracks Government for plans to ban new dams on 18 Victorian rivers. Under the plan, the Snowy, Mitchell, Genoa, Aberfeldy, Thomson, Bemm and Upper Buchan rivers could not be dammed. The VFF said it was wasting water that would just go out to …
It started off with cross cut saws and bullocks, then to chainsaws and bulldozers, now the future is in computerised harvesting machines in plantations. Three-way solution The logging union has recently been outraged about the need to import skilled workers to fill the new jobs in the plantation industry. They have also been outraged about …
Our Gippsland East Independent pollie, Craig Ingram, has the image of a champion for our rivers. You’d think this concern for the water would spill over to include our rivers’ catchments, but not so. His attitudes to logging forests were spelled out very clearly in the Herald Sun and on the ABC in early September.Here’s …
The Thomson Reservoir is situated along the eastern escarpments of Mount Baw Baw and carries approximately 60 percent of Melbourne’s water storage capacity. It is surrounded by 48,700 hectares of forested catchment that includes the northern and eastern slopes of Mount Baw Baw, the southern slopes of Mount Matlock on the Great Dividing Range and …
The fire that burnt down the Orbost sawmill three weeks after it went broke in May, remains unsolved. The fire did about $200,000 damage to the company’s offices where the books were being reviewed by the receivers. Forensic investigators concluded the fire was deliberately lit. 25.7.06 ABC news
On the 15th May, the Austimbers mill, just east of Orbost, sacked about 15 workers. Not so long ago it had the largest sawlog licence in East Gippsland but now its saws and machines lie silent, its gates are closed and the receivers flick through the books to salvage some cash to pay the workers. …
Scruffy scruplesReaders will be aware of government and logging industry attempts to give wood products that come from destructive clearfelled areas a green tick of approval. This is to con both domestic and overseas buyers that the timber they purchase is from nicely logged forests. To achieve this, they invented the Australian Forestry Standard or …
NZ has no logging industry that cuts down public native forests and yet employs 23,000 people, produces 11% of the country’s total exports being 4% of their GDP, has annual sales of $5 billion with $3.5 billion of that being exported. New Zealand has one of the largest areas of protected natural forest in the …
The Victorian Government plans to use gauge convertible concrete sleepers in the upgrade of the Mildura rail line. This was a solution green groups were putting to our government years ago to save thousands of old Red Gums from being cut down for replacement sleepers on railway lines. The East Gippsland upgrade used thousands upon …
