National Parks Open For Logging, Thanks! Tony Abbot

[MudRunnerTD]

in a previous life i worked for the DSE (Department of Sustainability and Environment) and i was a Saw Log Grader in the Logging Industry. I was on contract and was paid according the quantity. I was paid well.

In 2002 the Victorian Govt made an election promise to cease all logging in the Otways after the election and i went looking for another job. I found a Career and am happy. And Lucky.

So the things i learned while working at the front line...

Firstly, i am an environmentalist. i struggled to start with even applying for the position but came to terms with it. My role was to Grade the quality of the timber going in to the saw mills to determine the Royalty paid for each piece, The computer checking system assigned at random 25% of ALL loads coming out of the Otways to be "Check Loads" for which i was responsible for walking, measuring and grading Every part of the load being delivered. Every log. By Hand with a Tape measure. Does not get much more intimate that that. Personally climbed on and walked and measures 25% of the entire harvest coming out of the Otways in each harvest season.

If i found any load that had been felled badly causing "Shake' Damage i would report it and the Feller would have his ticket suspended pending investigation and testing of his technique.

My Job. Keep the Bastards Honest! I cant stand them back up, but i sure as hell can make sure that they were not wasted. I measured 25% and my grading was then applied to 100% of the harvest. every log i graded counted for 4 logs in the harvest. I was Tough and graded literally.

my other contract with the DSE that ran concurrently was as an inspector at the Pulp Mill. In Uniform i sat at the weighbridge at the large Pulp Mill in Geelong and waited for loads to come from all over the state. With a Very Keen eye i could walk around a truck and spot a Saw Log in a Pulp load and have the truck load set aside for grading. Remember i know Noone in the bush, No Friends there. if i found a Saw log in a Pulp load then i would write it up and the Log grader in the Bush would loose his ticket for 10 days. second offence, permanently. by the end of me doing that for 2 years there was not many saw logs going to pulp! Plenty in the beginning though.

Sorry, to the point. Things i Know.

Statistics.

Only 5% of the Otways National park is ear marked for Hard Wood saw log harvest. Then.
Of that 5%, only 1% of 5% (0.005% of total) was ear marked for harvest Each year on a 100 year rotation.

"Clear Fell Logging" is the Safest and most sustainable way to log an area. Prior to releasing a Coupe to the Logging companies the DSE Forrest Officers would walk the Coupe sq/m by sq/m harvesting seed pods from the trees in that coupe and identifying any "Habitat" trees that would be marked with a ribbon and must be left standing in the clear fell coupe. By Clear Felling the coupe would not be left with a loan tree that may cause risk to the general public of limb dropping an the whole site would regenerate and a similar rate using the replanting of seed pods taken from the same coupe pre logging.

That Gentlemen is Sustainable Logging at its best.