DEAR News Of The Area,

I HAVE been following the various stories about the anti-logging protests in Newry Forest.

As spokesmen for the protestors have accused the Forest Corporation of causing serious environmental damage, which concerned me, I thought I would do some research on what environmental regulations the Forestry Corporation has to comply with.

The answer is – a lot.

A check of the Corporation’s web site (www.forestrycorporation.com.au) revealed that they have a mass of compliance issues that they have to satisfy before and during logging operations.

Koala protection is high on this list.

So, after looking at this information against some of the conflicting claims made by the anti-logging protestors, it appeared to me that the truth could be in one of these options:
· That Forestry Corporation’s web site is full of lies about how it operates (a dangerous position for a corporation to put itself in);
· The Corporate’s employees are ignoring the environmental rules and legislation controlling their operations (again, a dangerous thing for them to do);
· The protestors are not aware of the environmental controls that prevent the Forestry Corporation from acting irresponsibly;
· The protestors choose to ignore the fact that the Corporation is complying with the environmental controls and logging responsibly, as it’s a better story to continue to accuse it of environmental vandalism.

I believe that no sensible person wants to see native forests or wildlife destroyed.

Surely we are a mature enough society to look at what is being done to find a sensible balance between providing hardwood for houses and industry and protecting native forests, and if some of us think the balance is wrong, have an argument about it based on facts, not emotions.

Regards,
Patrick WALTERS,
Coffs Harbour.