BECAUSE her property borders the Tuckers Nob State Forest, Wendy Firefly received a letter from Forestry Corporation NSW (FCNSW) that the compartment adjoining her property will be logged in May.

Ms Firefly is also a neighbour of the Bindarri and Dorrigo National Parks and told News Of The Area that her property is a koala habitat.

“I have to get permission to cut down one tree, and yet Forestry Corporation can cut down a whole forest,” she said.

Ms Firefly said the compartment to be logged is part of the proposal to create a land bridge from the tablelands through Bindarri and Dorrigo National Parks to Bongil Bongil State Forests.

“It’s almost like Forestry Corporation is testing us out.”

She said the 200 Ha of Tuckers Nob State Forest is approximately half native forest and half plantation.

Ms Firefly believes the little creek that comes through the compartment and then runs along her boundary will be filled with sediment once logging begins because, she said, since 2018, work can occur up to 5m from a watercourse.

She, and others, are concerned that the native forest sections of the State Forest will be treated in the same way as plantation sections and be clear felled.

A Forestry Corporation spokesperson told News Of The Area that the proposed harvesting operation for 2022 in Tuckers Nob State Forest will occur in some smaller sections of a large area of hardwood timber plantations.

The spokesperson said these plantations were planted during the 1960’s and 1970’s with local native eucalypt species as a timber crop on areas that were previously cleared for agriculture.

The spokesperson pointed out that all timber plantations are regulated by the Department of Primary Industries and are required to be formally authorised under the Plantations and Reafforestation Act before any harvesting takes place.

She said that FCNSW is also happy to receive comment from stakeholders to consider as part of this review process.

Ms Firefly’s group, initially, is urging people to write to the company receiving timber from this compartment, asking it to check that the timber may not be sourced entirely from plantation timber.

She said that a briefing this Sunday, January 23 will take place from 10am at Lot 1, 133 Timboon Rd, Valery, for interested people.

 

By Andrew VIVIAN