THE long-time owner and operator of the Bowraville Sawmill, Matt Dyer, made an impassioned plea to Nambucca Valley Council at its 16 November meeting in response to recent actions by councillors across the Mid North Coast who signed a letter seeking an immediate stop to native forest logging in the region.

The letter was signed by local councillors Susan Jenvey, Ricky Buchanan and David Jones, alongside select councillors from City of Coffs Harbour, Bellingen Shire Council, Nambucca Valley Council, Kempsey Shire Council, Port Macquarie Hastings Council, Clarence Valley Council and MidCoast Council.

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The councillors called for an urgent meeting with senior NSW Government ministers to discuss the impacts of native forest logging on biodiversity, water quality and bush fire safety in their LGAs.

The councillors’ statement was sent to prominent NSW Government figures including Premier Chris Minns as part of a growing movement to ban native forest logging across Australia.

“Bowraville will be driven into more economic hardship by the actions of a few misinformed members of the public,” Mr Dyer told the recent Nambucca Valley Council meeting.

According to Mr Dyer the four sawmills in the area contribute to the local community through jobs and provision for the young families of those employed, donations and support for the local youths, in particular investing in sporting programmes.

Furthermore, he said, the trucks servicing those sawmills carry produce as freight to the local areas and these costs would be increased should logging in the region be stopped or reduced.

“We have some of the most stringent protocols for harvesting native timber in the world,” Mr Dyer reminded the Councillors.

He went on to address what he sees as misinformation circulating regarding the local logging industry and bushfires and in particular the bushfires of 2019.

Mr Dyer reminded his audience that the fires had begun in National Park territory and had burnt for three weeks before “decimating the local area”.

“Instead of blaming the logging industry, I suggest National Parks change their policy to adhere to what must be done,” he said, calling for more hazard reduction in these zones.

One of the arguments made by those advocating for a stop to native forest logging, is that plantation timber and logged forests burn more severely than mature forests.

According to David Bowman, a Professor of Pyrogeography and Fire Science from the University of Tasmania, shutting down the timber industry is not the answer.

“Our climate is changing and fires are behaving in different ways to how they have in the past,” he told News Of The Area.

“What the environmentalists don’t get is that regrowth is very flammable.

“We need to change how we fight and manage fire risks and foresters need to be part of the debate.

“There is a need for selective thinning down of the regrowth forests.

“The thing we need to do is manage our resources sustainably,” Professor Bowman said.

Mr Dyer expressed his frustration that while the timber industry was deemed to be an essential industry during the COVID era, and was prioritised in the absence of tourists as important to keep going, it appears to be first in line for cancellation.

He was shocked, he said, at the audacity of local councillors who would attempt to shut down viable local businesses and “rob the area of hundreds of jobs”.

Nambucca Valley Mayor Hoban clarified that the letter which was signed represented the private actions of individual Nambucca Valley Councillors David Jones, Susan Jenvey and Ricky Buchanan and was not an “adopted” position of the Council.

By Ned COWIE