Be advised that the road will be closed for two months.
This is for "safety of logging operations" but is really to prevent demonstrations as the area above the road, including the only Victorian example of Wet Rainforest is torn to pieces.

 

There is no longer a sign on the SFR denoting a preserved area of wet temperate rainforest above the road towards Mt Erica and below the present park boundary. Even then it was pitifully narrow, but no longer too steep for modern logging techniques.
What will be left for The Great Forest National Park (if it even gets created)?
http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/a...-park-could-be-jobs-boon-20170210-guamtm.html

 

Fixed. The new rule regarding anytime editing and deleting should B0LD the edit date, though, to preserve our arguments?
Visual cues rule. Scott Adams is a very dangerous man for the American complacency.
Prepare to question your perceptions.

 

Yes, Cool. Concentrate, me!

 

Heyfield sawmill remains open on the tourist route. Millers become guides with genuine Ozzie accents. Big screen vid and theatre sound replace machinery which is blunted for safety.

 

No, please correct me where I am wrong:
Heyfield is set up to take 70 year old mountain ash, it would need a 40 million dollar refit to take small and plantation timber.
So, your children's children might see the coups as they are before logging (in the meantime the local microclimate produced will see Bawbaw's snow go to zero )

A weak compromise will probably be "You must cease operations when all the trees are gone"

http://www.latrobevalleyexpress.com.au/story/4442214/heyfield-mill-closure-put-on-hold/

 

"Internal Use Only" says the rejection of my application for data on the coupes.
I am also looking for stuff on the projected South Face Road extension all the way to Marysville. Not just for giggles and tourists.
But I read the stringent "protections" that apply.
Mainly to stop tourists seeing the destruction.
You will note the occasional dead tree among the debris. These are preserved "habitats" from where possums get splendid views as they starve. Most are located in the 50 meter road buffer zone, however.
The trees in the road buffer zone then get blown down across the road.
Big tree logging is not done yet. The rainforest dries out and burns. It then becomes a "bushfire salvage " coup.

 

They better all migrate to Craig's Hut with it's 200 meter protection zone. Might even get a feed from passing Alpine Trackers!

 

The discovered usage of hardwood for paper production is the death knell for our snow mountains. I noted that BawBaw got half as much snow as Lake Mountain for some years.
But it is even again now (at the reduced level) due to monster coupe clearing on the way to LM.
First thing is to separate the doomed little trees from the endangered big trees, IMHO.
Up to 24 March, Chris, you can theoretically examine proposed changes to "small scale harvesting operations" in Victoria and make submissions. But good luck with that, like last time, THE LINKS ADVERTISED DO NOT WORK!
http://www.vicforests.com.au/proposed-timber-utilization-plan and
http://www.vicforests.com.au/timber-utilization-plan-community-feedback-form

They hope that nobody is keen enough to look further. Having a vested interest might help.....

 

By their works you will know them. "The government is looking after this" har har. Remember when "Experimental Frog Coupe Logging" was proposed ? The idea was to afterwards make a scientific survey and see if the frog had REALLY gone.
The situation looks now be infinitely worse.
We now face a Trump style reality where NOBODY is responsible.
The public think that a few facebook tweets will keep things under control.
You will possibly note that the useless Vicforest's map does not even include the Southern BawBaw coupes !!!
"Oops! Lost in the DEPI transfer confusion"
There IS a 2012 decision included on their site to allow clearfelling around the 350 year old Ada Tree.
It will happen after the outrage has time to dissipate, mate.... 1939 regrowth is the prize. .

 

I think it is safe. It is small, after all.
Selective logging of Vancouver Island rainforest is almost complete. Half the size of Tasmania, it was left to the loggers to self regulate 80 years ago. They are still taking out thousand year old red cedars right now. Indian protesters block the last logging roads and are removed pretty quickly by heavies. (see sbs on demand).
But we must ask why only that one 2012 Ada permit is fully featured on the Vicforests website.
No doubt as a red herring to keep protesters busy and congratulating themselves while the REAL logging goes on within other large declared "safety" zones.

 

Maryvale paper mill in the Latrobe Valley is now owned by Japanese interests (from 2009). Maybe our gov earn ment got caught with a bad deal regarding supply? I dunno.. But it is a half billion dollar a year enterprise (600,000 tons of paper p.a). A new recycling plant there takes 80,000 tons of waste paper p.a..
I am sure that the mill would prefer plantation trees. But Portland claims to be the largest exporter of plantation blue gum chips in the world, just divert some and everybod should be happy?

But from Wikipedia:
" Australian Paper has a contract with the Victorian Government for the period 1996-2030 of buying wood at a 1996 fixed price on the logs. This includes mountain ash timber, deemed by scientists to be of high conservation value.[8] In August 2011 Australian Paper withdrew from Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification, in order to be able to use wood from old-growth forest logging by VicForests, but remained under the certification of the Australian Forestry Standard. Their previous auditor SmartWood was suspended in September 2011 as result of an FSC internal audit.[9] Later the company announced that its FSC certification has been retained for all products except Reflex paper.[10] As of 2013, the Reflex 100% recycled paper is FSC certified.[11]"

 

It is either funny or frightening to hear all the pollies suddenly trying to sound like Trump.
Maybe "You wanna low level road into Hotham? Make some deals! Logging get whatever they want above and below the road, Packer pays something in return for a casino licence, I get any gold they find on the route. Done!"

 

Similar style note to VicForests. "You don't wanna make us mad! Put up a 2017 update of this with complete legends within a week and we might forgive your unbelievably insolent treatment of the public"

 

As full member of the 5 ize spy organization, Australia gets to hide Google Earth areas which are classified or embarrassing.
This is the latest view of the above area.

 

Woodchipping for Kleenex was banned from the Otways long ago.
VicForests have got to hold out with the status quo until 2030. No way, Hosea!
They wanted to get into the water catchment areas. Looks like that is a goer.
Facts:
Greenvale is the biggest user of natural gas in Victoria.
They claim efficiency in that half their energy comes from "natural resources" Burn those bargain priced trees, baby!
Computer paper is unbelievably cheap, ban import completely and nobody would complain?
Or at least get govt to use recycled paper, as they promised.
http://www.smh.com.au/national/inve...promise-new-oz-jobs-lost-20151001-gjzcg8.html
VicForests "will respond to all correspondence received". when. I wonder....
GPO Box 191
Melbourne 3001

 

Off you go. Good Luck.
http://mountainviews.mailcommunity.com.au/mail/2017-02-13/blue-vein-coupe-halted/

 

Nice, indeed. So sad that the end of such nice places is nigh.
"Save The Tree" is meaningless to me. For all I care it can fall down tomorrow in it's 40 meter exclusion zone and the tourists can walk up and down it's length. Aboriginal art from China might be nailed onto it at strategic places.

 

Vic beancounters now have a choice:
Find 40 million to upgrade Heyfield, or let VicForests have "a little bit" of National park for zero cost.
Then "everybody" should be happy.
Greenvale can expand it's newfound goldmine of selling "green" electricity, water catchments can be fenced off again, saving the cost of keeping the Melbourne Desalination Plant operating (which is needing a complete refit), and areas of Cool Temperate Rainforest (which DOES NOT rely on hot burns, by the way) can be identified with suitable exclusion zones and protected FOREVER.

 

http://www.eastgippsland.net.au/files/documents/Vic-logging-plans-2016.pdf

 

In Finland 14% of their electrical power comes from biomass. Sounds good, you say, it is the only form of renewable energy which can be used for baseload.
But when you look closer you see that it is coming from converted paper mills that can no longer compete with imported product, and Australia is keen to follow their lead.
Tree farms yes, but not if they are produced from our old growth forests . Crazy, crazy ,crazy.