January 2005 Strzelecki Ranges. Parish of Bulga Allotment 13 - Leasehold under 1961 APM Wood Pulp Agreement. Tarra River Catchment. Yarram water supply. It appears that over one dozen trees ranging from 60 to 90 years have been logged in this plantation. We were under the illusion that Hancock only logs their plantations. If that is the case why were these trees removed?
January 2005 Strzelecki Ranges Parish of Bulga Allotment 13 - APM Leasehold under 1961 Wood Pulp Agreement. Tarra River Catchment. Yarram water supply. These lucky remant trees have so far avoided the chainsaws. Trees this size and larger have recently been cut out at this site.
January 2005 Strzelecki Ranges. Parish of Bulga Allotment 13 - APM Leashold under 1961 Wood Pulp Agreement. Tarra River Catchment. Yarram water supply. This stump was not a plantation tree. Why was it logged? These trees would have made very good habitat trees in a few years.
January 2005 Strzelecki Ranges. Parish of Bulga Allotment 13 - Leasehold under 1961 APM Wood Pulp Agreement. Tarra River Catchment. Yarram water supply. This stump was a plantation tree. Note the difference from the photo above.
January 2005 Strzelecki Ranges. Parish of Bulga Allotment 13 - Leasehold under 1961 APM Wood Pulp Agreement. Tarra River Catchment. Yarram water supply. Young radiata pine growing on land surrounded by the Tarra Bulga National Park. How sustainable is it to have plantations growing so close to a National Park?
January 2005 Strzelecki Ranges. Parish of Bulga Allotment 13 - Leasehold under 1961 APM Wood Pulp Agreement. Tarra River Catchment. Yarram water supply. Another non-plantation stump, with some of the cut logs left on the ground. (see below).
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January 2005 Strzelecki Ranges. Parish of Bulga Allotment 13 - Leasehold under 1961 APM Wood Pulp Agreement. Tarra River Catchment. Yarram water supply. What quantities and what types of herbicides will be applied on this plantation in the near future? Will Hancock be informing the residents of Yarram and surrounds that they will be spraying in the near future, most likely by Helicopter?
January 2005 Strzelecki Ranges. Parish of Jumbuk - ex APM Leasehold land. Morwell River East Branch Cool Temperate rainforest with scant buffers protecting the rainforest against the impacts of fire, windfall and the disease Myrtle Wilt. The rainforest of the Morwell River East Branch is of regional significance.
January 2005 Strzelecki Ranges. Parish of Jumbuk - ex APM Leasehold land. At this location on a tributary of the Morwell River East Branch a buffer of only 7 metres was recorded when the area was logged in late 2004. This is appalling and flys in the face of ecological common sense. It would be better to leave buffers of at least two tree lengths, but Hancock in their haste to log the catchment, have granted the rainforest almost absolute minimal 'protection'. This is very poor form considering that Hancock will be audited by Smartwood in February/March 2005. Why would Hancock rush in to log this area without their rainforest BMP being completed and peer reviewed, knowing that an audit will follow in only a few months time?
In June 2004, the FSC certifier Smartwood conducted an audit of Hancock's operations in the Strzelecki Ranges. Hancock was issued with a new Corrective Action Requests which was;
"CAR 1 -2004: The Rainforest Management BMP shall be completed by 1 March 2005 including an independent peer review and further stakeholder input. The current accepted practice of stakeholder involvement in boundary marking is to continue with coupes where HVP/GRP harvests plantations adjacent to any areas of Cool or Warm Temperate Rainforest.
Observation 1 -2004: Given stakeholder concerns and limitations, GRP should explore short-term alternative mechanisms for ensuring that it can obtain stakeholder input into the design of rainforest buffers and related management activities until such time that the Rainforest Management BMP is completed and practices dictated by the new BMP are fully internalized by HVP/GRP staff."
Why haven't Hancock done this?
January 2005 Strzelecki Ranges. Parish of Jumbuk - ex APM Leasehold land. Morwell River East Branch Cool Temperate rainforest. At this location buffers of only 30 metres have been granted by Hancock. Hancock intend to log over 800 hectares of 'hardwood plantations' in the Gippsland region in 2004/5.
January 2005 Strzelecki Ranges. Parish of Jumbuk - ex APM Leasehold land. Morwell River East Branch Cool Temperate rainforest 'buffer'.
January 2005 Strzelecki Ranges. Parish of Jumbuk - ex APM Leasehold land. Morwell River East Branch Cool Temperate rainforest buffer, showing trees already falling into the buffer after being knocked over during logging activities. Wind can also play havoc with buffers and don't even mention fires.
January 2005 Strzelecki Ranges. Parish of Jumbuk - ex APM Leasehold land. Morwell River East Branch Cool Temperate rainforest showing an example of Myrtle Wilt. For more information see here.
January 2005 Strzelecki Ranges. Parish of Jumbuk - ex APM Leasehold land. Morwell River East Branch Cool Temperate rainforest. At this location logging and roading debris had been pushed into a 'buffer' only a few metres from young and emerging Myrtle Beech.
Same as above, but at a different location in the catchment.
January 2005 Strzelecki Ranges. Parish of Jumbuk - ex APM Leasehold land. Morwell River East Branch. Poor roading and drainage is a common problem.
January 2005 Strzelecki Ranges. Parish of Jumbuk - ex APM Leasehold land. Morwell River East Branch. Poor roading and drainage is a common problem.
January 2005 Strzelecki Ranges. Parish of Jumbuk - ex APM Leasehold land. Morwell River East Branch. Regrowth Messmate - non plantation. Hopefully this forest will not be logged.
January 2005 Strzelecki Ranges. Parish of Jumbuk - ex APM Leasehold land. Morwell River East Branch. Inappropriate buffers occurred on this 'drainage line' which was flowing in the middle of summer, meaning it could be defined as a Permanent Stream. This should have meant that a 20-30 metre buffer be left on this tributary. Not 5 to 10 metres as Hancock has granted.
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Jan 05: Examples of poor roading and wet weather
work in the Morwell River East Branch.
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January 2005 Strzelecki Ranges. Parish of Jumbuk - ex APM Leasehold land. Morwell River East Branch. Slender Tree Fern which is listed by the FFG Act. Inappropriate buffers occurred on this 'drainage line' which was flowing in the middle of summer, meaning it could be defined as a Permanent Stream. This should have meant that a 20-30 metre buffer be left on this tributary. Debris knocked over by logging came very close to damaging this fern.
January 2005 Strzelecki Ranges. Parish of Jumbuk - ex APM Leasehold land. Morwell River East Branch. Logging access track punched through area which should have been granted a Permanent Stream buffer. This area is also highly prone to erosion.
January 2005 Strzelecki Ranges. Parish of Jumbuk - ex APM Leasehold land. Morwell River East Branch. Logging access track punched through area which should have been granted a Permanent Stream buffer. This area is also highly prone to erosion. Native vegetation bulldozed to probably minimise erosion on pretty poor roads.
January 2005 Strzelecki Ranges. Parish of Jumbuk - ex APM land. Middle Creek Catchment just off Jumbuk and Ritchies Road. Obvious signs of wet weather work, leaving tracks over one metre deep in places. At least 50 square metres of land has been used as a 'road' at the Ritchies Road end of this coupe.
January 2005 Strzelecki Ranges. Parish of Jumbuk - ex APM land. Middle Creek Catchment just off Jumbuk and Ritchies Road. Logging access track with potentially high erosion potential.
January 2005 Strzelecki Ranges. Parish of Jumbuk - ex APM land. Middle Creek Catchment just off Jumbuk and Ritchies Road.
January 2005 Strzelecki Ranges. Parish of Jumbuk - APM 1961 Wood Pulp Agrement land. Middle Creek Catchment just off Jumbuk and Ritchies Road. Decent enough buffers granted at this location.
January 2005 Strzelecki Ranges. Parish of Jumbuk - ex APM land. A log instead of a culvert, just off Ritchies Road.
January 2005 Strzelecki Ranges. Parish of Jumbuk - ex APM land. Middle Creek Catchment just off Jumbuk and Ritchies Road. Looking north. Mountain Ash being converted to non-endemic Shining Gum.
January 2005 Strzelecki Ranges. Parish of Jumbuk - ex APM land. Middle Creek Catchment just off Jumbuk and Ritchies Road. Looking north. Logging inside supposed exclusion has occurred at this location. Why?
January 2005 Strzelecki Ranges. Parish of Jumbuk - ex APM land. Shining Gum planted into head of Middle Creek tributary which was logged by Hancock about one year ago. Plantation expansion by stealth?
January 2005 Strzelecki Ranges - Albert River Catchment, where pine plantations were logged in 2003 (see here)and replanted with Shining Gum. Note that Sticky Wattle (Acacia Howittii) is regenerating between plantation trees. If this site will be aerially sprayed, how will the Sticky Wattle be protected?
Sticky Wattle is restricted to moist forests of the Strzeleckis and Upper Macalister River area in Victoria. The species is listed as rare by A.C. Beauglehole (The Distribution and Conservation of Vascular Plants in South Gippsland, Victoria (1984). For more information about this plantation click here.
January 2005 Strzelecki Ranges Albert River Catchment. At this site, several hectares of the rare species in an exclusion zone - Sticky Wattle (Acacia howittii), were destroyed by cable logging of a radiata pine plantation in 2003. This area has then been replanted by Hancock with Shining Gum. Plantation expansion by stealth?
Sticky Wattle is restricted to moist forests of the Strzeleckis and Upper Macalister River area in Victoria. The species is listed as rare by A.C. Beauglehole (The Distribution and Conservation of Vascular Plants in South Gippsland, Victoria (1984). For more information about this plantation click here.
January 2005 Strzelecki Ranges Albert River Catchment. Worsening erosion on old logging access track.
January 2005 Strzelecki Ranges Jack River Catchment. Recent pine logging. Hancock intend to log over 5000 hectares of pine plantations in the Gippsland region in 2004/5. Is this sustainable? Much of their pine plantations in high elevations will be converted to Shining Gum.
January 2005 Strzelecki Ranges Jack River Catchment. Recent pine logging and buffer.
January 2005 Strzelecki Ranges Morwell River Catchment East Branch. Recent pine cable logging and buffer.