April 2 2017 Strzelecki Ranges: Community Tour of Proposed Strzelecki Cores and Links Reserve on Yarram-Madalya Road. First handback of land occurring most likely in June where College Creek, Mount Marble and Asplenslip will be returned to State Ownership and Reserved. This process has taken 16 years to undertake. The tour was attended by members of the local community, reprentatives of Hancock and State Government.
April 2017 Strzelecki Ranges: Community Tour of Proposed Strzelecki Cores and Links Reserve. Track 32 on the western side of College Creek. Looking over the regeneration after 300ha was logged by HVP between 2009-12.
April 2017 Strzelecki Ranges: Koala sited in young regenerating trees (most likely E.cypellocarpa Mountain Grey Gum) at Craig Court in the Morwell River Catchment
October 2008 Strzelecki Ranges: Same site 9 years earlier, coppicing native vegetation can be seen on the ridge top, meaning that it had been logged by HVP when they also logged planted Mt Ash. .
April 2017 Strzelecki Ranges: Middle Creek (Morwell River catchment). Simazine was still being detected in Middle Creek (water and sediment) 9 years after last being used by HVP. Simazine is a known endocrine disruptor.
April 2017 Strzelecki Ranges: Middle Creek (Morwell River catchment). Regenerating pine plantation, with natural regeneration. The regeneration is usually sprayed with the herbicide Hexazinone.
April 2017 Strzelecki Ranges: Middle Creek (Morwell River catchment). Regeneration of plantation logged a couple of years ago.
April 2017 Strzelecki Ranges: Middle Creek (Morwell River catchment). 30 year bluegum "plantation" in recently identified koala hotspot. What will happen to the Koalas when this site is logged?
April 2017 Strzelecki Ranges: Albert River catchment. Young E.nitens which is due to be logged soon. Hundreds of hectares of Shining Gum were planted in the Cores and Links Reserve. These will have to be logged and then regenerated with indigenous species to the Strzeleckis. One hopes that the nitens does not seed inside the Reserve.
April 2017 Strzelecki Ranges: Agnes River headwaters being logged. Water supply for Toora and surrounds.
April 2017 Strzelecki Ranges: Albert River catchment. Young E.nitens which is due to be logged soon.
April 2017 Strzelecki Ranges: Albert River catchment. Young E.nitens which is due to be logged soon. Growth rates are questionable. These trees are close to 14 years old and you can almost put your hand around one.
April 2017 Strzelecki Ranges: Albert River catchment.
Carter Holt Harvey plantation timber mill at Morwell may close The Weekly Times May 17, 2017
VICTORIA’s timber processing industry is in a state of flux after processor Carter Holt Harvey yesterday announced 160 jobs were at risk in the Latrobe Valley, where its plantation mill could close. It comes as 200 workers at the company’s Myrtleford timber mill enter their fifth week locked out by the company over an industrial dispute, and 240 workers at Australian Sustainable Hardwoods prepare for the Heyfield timber mill to close. Earlier this month the Victorian Government announced $110 million would be spent establishing a timber plantation in Gippsland — the first investment in plantation timber since the mid-1980s. . But it will be too late for CHH, which says its Morwell mill — which processes structural timber — is not viable. CHH said it would consult workers about a possible closure, which has been caused by significantly reduced supply to its Morwell sawmill. “This is a direct result of catastrophic predominantly arson-lit bushfires of Black Saturday in 2009 and subsequent fires of 2014,” the company said. “Fires since 2003 have burnt 15 per cent of its pine saw log supplier Hancock Victorian Plantations pine estate.” It would not say when it would make a final decision about the mill, but CHH said in the event of the Morwell mill closing, it would relocate staff where possible and meet full entitlements. It comes as a new report by the Victorian Environmental Assessment Council found “sustainable (native) harvest levels have been reduced by more than 50 per cent over the past decade”. The fibre and wood supply assessment found VicForests’ projections were reliable, but “further fires, detection of additional new Leadbeater’s possum colonies or reductions in volume due to climate or other disturbances will exacerbate further downward revisions of wood supply”. It said 43,000 cubic metres of harvest timber would be “reduced per year due to expected future impact of measures in place to protect the Leadbeater’s possum”. That is the amount the Heyfield management estimates is needed to keep the timber mill operating. The Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union met with workers at Heyfield yesterday to update them on negotiations for a possible sale of that mill. Premier Daniel Andrews offered to buy the mill, but owners have not agreed and say it will close based on current timber supply contracts from VicForests. A statement from the Victorian Government said it was advised by CHH on Monday the “closure was unavoidable”.
Leases in limbo Sam Darroch 20 Feb 2017
MORE jobs in the timber industry could be at stake as Hancock Victoria Plantations faces uncertainty over the future use of local plantations. HVP, a major supplier of Australian Paper Maryvale and Morwell-based sawmill Carter Holt Harvey, has a number of long-term State Government land leases in limbo and awaiting renewal. About 1000 hectares of HVP plantations are on state-owned land, including operations around Thorpdale, Callignee and Yallourn North, and the company wants to reinvest in all existing leases. "It's not putting the Leadbeater's Possum at risk, it's not putting koalas at risk; it's putting jobs and people's livelihoods at risk. - Dale Harriman" It is understood transport costs for operations outside 100 kilometres of APM would put a strain on the financial viability of supply. One HVP lease expired as of December 2016, with another due to run out on 30 June this year and a third within the next two years. National Timber Councils Association president Dale Harriman joined Member for Morwell Russell Northe to call on the State Government to urgently sign off on new leases to allow HVP to continue operating. "We can't afford this land not to be producing trees as quick as possible; any delays now delay harvesting and delay the product being available for Carter Holt Harvey or other sawmills and Australian Paper, and down the track means we're putting those jobs at risk," Mr Harriman said. "We're talking thousands of jobs, a huge impact on the local economy and we're talking the biggest paper mill in the southern hemisphere being put at risk." The plantations operate on a long-term rotational basis over about 30 years. The Express understands if leases lapse the company is charged with the rehabilitation of sites at its own cost. Mr Harriman said the industry was completely sustainable and HVP needed certainty to plan for the future of its assets. "It just beggars belief that the Treasury officials can't get off their butts and actually look at how big an effect this is going to have and say 'it's been going for 30 years, it's all the land is good for, we need to re-sign and we need to look after these local companies'," he said. "It's sustainable. This is plantation hardwood, this is unusable farmland. It's the same as harvesting wheat, it just takes longer. "It's not putting the Leadbeater's Possum at risk, it's not putting koalas at risk; it's putting jobs and people's livelihoods at risk." Mr Harriman said using more timber products in the construction industry, which he said contributed about 40 per cent of CO2 emissions in Victoria, could also help reduce our carbon footprint. Member for Morwell Russell Northe said there were concerns the State Government was looking at re-classifying the land as 'farmland' or 'grazing' rather than 'plantation' which would incur a higher cost to lease. "My understanding is HVP couldn't afford to have that classification applied and it's not applied for the correct purpose. It's not quality grazing land where these plantations are, it's low quality soil," Mr Northe said. "It appears Department of Treasury and Finance are just trying to elicit further monies out of HVP and that's not morally right." The Express understands some negotiations have been taking place between DTF and HVP. HVP has other operations on land it owns outright and has alternative licenses for. The DTF did not respond to questions from The Express in time for print.