NORTH WEST TASMANIA
New logging photos in in North West Tasmania
A clearfell of deep red myrtle behind Preolenna near what appears to be the Jessie Gorge. Photos taken 1st June 04.
Tarkine Wilderness.
Nestled deep in the North West of Tasmania is the fabled Tarkine rainforest.
The remaining tracts of the Tarkine forests contain ancient pure rainforest of Myrtle and Sassafrass as well as eucalypt mix rainforests, that have either not as yet seen the effects of the chainsaw, or have only been disturbed in the era of selective hand cutting of trees. There are areas of the Tarkine that are yet to be seen by the eyes of settlers.
It is for this reason that a collective of forest activists, some of whom have been active for up to 20 years in the area, are working on a proposal for a 370,000ha Wilderness Area, that will ensure the survival of the remainder of the Tarkine and its endemic species for the future. Work that is a follow on from the high profile campaigns such as that of Mother Cummings, the Road to Nowhere, and what could be the next instalment in the form of the Pipeline Corridor campaign. All of which involve protecting and highlighting the Tarkines immense biodiversity and natural integrity.
click to go to North West gallery
Pipeline corridor thru Tarkine.
Through the heart of the Tarkine rainforest runs the Savage River Pipeline and adjoining service road. This corridor cuts a path from the town of Port Latta on the north coast of Tasmania to Australian Bulk Minerals (ABM) Savage River mine, embedded deep in the north west of the state.
The Savage River Pipeline passes through some of the purest and rarest forms of Myrtle rainforest left in the area, including a vast tract of deep red myrtle, that the pipeline runs through. It is for this reason that Forestry Tasmania (FT) are doing their damndest to convice ABM that they should be allowed to use the pipeline road to access these areas of red myrtle rainforest for their wood interests, other wise known as WOODCHIPS. Forestry Tasmania however is telling the tale that there will be some high grade utilisation of red myrtle for furniture and other such value added product, however the question of how much of this wood would be utilised for such products is a rather touchy issue for the people of Foresty Tasmania.
At the present moment ABM are not looking as though they will allow FT to use their access road through the Tarkine to clearfell the red myrtle and other species of the area. As they are under contractual agreement, on a federal level, to make sure that wilderness value of the area, is not devalued as a result of the presence of the Savage River Pipeline.
Forestry have now bypassed ABM and forced through their intentions to begin logging the Deep Red Myrtle corridor in the summer of 2004. Big actions ahead, stay tuned......
For Forestry Tasmania's report on the Deep Red Myrtle Corridor, click on the picture below.
click to go to Deep Red Myrtle Corridor
Hampshire chip mill.
En route to the Cradle Mountain/Lake St Clair National Park, Hampshire
woodchip mill is neatly tucked away behind a grove of pine trees. This
is a 24hour operation of truck movements and grinding mills that chip
the regional areas forests, including the Tarkine. Two giant cranes continuely
grapple the entire load off the log trucks and place them on huge stock
piles awaiting their fate in the chipper. High security surrounds the
complex and even log trucks are intensly inspected as they arrive. This
is not only for security, but to scan the logs for any rot or charcoal.
If rot or charcoal is discovered then the truck drivers are informed to
turn around, take their loads back to where they came from, unload, reload
their trucks without the log in question and finally return to the mill.
This happened in a recent case where one log had around 30cm rot and the entire load was turned away. This led to the unthinkable scenario of the trucky having to call the Greens for help. Master German Forester, Frank Strea, was called to the rescue and examined the log in question.
Frank's discovery of the miniscual amount of rot that turned this load away exemplifies the intense stress and pressure that the woodchipping industries are placing on their contractors.
From Hampshire, a continual cascade of woodchip loaded trucks heads some 20km's north to Burnie. In Burnie their loads are placed onto conveyor bealts that lead up to the enormous chip pile that grows more and more every day.
Burnie
woodchip wharf.
Nestled on the north coast of Tasmania, Burnie has so much going for it
that it needs something like a giant woodchipping industry in town to
ruin it for everyone. Less than 800 metres fron Burnie's Central Bussiness
District lies a stockpile of woodchips of enormous magnitude. Old growth
forests, plantations and native forests are all brought to Burnie from
Hampshire as woodchips awaiting export to the rest of the world for paper
pulp production.
If the market allows, then the woodchip ships turn up to load 1000's of tonnes of forest chips for the world markets. Burnie wharf also facilitates the export of whole logs to world markets. Prime saw logs exported for another countries downstream processing.
Rumours have it that the bottom of the wood chip pile has not been turned over for some seven years. That leads to the assumption of a giant compost pile. That then leads to the ideas of health problems thar may be associated with a fifty foot compost. Mico toxins, fungal infections and legionala outbreaks are all possible scenarios that are proven to derive from rotting wood products, very similar to potting mix, which comes with a warning of such contamination possibilities.
Other health problems include a raining torrent of saw diust any time the wind picks up from an offshore breeze. Could saw dust blown into air conditioning units slowly start to compost and help spread the contamination of legionalar disease which has occured time and time again in Burnie?
Gunns private
land, en route to Cradle Mountain National Park.
The biggest privatley owned land in Tasmania, highly visible on any forest
map of Tasmania and visible from space. Once an area of ancient rainforest,
now called the Shinning Gums, a monoculture wasteland of plantations stretching
for miles and miles.
To access one of Tasmania's premier tourist destinations, Cradle Mountain/Lake St Clare, you have to drive thru this devestation. Cleafells line the road with 1080 POISON LAID signs at every turnoff. All roads off the highway have locked gates so the tourist cant see the real story. However Gunns have proudly brought some of the real story to the roadside with no buffer from curb to clearfell.
Locals talk of the rain that stops the moment you drive into the Shining Gums. Other locals talk of the rivers and streams that used to flow all year round but are now just a violent torent if water every time it rains. There is no longer the forest to absorb the rains and run off and there for allow it to seep into the waterways gradually over the year.
Plantation establishment in residential/rural
areas
Preolenna,
Meunna, Flowerdale, Oldina.
Plantation establishment within these 'towns' have destroyed the whole
infrastructure of communities, with Gunns, Forest Enterprises Australia(FEA),
Forestry and other private timber companies tearing out all basic services
from these areas, including power, water and phone lines. Common practice
is to buy up land surrounding dairies, plant thousands of hectares of
Euc. nitens right to the boundaries, and basically squeeze out remaining
farms due to dairy trucks not having enough pick up points, skyrocketing
the cost of milk removal.
To coincide with this, the beef industry is reeling, with Blue Ribbon
recently retrenching a major part of it's workforce due to low quantities
of beef production. Could this be a link with agricultural/ treefarm takeover?
The planting of these Eucalypts on class 3 and 4 soils (high quality top soils up to 1.5 metres deep) is quite irresponsible anyway, as the trees grow too quickly, causing the hearts to end up similar to Balsa. Private timber companies have also purchased this land anywhere up to 50% above current market values, due to the tax incentives offered by the current Federal Government. Only when they have secured large quantities of this land do they then offer lesser amounts of money to the people who tried to hang on to their farms.
For more detailed info and what other community groups are up to, then check out these other websites;
click for larger image
If your community has concerns over a forestry development or something of interest in your area then please send us your story at:
tasforests@yahoo.com.au