In 1998, the State and Federal Government signed the Interim Forest Agreement which restricts all State forest logging operations in the Otways FMA to coupes outlined in the 1995/96 to 1997/98 and 1998/99 to 2000/01 Wood Utilization Plans (WUP).

We would like to raise the following issues

1. New Coups

In the 1999/00 to 2001/02 WUP there are coupes marked as ‘new coups’ for the 1999/00 logging season that do not appear on the 1998/99 to 2000/01 WUP. These ‘new coups’ include

CIANCIO 07/227/505/05

CHARLEYS CK STH 07/237/507/03

ESCARPMENT ROAD 07/239/501/09

BONE TK 07/255/501/07

KENNEDY PIPELINE 07/256/501/03

MT McKENZIE RDLINE 07/234/508/00 Roadline coupe

LINK TK RDLNE 07/235/504/11 Roadline coupe

Additionally there are twelve more ‘new coups’ added for logging in the 2000/01 and 2001/02 season.

Could we please have confirmation that coups marked as ‘new coups’ do not have approval from the Commonwealth Government for logging and hence cannot be logged until after the West RFA is signed.

2. Roadline Coups

1. The roadline coupes addresses do not appear on the 1998/99 to 2000/01 WUP. To build the new roads, additional areas of forest will have to be logged. These additional areas and associated volumes of timber were not listed on the 1998/99 to 2000/01 WUP.
2. Some roadline coups were clearly marked with coup addresses on the 1998/99 to 2000/01 WUP. They include

NO1 SPUR RDLINE 07/251/663/08

HAYDENS RDLINE 07/249/665/00

JUNCTION-MORRIS 07/234/504/06

The inclusion of the above three roadline coups on the 1998/99 to 2000/01 WUP is an acknowledgment that roadline coup addresses and associated data have to be included for the Commonwealth Government to give endorsement. This is consistent with Clause 2 of the Interim Forest Agreement. Approval for the disputed roadline coups could only be granted subject to Clause 3.1. (See Variation to the Interim Forest Agreement dated 26/6/1998.)

3. The Interim Forest Agreement has a definition of "Commercial timber harvesting" which includes "associated roading activities". Associated roading activities do not include the commercial removal of trees as this would contradict Clause 2 of the Interim Forest Agreement.

4. The roadline coups in dispute collectively represent 9.1 kilometers of roads for which 5.9 kilometers are in domestic water supply catchments. An additional 1,700 meter cubed of D+ logs and 3,300 tones of residual trees will be logged as a result. The Commonwealth Government must consider the physical and political impacts these roads will have on sensitive domestic water supply catchments, particularly in the West Barwon catchment.

Could you please confirm if the Commonwealth has given endorsement to the four disputed roadline coups and if so, was the public consulted as required by Clause 10 of the Interim Forest Agreement. Can you please provide copies of the Clause 3.1 agreements for the disputed roadline coups if available.

 

1. West RFA Timeline

Due to the Victorian State election and a delay in forming a State Government, it is anticipated the completion date for the West RFA will be extended into next year. This means the Interim Forest Agreement will also be extended. If such an extension occurs Conservation groups such as the Otway Ranges Environment Network (OREN) insist on being involved in any review of Otway Deferred Forests Areas (Otway DFA).

Since it is likely that a Minority ALP State Government will form in Victoria, the following statements made in the "Labor’s Policy for the Western Forest Agreement" are relevant.

The ALP policy statement acknowledged

"Already the Western RFA public consultation time has been cut down and rushed through to meet the 31^st December deadline".

"Labor does not support Regional Forest Agreements which do not include the meaningful participation of all the relevant parties, and which are not open and accountable".

"Communities in the region value the water catchments in the Otway State Forest as a major resource contributing to the region’s viability and capacity for growth. This resource must be protected.

"People in the Geelong region deserve to have their water catchments managed in a way which ensures that the availability of the water supply is commensurable to that enjoyed by their counterparts in metropolitan Melbourne."

Due to these policy statements, OREN insists on reviewing all existing logging coups with input from other relevant parties before the 1999/00 logging season commences. Additionally any revisions and extensions to the Otway DFA should only occur after consultation and input from OREN.

Could we please have confirmation members from OREN will be involved in ‘meaningful participation’ during the formation of a revised Otway DFA.

Yours Sincerely

Simon Birrell

For the Otway Ranges Environment Network