Sheas Knob State Forest Protest Action
On Monday May 6 a delegation of concerned citizens walked into an active logging operation at Sheas Knob State Forest to bear witness to the wanton destruction of significantly important tall eucalypt forest, and its wildlife habitat, that is currently being undertaken by contractors employed by the NSW Forestry Corporation.
Citizen scientists have recorded multiple sightings of threatened fauna in that forest including the endangered Greater Glider and Koala, and the fact that this forest is a part of the promised Great Koala National Park, makes this logging operation even more abhorrent.
The state government’s decision to allow the ongoing widespread destruction of Koala habitat all across the proposed park is nothing short of scandalous and is rightly being widely condemned.
Even while this destruction is occurring, the timber industry is negotiating compensation for the loss of the timber resources which it claims will result from the park’s declaration. However, after witnessing the current destruction, the question arises, why should any compensation be paid? The timber resource is being taken anyway, and the forest is left in such a state that recovery will take many decades.
The combination of over logging, which is promoting dense regrowth, and the resultant high intensity bushfire impacts, makes it highly probable that these tall forests may never fully recover to their former glory.
Much of the timber being extracted is low quality salvage or small saw logs, with many measuring less than 30cm diameter at the small end, and few, if any, measuring more than 45cm at the larger end. At the mill, 30% is the most that can be salvaged as timber from a small saw log, the remaining 70% being turned into woodchip.
As a result, it’s clear that Forestry Corporation will lose money from this operation, as it has done consistently across the state for the past 23 years, and the fact that the NSW’s government still allows the logging of these forests to occur at a financial loss, beggars belief.
For the sake of Koalas, STOP LOGGING NATIVE FORESTS!
John Edwards