"Management strategies for threatened flora and fauna, including the red-tailed black cockatoo, spot-tailed quoll and large forest owls, are incorporated into the proposal," the consultation paper said. The paper said the area of public land available for timber production would be reduced.
Together with new principles of ecologically sustainable forest management, "this could result in reduced resource availability in some forest management areas".
The West region covers 5.8 million hectares, from the western outskirts of Melbourne to the South Australian border. The Great Dividing Range forms much of the northern boundary. Private land comprises 81 per cent of the region and is mainly used for agriculture and industry. Public land makes up 1.1 million hectares or 19 per cent of the area and is mainly native forest - the Otways, the Great Dividing Range and the south-west corner around Portland.
Of the public land, state forests occupy 403,000 hectares, or 37 per cent, and conservation reserves make up 423,400 hectares. The adoption of the draft CAR reserve system would bring the region's total reserved area to 591,400 hectares, about 59 per cent of public land.
Included in the draft reserve system are the Pyrete Range in the Wombat State Forest, Cobaw State Forest, substantial areas of forest around Horsham, and areas of the Cobboboonee State Forest in the south-west.
The paper identified 378 endangered, vulnerable and rare ecological vegetation classes (EVCs), most of which are considered endangered and on private land. The representation of EVCs in the draft CAR reserve system meets or exceeds the criterion of 15 per cent of their pre-1750 distribution.
However, the paper said plain grassy woodland had been depleted to about 3 per cent of the pre-1750 distribution mainly due to agriculture. The draft CAR reserve system protected 33 per cent of its remaining extent, even though national reserve criteria required 100 per cent preservation of depleted ecosystems.
"Given the dependence of the local red gum industry on this EVC, it may be possible to maintain a low impact and low level of selected harvesting in such an ecosystem," the paper said. "Harvesting operations will be managed on a single-tree selection basis with prescriptions for maintaining the suite of grassland species, protecting large, hollow bearing trees and retention of sufficient trees likely to develop hollows in the future."
Grazing would be reviewed to consider its effects on this EVC. "Where necessary, grazing activities may be phased out or amended," the paper said.
According to the comprehensive regional assessment for the West RFA, annual production of the region's 22 hardwood sawmills is valued at $53.1 million, with flowon effects worth about $99.3 million to state output in 1997-98. Sawmilling turns over about $29.9 million and pulpwood is worth about $23.2 million.
The hardwood industry is estimated to provide 1272 direct and indirect jobs, and contributes to other"sectors such as furniture manufacturing, joinery and craft wood industries. The consultation paper said that in 1997-98, there was an estimated capital investment of $1.4 million in mills, and many mills planned to further increase the degree of value-adding.
The proportion of output sold as seasoned timber is 22 per cent, providing 40 per cent of the gross value of timber sales. Sawmillers estimated that the proportion of seasoned timber output would increase to 31 per cent by 2007-08.
The paper said that the draft CAR reserve system, together with new sustainable yield rates, would cut back sawlog availability. Around: the Midlands, resources could be reduced by 23 per cent, with a further 9 per cent if the draft CAR reserves were set up. Around Portland, resources could be reduced by respectively 14 per cent and 14 per cent.
The paper said that preliminary analysis suggested that timber resources from the Otways would be lower than the current licence commitment 41,154 cubic metres a year.
The gross value of production would also be reduced. Around the Midlands, for example, current annual production of $13.56 million would be reduced to $10.02 million if the draft CAR reserves were implemented. Value adding would increase this to $10.73 million.
Towns most likely to be hit by cutbacks in mill employment were Daylesford, Woodend and Colac.
The paper reiterated the importance of forests in West Victoria particularly the Grampians and the Otways/Great Ocean Road - for the region's tourist industry. Tourism Victoria found that in 1996, the West received about 3.5 million overnight visitors and 4.52 million day trippers, who together spent a total of $576 million.
In 1994-95, there were an estimated 723,000 visitors to state forests and 3.67 million visitors to national parks in the West. The tourist value of this was $4.3 million to $13 million from state forests and $66.2 million from parks.
Based on spending patterns of visitors per day, the paper estimated that state forests contributed $14.5 million to $36.2 million a year to:the regional economy, and national parks up to $481.51 million, "though caution is required in these figures as they are extrapolations from other studies"
The paper said that based on these aggregate figures, tourism and recreation on public land in the West was estimated to contribute $496 million to $517.7 million a year to the regional economy. The Grampian's National Park alone contributed about $174 million to the local economy and a further $220 million to the state economy. The paper said visits to national parks were expected to continue growing at 5 per cent a year.