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Under the East Gippsland regional forest agreement, logging is prohibited in special protection zones. Any changes require public scrutiny under the region's forest management plan. But a spokeswoman for the Environment and Conservation Minister, Ms Sherryl Garbutt, said yesterday the area was rezoned "properly and strictly within guidelines". She said old-growth maps were made by computer modelling, and "as a consequence new information will arise all the time". The department collated zoning changes to ensure the required level of biodiversity protection and other targets were maintained. The contentious reclassification has come to light as the forestry division of the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union threatens action over the low value of forest timber being worked by its members.
The chief forester in Orbost, Mr Gary Featherstone, said the status of a 100-metre-wide, 400-metre-long section was changed from old-growth to regrowth after a field inspection. The section borders a logging block, or coupe, due for clearfelling. He said a 200-metre wide reserve on the other side of the creek was widened as compensation.
A spokeswoman for the Wilderness Society and the Concerned Residents of East Gippsland, Ms Jill Redwood, said the special protection zones were a farce if they could be logged "at the whim of the forest officers".
The president of the Lorne Business and Tourism Association, Mr Mike Hoey, said clearfelling in the hinterland threatened the town's water security and was damaging the region's natural attractions.
Several thousand people depended on tourism, compared with the "210
people employed in forestry" in western Victoria, Mr Hoey said. Logging
also threatened the feasibility of the proposed 75-kilometre Otways Walking
track.
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