Native forests worth $1 .8b a year

Graeme Gooding, Victorian Association of Forest industries, The Age (letter), 5/7/2001

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Jill Redwood's assertion (2/7) that logs sell for as low as nine cents a tonne from state forests is a gross misrepresentation.

The average stumpage price for the residual logs is $9.12 a cubic metre. Harvesting and cartage charges.are additional.

These lower grade logs make up 21 per cent of the sales revenue. The vast majority of income comes from the sawlog sales. Total revenue from annual log sales exceeded the estimated costs by $11 million.

In 1999 Victoria's native forest industries generated $1.8 billion and more than 10,000 jobs.