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The government has spent more than $550,000 over the past five weeks battling conservationists disrupting crews in Goolengook cutting timber nominally worth $250,000 to $350,000. More than 75 protesters have been arrested. Logging was all but completed yesterday, but a week-long blockade in the Wombat State Forest continued while a peace deal keeping the lid on protests in the Otways came to the point of collapse.
The much-heralded deal struck in January may come undone because the government wants to log contentious areas to make up for timber falling short of estimates. Under the deal, the Otways Ranges Environment Network agreed not to interfere with crews logging six coupes in water catchments in return for the government deferring road plans and logging in 34 other environmentally sensitive blocks.
Network spokesman Simon Birrell said the deal was struck in good faith to allow the government to meet its licence commitments for 37,500 tonnes of timber. That volumes fell short of estimates proved logging was unsustainable, he said. Mr Birrell urged the government to avoid confrontation by compensating the sawmillers for the shortfall or choosing non-contentious coupes.
A spokeswoman for Environment and Conservation Minister Sherryl Garbutt said the department and minister were always sceptical that the six coupes would yield enough timber. The deal was contingent on volumes being realised, she said. "The necessity to go to other coupes to harvest the remainder is regrettable but necessary," she said. "The department will now identify two or three coupes to ensure the yield is delivered in the short time remaining of the season."
Mick Murnane, chairman of the Otways largest sawmill, ET & EW Murnane, said he was short 800 tonnes on his licence for mountain ash. He defended the department, saying there was an element of guesswork in estimating volumes because some areas had been picked over selectively for their best timber in the past, and the loss of quality logs was not apparent until crews got in. Mr Murnane said everyone wanted to look after the forest for timber, water and tourism, and it was disappointing that some people would stop logging contractors doing an honest day's work.
In the Wombat Forest, residents have disrupted logging for more than
a week at Mount Wilson. Spokesman Tibor Hegedis said the protest started
when a few residents went to the area to see for themselves what was happening
"and had been moved to stay".
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