Take the heat out of the fire debate

Yorick Piper, Victorian assistant secretary, CFMEU forestry division

The Age (letter), 24/1/03

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The call for a rethink on forest management is neither part of a bash-the-bush agenda, Michael Fendley (Opinion, 22/1), nor is it seeking to pillage our wild areas (Andrew Cox, 22/1). It is a call for science and research, rather than emotive politics, to drive forest management decisions.

Improving forest management is as important to protecting environmental values as it is to protecting lives and livelihoods.

More than 70 harvesting contractors are leaving the bush and at least 700 workers are leaving the timber industry as a result of recent cuts. This totals millions of dollars worth of bulldozers and excavators available to fight fires, cut fire breaks and make access roads, as well as a huge wealth of experience and personnel.

These cuts, coupled with poor fire management policies such as opposition to controlled fuel reduction burns, leave our forests at greater risk.

Scientists and fire experts should conduct the inquiry - and politicians and greens should heed the results.


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