I doubt whether it is possible to make more mistakes in a single letter than Nancy Phillips writing on forests (10/2). None of the many species extinctions since European settlement have been scientifically attributed to the logging industry. Most species loss has occurred outside the forests in cleared agricultural or pastoral areas. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the area of native forests in this country has been increasing since the early 1980s.
Management of forests costs money for fire control, fire trails, feral pest management, research and education. Without the millions of dollars the industry pays in royalties, funding for these activities is greatly reduced and the forests and their visitors are disadvantaged. This situation is becoming apparent in many national parks.
The Regional Forest Agreement process will protect high conservation
areas and allow sustainable multiple use elsewhere. The prospects of "saving
the bush" (and our rural communities), in Nancy Phillip's terms, will be
much higher than if it is all locked up.