Loads of Chips

Vicforests continually claims that their need to clearfell Victoria's Native Forests is to provide timber for construction, and that woodchips are a byproduct. Yet soon they will raze a section of forest that is predominately Manna gum (ideal for arboreal mammals) or Peppermint gum, in areas where Department of Sustainability and Environment surveys have found a number of vulnerable species including bandicoot, for a small proportion of Messmate Stringybark which is that is both suitable for construction and accessible for removal. The timber that is not required, or which is too difficult to remove, will be burnt. Five trees per acre will be left standing to provide the seeds to regenerate a forest of many species of trees, grasses, shrubs, wildflowers, mosses, ferns and fungi, which provide breeding sites for birds, mammals and insects, and protection and feeding grounds for reptiles and marsupials. It is difficult to imagine how five trees will restore a diverse forest.
Is Vicforests condemning our unique animals to extinction simply to keep a few loggers in jobs?
We tell our school children that on average they will have 5 to 7 career changes in their lives, and that change is an opportunity for growth.
Why do we need to protect loggers as a species to the detriment of our natural assets and tourism potential?
And which of these is the eco-terrorist? The committed tree sitter braving all weathers to bring attention to a cause, or one who supports their cause under cover of darkness assisted by a steel picket afraid of being identified in a photograph, but brave enough to attack a tree with a chainsaw?

See photos of Australian Paper's Maryvale Mill here