Looking at the just-released 2019-20 Sustainable Timbers Tasmania Annual Report highlights the plunder and fiasco of public native forest special timbers management in Tasmania.
On page 89 of the Annual Report is Table 16 summarising the 2019-20 production of specialty timbers from public native forest.
The bullshit around public native forestry in Tasmania is never ending.
Here I will just focus on a tiny piece of the fiasco-bullshit:
The following table shows the data from the STT annual report (page 89) summarising the annual sale of specialty timbers from the plunder of our public native forests; together with my own summary of Island Specialty Timbers (IST) annual log tender results:
Assuming the accountants and the editors have done their jobs, the IST log tender results should be a subset of the STT sales results.
https://www.islandspecialtytimbers.com.au/
Island Specialty Timbers does not produce its own separate annual report. A few years ago STT used to report highlights of the IST tender results but not anymore.
STT has reduced its annual report to nothing but marketing rubbish!
Anyway my point here is to highlight three things:
- Most specialty timbers from harvesting public native forest are sold “off market” at “government prices” = WELFARE!!. That is 7,800 cubic metres of high value logs were given away at mates rates; and
- Assuming that IST tenders the “very best” of the specialty timbers harvested, the other 99% of the specialty timbers harvested must be absolute rubbish!!
- Blackwood is by far the most important special species timber, but most of it is sold “off market”.
Tasmanians are not allowed to know the cost of logging public native forest. Public native forestry is not about business.
Logging public native forest is about WELFARE and POLITICS and BULLSHIT!
Which is why so many community organisations are trying so hard to shut this industry down!
Thoughts and comments welcome!
VicForests ‘hamstrung’
https://www.gippslandtimes.com.au/story/6836029/vicforests-hamstrung/
This article appeared in a regional newspaper back in July.
Very few people would have read it. Even fewer people would have understood it or appreciated the wisdom (even if misinterpreted).
Vicforests is the State government forest agency in Victoria, Australia tasked with logging public native forests.
https://www.vicforests.com.au/
For the past 50+ years it has been the focus of increasingly bitter community opposition.
The article mostly expresses the opinions of Gary Featherston, a professional forester and apologist for public native forestry.
Mr Featherston wishes us to believe that public native forestry is “hamstrung” by its political masters.
But what Mr Featherston describes is nothing more than the chaos of politically driven public administration. Every day the objectives change according to the winds of politics. Every day the chaos increases!
The chaos of public administration is bad enough in areas like education and health. But when it comes to pseudo-commerce like public native forestry the chaos takes on a whole new meaning!
Up until the 1990’s forestry in Australia was a Government run welfare scheme. Native forest and plantations were managed to provide jobs in regional Australia.
Today only NSW and WA have Government owned plantations. Today most timber grown and sold in Australia is privately owned. Profit is the motive! As it should be!!
And yet industry and Government policy in Australia is still focused on subsidising sawmillers/wood processors; ie. Policy is still focused on welfare.
Vicforests is not “hamstrung” as Mr Featherston wants us to believe!
Vicforests (and public native forestry around Australia) is the very embodiment of 19th century ideology well past its useby date.
Vicforests can never be divorced from the chaos of politics.
Politics is the permanent enduring Achilles Heel of public native forestry.
The future of forestry is in profitable private forest managers and growers, and until Australia recognises that fact we will continue on this endless cycle of conflict, stupidity and waste.
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Posted in Commentary, Forestry Tasmania, Sustainable Timbers Tasmania