Media ReleaseDepartment of Sustainability and the Environment (DSE) data shows that 1 in 20 fires on public land have been started by logging industry practices in state forests. When conservationists arrived on the 11th. Loggers were prepared to start work on the morning of a catastrophic total fire ban day across the state.
Environment and Natural Resources Committee, Parliament of Victoria Inquiry into the impact of public land management practices on bushfires in Victoria shows the causes for fires on public land over the past 20 year is heavily attributed to the logging of state forests.
"...DSE data claims the 5% of all wildfires are started by prescribed burn escapes. Given that 63% of prescribed burns are for logging coupes then at least 3% of wildfire starts are attributed to logging coupe burn escapes. Combined with machinery fire starts (2%) this indicates that 5% or at least one in 20 fires started in State forests are by logging industry practices" (Parliament of Victoria Environment and Natural Resources Committee 2008, p.5)
Link to Cann River logging coupe fire which was started last year, the largest of the fires in the area. 17th Dec 2009- http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/1153657/Total-fire-bans-in-place
Reference:
Parliament of Victoria Environment and Natural Resources Committee 2008, 'Inquiry into the Impact of Public Land Management Practices on Bushfires in Victoria.
http://www.oren.org.au/issues/fire/Wildfires_public_land.pdf
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DOIN' TIME. . .
ReplyDeleteAn East Gippy activist is currently in remand in Orbost police cells pending an appearance before the magistrates court in Bairnsdale tomorrow morning. The forest defender has refused to sign his bail conditions in view of the fact that they prohibit him from entering a vast legion of locations throughout East Gippsland.
Imposing these broad bail conditions on activists has been common practice throughout the East Gippsland forest management area and these unreasonable conditions are invariably deemed superfluous and are generally amended prior to a hearing.
After spending 40 hours tree-sitting in the survey road coup [shown above] this activist is taking todays remonstration to its limits by prolonging his efforts in a bid to draw attention to yet another legal oversight on behalf of the Victorian logging industry.
Good on him!