Coup means war

By Kath Gannaway
ENVIRONMENTALISTS have labelled a logging coup in Toolangi as “appalling destruction,” and a threat to the town’s water supply. VicForests Ltd however says it’s all above board.
Healesville resident Lorraine Leach and Toolangi resident Steve Meacher said the Coles Creek Road logging coup, less than three kilometres from Toolangi township and clearfelling within 20 metres of the Yea River, should never have been logged.
They added that the preservation of the forest in that area was even more vital following the bushfires.
Mr Meacher said the coup was one of three areas identified by respected authority on Mountain Ash forests, the late David Ashton, as having ideal conditions to replace the massive trees destroyed in the 19th century.
He said the other two sites were at Wallaby Creek, destroyed in the February fires, and at Powelltown, the only remaining site.
“Victoria therefore has a special obligation to protect these trees as a heritage for the future rather than chip them now for short-term profit,” he said. Mr Meacher and Ms Leach argue the slopes on sections of the coup are more than 30 degrees, outside the forestry agreement guidelines.
In a letter to the Department of Sustainability and Environment Mr Meacher said with no reticulated water Toolangi residents and farms relied on rainwater harvesting and water from the Yea River.
He said he believed it would be impossible to prevent exposed soil eroding down-slope into the river after clearfelling.
“The site is both too steep and too close to the Yea River,” he argued.
VicForests regional manager Brad Winthropp and manager of operations planning Craig Rutherford said the 30 degree rule for slope could be exceeded for small areas of a coup.
“We have done soil tests and with the deep soil there you don’t get much run-off,” Mr Rutherford said.
“It is not deemed to be a problem.”
He said the 20-metre buffer zone was in keeping with the code on the Yea River waterway, based on a 2007 review of the coup.
“In terms of the water yield and quality we have a code and management prescriptions which are adhered to,” Mr Rutherford said.
He added water yield was likely to increase, in spite of the harvesting, because he said the majority of the 1939 (regrowth forest) had been retained in the catchment.
Mr Winthropp said in relation to concerns about the proposed logging date being moved forward from the gazetted 2010/11, it was a minor change that had been approved by DSE.
“With all except three contractors working on black (bushfire) timber, this needed to go ahead to meet contractual agreements and to meet the demand for that quality of timber,” he explained.
Mr Winthropp and Mr Rutherford said the coup was monitored to ensure everything was done in accordance with the regulations, and added the coup would be replanted.