By Renee Wood
Forest Fire Management staff recently made a peculiar discovery as a dumped boat was found amongst the trees in the Toolangi State Forest.
The boat was found near Yellowdindi Road during maintenance works and has since been removed and reported to Victoria Police.
The community have been urged to contact Crime Stoppers if they have any information regarding the boat.
Illegal dumping happens on a regular basis in state forests and can attract significant penalties, ranging from $363 to $1,817 for individuals, and $1,817 to $9,087 for businesses.
Forest Fire Management Victoria, Forest Management and Roading Officer, Andrew Collard said the local community is most impacted.
“State Forests are for everybody to enjoy, communities take great pride in their local forests with many forest users volunteering their own time to keep it in a pristine condition. When someone decides to dump rubbish in our state forests it is the local community who use it who are impacted the most,” he said.
“It isn’t hard to responsibly dispose of your waste, when you illegally dump waste, you may think that you’re saving yourself a trip to the tip and a fee, what you are really doing is contributing to the degradation of our environment and costing taxpayers over $30 million each year in clean-up costs
Crews generally see more examples of rubbish dumping closer to built up areas which adds to pollution and threatens wildlife.
“We are looking to work with communities to keep our forests clean and waste-free so that everyone can enjoy them. If anyone has any information about any illegal forest activity such as dumping waste, they should report it to us straight away at 136 186.”
