A VISIT by Natural Resources Commissioner John Keniry to Gunnedah earlier this week could be a positive sign for local businesses involved in the struggling timber industry.
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Mr Keniry, and colleagues Todd Maher and Jacquie Tracey, toured Gunnedah Timbers yesterday and spoke with manager Paddy Paul to get an insight into the local issues surrounding the management of Cypress forests in the region.
On Tuesday they also toured the Pilliga Forest and Baradine, where they saw examples of active management programs.
“It is always good to see what’s actually going on in the Cypress forest thinning programs and to see the impact they have on each forest,” Mr Keniry said.
Earlier this month Premier Barry O’Farrell gave the commissioner a terms of reference for investigating the adaptive and active management of Cypress forests in Brigalow and Nandewar state conservation areas.
“The Premier has asked us to look at the management of Cypress forests in the region to see if we can improve it, so we’ve spent the past two days speaking to people directly involved in the timber industry,” Mr Keniry said.
“It is important that we look at the whole picture, including the impact of the industry on local communities, as well as the environmental impacts.
“After speaking with Mr Paul and other groups within the industry we’ll prepare a draft report for the Premier by December,” he said.
The commission will also use information gathered by a team of consultants, as well as visiting the region in October for further meetings with local stakeholders.
The inquiry comes on the back of a parliamentary report handed down in June which recommended a number of national parks be unlocked to allow commercial logging.
An Upper House committee chaired by the Shooters and Fishers Party’s Robert Brown released a draft report calling on the NSW Government to “immediately open some national parks and other reserved areas for logging to sustain the timber industry”.
It also recommended, if necessary, a ‘tenure swap’ be considered, where sections of national parks would be opened up for logging and areas of state forests not suitable for logging, would be reserved in place.
It emphasised the urgent need for action in the Pilliga region.
Gunnedah Timbers currently logs in East Pilliga, Doona, Jacks Creek, Goran and Keringle State Forests, where the size and quality of saw logs are becoming a major issue due to the restrictions placed on logging by Forestry Corporation NSW and National Parks and Wildlife.
