Gunnedah Black Jack Forest neighbours tired of people doing the wrong thing

A local woman and her daughter have been picking up rubbish dumped in the forest numerous times a week for the past four months, and intermittently for a few years.

Sometimes, the rubbish bags they take with them get too full and heavy to even carry.

The two Gunnedah women, who do not want to be named, live close to the forest, and are frustrated that people constantly dump their trash and chop down trees.

"Beer bottles and cans, soft drink cans, water bottles. That's the main thing [we pick up]," the daughter said.

"No one else is going to clean it up so we can leave it there and trash the forest, or we can take a few hours to take the rubbish out of the forest.

"It seems like we're the only people cleaning the area ... it might not be true, but that's definitely how it feels."

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Forestry Corporation of NSW will increase the number of cameras in the forest, to "clamp down" on illegal and anti-social behaviour.

The daughter told the NVI that there used to be many koalas in the area, but with trees constantly being chopped down, numbers were deteriorating.

"It's quite literally removing some of the viable koala habitat in the forest. There's a huge lack of education surrounding environmental awareness," she said.

"We used to have koalas regularly on the property, we used to have them every few weeks."

Her mother has been living in the local property for 14 years, and said the forest had changed "a hell of a lot".

"It's a beautiful forest, but this has changed now. You can't recognise it anymore - it's become a big hub of motorbike riders," she said.

"I can understand that there's not a lot to do in Gunnedah and ... I know it's a lot of fun when the track is wet and you run around with your motorbike and do circle work, but it causes erosion in the forest."

She says she becomes really "really upset" when people cut down trees, and believes the wronger-doers are doing it to make money.

"They're really healthy iron bark, and what it looks like to me is someone has said 'it's free wood and I'm going to make a buck out of it' because firewood is quite expensive," she said.

They're not the only ones who aren't happy, either.

Local man Brendan West's fence has been cut numerous times by trespassers trying to take a shortcut to Pensioner's Lookout.

He lives abut 2.5km from the forest, and said it was frustrating having to fix other people's misbehaviour.

"Hopefully things will settle down once the cameras are up and running," Mr West said.

The mother-daughter duo are also looking forward to the extra cameras being set up.

"Cameras will stop people taking wood out ... hopefully cameras will mean people driving in with a car full of rubbish will be spotted," the daughter said.

Forestry Corporation of NSW will also erect a sign at the entrance to the forest within the next few weeks, listing what is and isn't permissible.

Those who have been caught on the already-existing cameras are set to receive a letter from Forestry Corporation very soon.