Damian Salpietro, 40, fined $3000 at Bendigo Magistrates’ Court for chopping down trees

A man has been busted illegally harvesting firewood and damaging critically endangered wildlife habitat in a state forest south of Bendigo.

A man has been fined for illegally harvesting firewood in Metcalfe Nature Conservation Reserve.

A man has been busted chopping down protected trees in a state forest for firewood and damaging critically endangered wildlife habitat near Bendigo.

Kyneton man Damian Salpietro, 40, was fined $3000 in Bendigo Magistrates’ Court on Friday after he was caught on hidden trail cameras in Metcalfe Nature Conservation Reserve chopping down trees for firewood in the early morning hours of September 8, 2022.

Damian Salpietro and two others illegally cut firewood in Metcalfe Nature Conservation Reserve. File picture: Zoe Phillips

Salpietro and two other co-accused were seen using a black and orange axe and a chainsaw to illegally cut down the trees in the state forest south of Bendigo that’s home to 149 species of wildlife in the Goldfields region.

When Parks Victoria and the Conservation Regulator along with police raided a nearby property, they seized 18 cubic meters of timber, about the size of two to three cement mixers, axes and chainsaw and log splitter.

Police seized firewood cutting equipment at a nearby address. Picture: Supplied

A journal was also seized that contained firewood orders and monetary transactions for sales of firewood, including payment to Salpietro for his illegal logging labour.

Parks Victoria and the Conservation Regulator alleged in court Salpietro was on the payroll of a company illegally harvesting firewood from Metcalfe State Forest.

Salpietro pleaded guilty to cutting timber in a state forest and damaging wildlife habitat and faced a maximum penalty of one year in prison and a fine of $9246.

Magistrate Megan Aumair said she needed to send a message to deter illegal logging for commercial purposes, convicting and fining him $3000.