Derby logging: Court showdown looms as opponents lawyer up
UPDATED: Sustainable Timber Tasmania have defended allegations by environmentals their plan for logging a disputed coupe was inadequate, with the matter now likely to go to court.
Launceston
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A northeast Tasmania environmental group has accused timber harvesters of submitting a woefully inadequate plan for how they will appropriately harvest a coupe near a famed network of mountain bike trails.
The allegation has been stridently denied by loggers Sustainable Timber Tasmania (STT), who say they believe the case against coupe CC119A, which adjoins the Krushka’s trail at the Blue Derby Mountain Bike Trails, is without merit.
The legal threat represented a “fundamental misunderstanding and misinterpretation of the Forest Practices Code and Forest Practices Plan,” STT’s General Manager Conservation and Land Management Suzette Weeding said.
It’s understood the coupe’s harvest commenced on Wednesday.
In a letter of intent sent to STT on Thursday by lawyers acting on behalf of green group Blue Derby Wild, the loggers were given until noon Friday to cease activity at the coupe or face an injunction in court.
This deadline was not met, with Blue Derby Wild now “considering” its legal options.
In the letter, STT was accused of preparing a Forest Practices Plan, which governs how the site will be harvested with minimum environmental impact, full of omissions.
Principally, Blue Derby Wild accused STT of preparing a Plan which, among other deficiencies:
— Is devoid of detailed descriptions of its forest practices, with only six pages of information covering 29 topics.
— Does not include all the basic features of the area (to be logged).
— Does not appoint forest practices officers responsible for monitoring and enforcement.
— Does not incorporate recommendations for the Simsons Stag Beetle (a threatened species).
Blue Derby Wild also questioned the Plan’s certification by the independent State Government agency Forest Practices Authority, which they say was certified the same day as its submission.
Spokeswoman Louise Morris said Blue Derby Wild was only supplied with STT’s final Plan “a matter of days before they declared this forest an operational logging area”.
“They restricted the public from being able to ascertain the accuracy of boundaries and buffers drawn into the small map supplied,” she alleged.
“Our threat of injunction to immediately halt logging issued to STT has outlined fundamental procedural issues with the way in which this Plan was developed and implemented.”
In rebuttal, Ms Weeding said STT was “confident” its Plan was compliant.
“STT undertakes comprehensive and detailed assessments of natural and cultural values in the preparation of Forest Practices Plans,” she said.
“The Forest Practices Plan for CC119A includes the specifications on how the forestry operation is to be undertaken, including retention of seed trees and the management of threatened species.
“In the case of Simson’s Stag Beetle, a specialist survey was undertaken of CC119A, despite the coupe being outside the known range of the species.
“This survey found that the area contained poor quality habitat and after thorough searches the specialists determined the species can be treated as absent from the site.
“The result of this is that no management prescriptions are required to be included in the Forest Practices Plan.”
Dr Peter Volker, Chief Forest Practices Officer at the Forest Practices Authority, confirmed the “forest practices plan for harvesting and reforestation of CC119A was certified by a person with a delegation from the FPA under section 43 of the Forest Practices Act 1985”.
He declined to comment further due to the very live possibility of legal proceedings commencing.
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