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24.01.2022 Dan's broken promises to the people who provide wood, fibre and food for all Victorians were outlined in this story in The Weekly Times. While Jaclyn Symes seems supportive of the timber industry, the Greens faction within the Labor party has run roughshod over her and the workers the party was formed to protect. This is how corporate activism propaganda plays out, from gaslighting the public and forming a powerful lobby to then influence party politics. Corporate activism d...oes not create or provide any service or useful product. It only destroys the livelihoods of workers and farmers, and ultimately the environment it locks up and lets burn. It's time the Victorian Labor Party stood up to activism and started representing the interests of hard working regional Victorians.

24.01.2022 The Koala SEPP in NSW is based on the lie that koalas are endangered and it will directly affect forest managers, timber workers and timber communities. Meanwhile environmental groups are cashing in by exploiting this fallacy to draw donation funding. Politicians are using the issue to win green votes. They are the winners. Not the koalas. Not the environment.

22.01.2022 When science is being used to prop up ideology! Perhaps The Australian should have a look at some of the science coming out of the Australian National University and some activist academics attitudes toward forestry. It was meant to be one of the worst-affected regions 60 per cent dead from bleaching, which the same scientists say is caused by climate change. But we could not find any significant bleaching. We mostly found jewelled curtains of coral, appearing to cascade down underwater cliff faces. So colourful, so beautiful, all in crystal clear and warm waters.

22.01.2022 Interesting tree age assessment in this money grab by the wildos.

21.01.2022 CALL OUT FOR POST HARVEST REGROWTH IMAGES We know corporate activists and outrage peddlers like to use pictures of freshly harvested or fired coupes to support their money grabs. Often they have koalas or other emotion-evoking images Photoshopped onto them or will show a plantation harvest when talking about native forestry. They will never show regrowing forests after harvest or fully restored forests when we know that working forests have often been through three or even fo...ur harvest cycles. It is not in their interests to tell the whole story. That is up to us so if you have images that show the different stages of regrowing forest after harvest, post them up here. They will help us set the story straight.

21.01.2022 Opinion: FWCA Managing Director Justin Law It’s time the regulators did their job You know your Federal Court Case is going bad when you resort to tired stunts like getting arrested at a harvesting coupe for a bit of cheap publicity. This is what is happening in Tasmania with Bob Brown getting on the catastrophe offensive to keep the donations rolling in. The centre of attention this time is the Swift Parrot which is the latest in the long list of species which have failed ...Continue reading

21.01.2022 We sent this media release to major media outlets today. Media Release December 16, 2020...Continue reading

19.01.2022 ABC in South East NSW is discussing funding relief for the wood chip mill in Eden. Naturally the anti-mill activists are piling on. Talkback: 1300 810 222 SMS: 0467 922 684. ABC South East NSW: (02) 6491 6011. The mill, which provides employment and front-line bushfire fighters needs our support. Please text or phone in!

19.01.2022 We've lodged a complaint with the Australian Press Council over an industry hatchet job which appeared in The Monthly recently. https://fwca.org.au/complaint-lodged-against-the-monthlys-/

19.01.2022 FWCA Director Kelly Wilton speaks to Tasmania Talks questioning why we need amendments to the Charities Act to prevent activist organisations like the Bob Brown Foundation when there are existing laws that could be already be enforced. Subsequent to the interview, Bob Brown and three others were arrested for illegally invading an active workplace. https://embeds.audioboom.com/publishing/playlist/v4

18.01.2022 Remiss of us to have not shared this sooner. Fantastic recognition of the value of timber workers in protecting the environment against wildfire. It is fire caused by escalating fuel loads in poorly managed National Parks and Nature Reserves. Yet the timber industry provides expertise, manpower and machinery to step onto the front line in times of crisis.

17.01.2022 "Do you think agitators just agitate to stay relevant?" This was one of the great questions asked in the Invisible Heroes podcast released yesterday. It's very refreshing to hear mainstream media starting to recognise the hypocrisy of corporate activism and its relentless assault on sustainable forestry. It's titled Could We Have A World Without Wood: Ross Hampton & Dean Kearney and is worth a listen.... https://www.smooth.com.au/podcast/invisible-heroes/

17.01.2022 Forest management.

17.01.2022 Forestry supporter Melina Bath MP pulls no punches in her speech supporting the native forestry bill in the Victorian Upper House last week. Her speech is a stark reminder to a government which was founded on the interests of the worker that its disastrous decision to end native forestry in Victoria will have a massive impact on regional communities.

16.01.2022 The Fenner School watch out

16.01.2022 "The survey concluded that harvesting the three coupes was unlikely to have a big impact on the Strathbogies Greater Glider population." So why did Minister for Environment Lily D'Ambrosio demand the forest be shut off to harvesting?

14.01.2022 Local Land Services Amendment Bill - Koala SEPP Sadly Hon Catherine Cusack MLC Liberal - moved an amendment to send the Bill to the Portfolio Committee for Plan...ning and Environment and crossed the floor to vote against her own party. The Committee is Chaired and controlled by Hon Cate Faehrmann of The Greens and were the authors of the Koala Report. Take time to read and examine the bias including hand picking scientists to give evidence! The Premier acted swiftly and has removed Cusack from her Parliamentary Secretary role for opposing her own government legislation. Collateral damage in the game of politics is the agriculture and forest industries and those they employ. Koalas are just the emotive weapon used, when they are and will always be valued and protected by landholders in NSW along with the already stringent controls.

13.01.2022 Trees grow back.

12.01.2022 This is what happens when you put forests in the hands of amateurs. It also begs the question of where the money went.

12.01.2022 Timber NSW fighting hard against the Koala SEPP in NSW which has disastrous implications for forest management and fuel reduction. It will eventually result in koalas locked up in firebomb reserves.

11.01.2022 Here we go again, next thing is they’ll be blaming climate change

11.01.2022 Given the millions raked in by corporate activists each year, it’s about time they paid their debts.

10.01.2022 While Climate Change is a factor influencing fire weather, it is not the sole reason why Australia’s Black Summer wildfires burnt across multiple states and ter...ritories. Arrangements that continue to focus on bushfire response rather than bushfire prevention accept that Australia shall continue to have major wildfires, needing to spend more taxpayer funds with little difference in outcomes. Thus, continuing to threaten our communities and devastate our ecosystems. The IFA/AFG hopes the Royal Commission recommends arrangements that protect our ecological values, particularly the vegetation which supports our unique wildlife. #forestscience #bushfire #royalcommission #asktheexperts https://www.forestry.org.au//MEDIA_RELEASE__Bushfire_Royal See more

10.01.2022 WHAT IF NATIONAL PARKS WERE SUBJECT TO AN ENVIRONMENTAL OPERATIONS APPROVAL LICENCE, WITH A SIMILAR PENALTY REGIME TO THOSE APPLYING TO FOREST HARVESTING OPERAT...IONS? According to a Timberbiz article, the Forestry Corporation of NSW is facing fines of up to $1.21 million for allegedly falling nine trees in "protected" areas. How much would the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service be fined, for failing to protect koala habitat and rainforests from wildfires during the summer of 2019-20, if their management was subject to an environmental operations approval licence? Compared to natural disasters such as floods and megafires resulting from lazy land management, the penalty regime applying to non-compliances under the Coastal Integrated Forest Operations Approval (Coastal IFOA) seems to be out of all proportion to the potential for environmental harm. While the Coastal IFOA conditions were updated in 2018, it seems the main focus of the new rule book is to make potential breaches easier to penalise, rather than to deliver better environmental outcomes. Unfortunately, arguments for an active and adaptive management framework were ignored during the 'consultation' process. Some of the ironies of the previous rule book are set out below. Given the ongoing focus on tape measure compliance, there is no reason why we won't see similar examples in future. In May 2009, the then Forestry Commission of NSW undertook a fuel reduction burn in Nullica State Forest. Sixty hectares, which wasn't part of the burn approval and was designated Smoky Mouse habitat, was also fuel reduced. On 8 June 2011, FCNSW was convicted for contravening a condition of the Threatened Species Licence, fined $5,600 and ordered to pay the environment department's costs of $19,000. Some of the ironies of the guilty plea and subsequent conviction are below. 1. Four months before the burn, FCNSW staff and RFS volunteers spent two weeks stopping the area, subject to the breach, from being burnt by a much higher intensity wildfire, which was burning in the adjoining national park; 2. Due to the sparse and unpredictable presence of the Smoky Mouse in Nullica State Forest, the NSW environment department required conservation measures to be changed to focus on the identification and preservation of known Smoky Mouse habitat, rather than on known populations of the Smoky Mouse; 3. The environment department also directed that Forestry activities, including fuel reduction burning were to be excluded from Smoky Mouse zones; 4. A key food resource for the Smoky Mouse is Kennedia rubicunda (dusky coral pea). This plant thrives in post fire environments of bare ground and low levels of competition from other ground flora; 5. Long periods without fire result in this plant fading away due to competition from bracken fern, other flora and ground litter; and 6. There had been no record of a Smoky Mouse living in the area subject to prosecution since 1997. It would seem that a fuel reduction burn would deliver good environmental outcomes for any Smoky Mouse living in the "protected" area. Given no mice had been seen since 1997, it is likely that the lockup and neglect management approach demanded by the NSW environment agencies over the past two decades or more, resulted in the mice being starved out, if not eaten by feral cats. So much for "protection" of threatened species habitat. When will the current NSW conservation land management and environmental agencies start to employ staff with a practical understanding of active and adaptive conservation management? A letter to the Eden Magnet posted below pprovides more background on this seemingly perverse use of NSW taxpayers money. https://www.timberbiz.com.au/koala-court-for-forestry-corp/

09.01.2022 .... both seat belts and prescribed burns are highly beneficial most of the time. #forestscience #bushfire #asktheexperts

08.01.2022 #NAILED IT!!!...

07.01.2022 "The Commission is set to endorse an approach that has visited ongoing disaster upon us." Forest & Wood Communities Australia added its support to a letter to the Prime Minister criticising the Bushfire Royal Commission which has condemned Australian forests to more wildfire. FWCA is one of 7 associations which supported The Howitt Society's letter drafted by bushfire expert Vic Jurskis.

07.01.2022 Federal Education Minister Dan Tehan announced the introduction of a Free-Speech bill in parliament today. He said the legal advice that I have is that [JCU] w...ouldn’t have been able to prosecute Peter Ridd if these laws had of been in place. Thank you Minister Tehan! I have been told on the grapevine that Senators Roberts and Hansen have also been heavily involved with this bill. If that is so, then I thank them too and anybody else involved. People like George Christensen have been very supportive for a long time. More information at https://www.facebook.com/Inst.ofPublicAffairs/posts/10160441718078858 Irrespective of whether JCU win in the High Court, they now have a piece of legislation introduced to stop their disgraceful behaviour happening again. Unfortunately, I have to fight on what the law was in 2018. But I get considerable satisfaction that there is something good coming from this sorry saga. I am saddened that the university, with which I had been almost continuously associated from the age of 17 to 57, has damaged its reputation so badly that the federal government was forced to take this action. The VC can put this on her CV.

06.01.2022 We had our first general meeting yesterday and welcomed three new board members to our team. Among them was Queensland's Tom Marland who will be an amazing asset to help us fight back against the corporate activists and get out the positive stories and truth about sustainable forestry in all timber states. Original post by @Tom Marland - Food for thought and thought for food Seeing the forest not just the trees...Continue reading

06.01.2022 "We are tired of being made to feel guilty" Forest & Wood Communities Australia Managing Director in a brief video on who we are, what we're doing and why you should join. https://fwca.org.au/join-now/... https://youtu.be/LZT6uVzRynE

05.01.2022 Senator Jono Duniam on Tamania Talks radio this morning, condemning dangerous actions of BBF. Click on link if you want to have a listen. https://embeds.audioboom.com/publishing/playlist/v4

05.01.2022 A renewable industry that generates 25,000 jobs in regional parts of Queensland has identified an overwhelming response by voters for more government support.

03.01.2022 WHO ARE THE FOREST AND FIRE MANAGEMENT EXPERTS? On 8 October 2020, the Guardian reported on recent research findings by two ANU academics. The report stated, "R...emoving trees to thin out forests is unlikely to cut the risk of severe bushfires despite the claims of forest industry groups, according to the authors of a new study." If that is true, what other benefits might thinning deliver? 1. Thinning allows the remaining trees to grow faster, so we get larger trees sooner; 2. Thinning can break branches on some retained trees, potentially creating hollows sooner, rather than later; 3. Thinning reduces overall stand water use and increases catchment water yield; 4. Thinning opens up flight paths for birds of prey; and 5. Thinning creates spaces between retained overstorey trees and reduces the amount of understorey. This breaks up three dimensional fuels and reduces crown fire risk. The Guardian reported " Dr Chris Taylor, the study’s lead author, said across most forest types and ages, thinning appeared to have little impact on the severity of fires." "Its co-author, Prof David Lindenmayer, said the study basically says that the solution that the industry is suggesting to help solve the problem is not going to help. "Studies on the impacts of thinning on fire severity are conflicting. But Lindenmayer said studies that found support for thinning tended to be based on models. The only place where thinning has had a positive effect [on fire severity] is in models, he said." If one takes a one dimensional or silo approach to forest management, it is hard to find fault with the authors comments. However, thinning is a key part of an integrated forest management approach which will help mitigate the risk of wildfires and provide ecological and water catchment benefits. The photos below were taken in thinned growth forest, 45 years old at the time the Border fire in southern NSW. The out of control fire front had an uphill run into the thinned forest, potentially increasing fire rate of spread and intensity. Crown scorch was less than 15 percent of the stand, confined to the approach side of the fire. The stand had been thinned and a post-harvest fuel reduction burn undertaken in May 2017, more than two and a half years before the devastating, 150,000ha run of the Border Fire on 4 January 2020. Photos 1 & 2 show the fuel reduction burn. Photo 3 shows scorched, less than three year old regrowth and 45 year old regrowth with green crowns. Photo 4 shows that with the drop in fire intensity, as the fire moved through the thinned and fuel reduced forest, some small patches did not burn, giving wildlife the best chance of surviving the wall of fire. Photo 5 shows fully scorched regrowth on the LHS of the track in nearby national park. The area on the RHS has green crowns, suggesting a drop in fire intensity as the fire front crossed the track. This area had a fuel reduction burn in May 2016, more than three and a half years before the Border Fire. Photo 6. The Age cartoonist John Spooner, sums up what has been missing in much of the forest and fire management debate for more than 20 years, as more of our forests are subject to management by neglect.

02.01.2022 It seems one activist group is struggling with the facts. Good to see some knowledgeable people offering some helpful corrections in the comments section.