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Fire high on the agenda for Forestry Victoria

The 2003 Victorian bushfires were the biggest experienced in the State since 1939 and Forestry Victoria staff in Gippsland know that another dry year could expose large areas of unburnt State forest to another season of high fire risk.

By Department of Sustainability and Environment - 2nd December 2003 - Back to News

Chris Stephenson, Forestry Planner at Heyfield said that no one is complacent about this risk and Forestry Victoria takes its fire suppression responsibilities extremely seriously.

"The forest contains timber and other resources that have huge value to the community and working with Fire Management and the CFA to protect it against fire is a high priority for us," Mr Stephenson said.

"Forestry Victoria staff perform an ongoing role in managing fire risk and will ensure that logging contractors are aware of the dangers when they are working in the forest," he said.

Logging contractors are a vital part of the region's fire suppression effort, with their equipment and their local knowledge contributing enormously to the protection of state forests.

"We make contractors aware of their responsibility to be equipped with the necessary water, fire extinguishers and other fire fighting equipment before entering the logging coupes," Mr Stephenson said.

Forestry Victoria’s detailed knowledge of the environment as well as ongoing relationships with the logging and road construction contractors which provide much of the machinery for fire fighting, make its staff invaluable in fire suppression operations.

"We are very familiar with the use of fire as a management tool for regeneration and fuel reduction purposes, and therefore have an intimate knowledge of fire behaviour and its impacts," Mr Stephenson said.

"Almost all Forestry Victoria staff joined the fire fighting effort in the 2003 season, many filling major roles on ground and in Incident Control Centres."

"West Gippsland was relatively fortunate and fire impact on the forestry resource while significant, was minor compared to East Gippsland. However, the devastating fires around Dargo, resulting in the loss of Alpine Ash regrowth before it had reached optimal harvesting size, highlight the importance of fire suppression to forestry and to the wider community."

Source: http://gippsland.com/

Published by: news@gippsland.com

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