Media Release
10 October 2007

Huon Valley Environment Centre & Still Wild Still Threatened

Picton Valley Logging Signals Fate of Tassie's Forests
Activists highlight cable logging nightmare as pulp mill looms

Huon Valley Environment Centre forest defenders have today halted cable logging operations in tall eucalypt forest in the Picton Valley, southern Tasmania, highlighting the escalating impact of logging on steep slopes as Gunns' pushes ahead with plans for its Tamar Valley pulp mill.

12 forest campaigners blocked access to the logging coupe with a tree-sit suspended from Picton Road.

Cable logging is used to decimate forests on steep slopes, which cannot be logged using conventional methods. The Picton coupe consists of mature and mixed forests contiguous with a large area of unlogged high conservation forest near the Hartz Mountains national park.

"The degradation of steep, forested hills and valleys is set to accelerate across the state as cable logging and clearfelling are used to feed the excessive demands of the Gunns' pulp mill," said Huon Valley Environment Centre spokesperson Will Mooney.

"In the Southern Forests and North East, in particular, water catchments and carbon sinks are already being brutalised. This situation will only worsen if Gunns proceeds. However, the Federal Government has failed to assess the impacts of the mill on Tasmania's forests and the vital ecological services they provide," Will Mooney said.

"Activists have today shown that they will not stop working to protect vital water catchments, carbon sinks and endangered species habitat in Tasmania's public forests," Will Mooney said.

"The Lennon Government would like to silence everyone who is concerned about the management of Tasmania's forests. By working to maintain these precious forests and the vital ecological services they perform, activists are working for the benefit of all Tasmanians," Will Mooney said.

News Stories
From AAP:

Forest activists block logging coupe

Forest protesters have blockaded a road leading to a cable logging coupe in Tasmania's south.

The Huon Valley Environment Centre (HVEC) and Still Wild Still Threatened have organised tree-sits to block access to eucalypt forest in the Picton Valley.
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"These cable logging operations are used to decimate forests on steep slopes that can't be logged using conventional methods," HVEC spokesman Will Mooney said.

"These operations degrade water catchments, carbon sinks and threatened species habitat."

He said the "degradation" was being allowed to continue while the federal government had failed to ensure a proper assessment of the impact of the Gunns pulp mill on Tasmania's forests.

Federal Environment Minister Malcolm Turnbull approved the mill, earmarked for the Tamar Valley, in Tasmania's north, last week subject to 48 conditions.

Mr Mooney said the protesters would stay in the area long term.

Forestry Tasmania is currently pursuing a $2,000 compensation claim from an activist dubbed the Weld Angel.

Artist Allana Beltran, 22, blocked access to a popular tourist attraction the Tahune Airwalk, south of Hobart, in March.

Dressed as an angel, complete with feathered wings, Beltran perched on a wooden tripod to protest against logging in the area, which includes the Weld Valley.

Beltran, of Hobart, was convicted after pleading guilty to creating a nuisance and disobeying police orders and placed on a 12-month good behaviour bond.

But Mr Mooney said that "ham-fisted" approach would not stop the protests.

"This will not scare Tasmanians away from highlighting what's happening out in the forests," he said.

"We are not going to be scared off by this heavy handed tactic introduced by Forestry Tasmania and the state government."

From ABC Online:

Forest protestors begin Picton blockade

Forest protesters have begun a blockade of an area in the Picton Valley in southern Tasmania.

The Huon Valley Environment Centre says the action is to highlight the use of cable-logging in the area.

The centre says the process degrades water catchments, carbon sinks and threatened species habitat.

A spokesman for the group, Will Mooney, says there are 12 protesters, including one perched in a tree-sit.

"Highlighting the fact that if the pulp mill goes ahead these sort of operations, which are stripping away steep, forested slopes around Tasmania, we're going to see more of them and the impact of these operations has not been properly assessed," Mr Mooney said.