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13/06/06 There's a new possum posse in town, - Kelly Ryan, The Herald Sun

12/06/06 Timber sale not much chop, says industry, - The Age , Business

04/06/06 Vic protest against old growth logging, The Age

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 There's a new possum posse in town

Kelly Ryan, The Herald Sun
13jun06

HOO'S watching who? A pair of Powerful owls have got the fix on you.

Two of Australia's most awesome raptors have taken over several city parks and are picking off possums at their leisure.

The birds, believed to be a male and female mating pair, have been seen at several CBD sites.

The carcass of a brushtail possum has been seen dangling between the male's talons.

Powerful owls need a huge hunting ground to feed their large bodies and appetites, so it is rare to see them in such a central city setting.

Predatory hunters and skilled fliers, the species fly silently, swooping on unsuspecting prey without it even being aware of a shadow.

The birds are being monitored by Melbourne City Council park rangers.

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Timber sale not much chop, says industry
Philip Hopkins, The Age , Business
June 12, 2006

VICTORIA'S forestry industry has launched action against VicForests' latest timber auction, saying it is unfair and produces outcomes that threaten parts of the industry.

The director of operations at the Victorian Association of Forest Industries, Nick Murray, said many of the prices reached in the auction were unsustainable.

Some of the state's best and most progressive value-adding sawmills refused to pay the high prices, and were feeling threatened, he said.

VAFI has lodged formal grievance procedures with the auction manager of online auctioneers BOMweb. The grievances will have to be heard before contracts arising from the auctions can be finalised.

The grievance procedure involves representatives from VicForests, BOMweb and an independent probity officer making a decision on the complaint.

The auction was held last week, the second in the new timber sales system that VicForests, the State Government's commercial forestry arm, will progressively introduce over the next decade.

The current system, where sawmills receive long-term licences and VicForests sets the prices for the various sawlog grades, will be progressively phased out. All native forest timber will be sold at auction by 2015.

The first auction in April was for 174,100 cubic metres of sawlogs, while the second was for about 700,000 cubic metres.

Mr Murray said the auction did not operate as buyers had been led to believe. He said it was far more complex than the first auction, with a combination of lots creating an incredible number of variables.

"There are a number of aggrieved buyers and bidders, both successful and unsuccessful, hit by the vagaries of the system," he said. "Many felt compelled to pay more than they would have thought, and others missed out on buying wood as a consequence."

Successful buyers were believed to include Neville Smith Timber Industries, Gould Sawmills, Auswest and Fenning Bairnsdale. Those missing out are believed to be leading players such as McCormack Timbers, Drouin West Timber and Black Forest Timbers.

Mr Murray said several prices, including for mountain ash, were excessive at 20-50 per cent above the administered price delivered at the mill gate.

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 Vic protest against old growth logging

More than 15,000 environmentalists have taken to Melbourne's streets in protest against old growth forest logging across Victoria.

Organisers said Sunday's turnout, on the eve of World Environment Day, was one of the largest environmental rallies in the state in recent years.

Alec Marr, national director of the Wilderness Society, said the show of support from the public and activists alike was overwhelming.

"This is a massive issue and the size of this crowd and the support we have today goes to highlight the issue and shows just how much of an emotional issue this is," Mr Marr said.

"We've had people travel in from the far-flung corners of the state, from Mildura right through to Orbost, to show their concern about old growth logging in Victoria.

"This is an excellent show of support from the countryside to the city."

Organisers and celebrity supporters, including veteran actor Jack Thompson and Neighbours' cast members and musicians, helped unfurl a 70-metre-long banner in the shape of a tree, which the crowd was encouraged to hug.

Thompson told the crowd Australian taxpayers were bankrolling the woodchip industry and action was urgently needed to save old growth forests.

"That's why we are gathered here because there is the need for the people of Australia to say 'enough, it's time for change'," he said.

"We export 850,000 tonnes of logs to the woodchip industry in Japan... it's time for our governments to grasp what it is we the people need.

"The mandate is, care for the country we love and a world in which we can proudly bring up our children."

Mr Marr and Thompson put the crowd at more than 15,000.

Meanwhile, Victorian Premier Steve Bracks defended the state's environment record.

"We have already seen a significant reduction of logging overall in Victoria of 30 per cent, and we have seen new parks proclaimed with old growth kept," Mr Bracks said.

"Of course we want to make sure that we preserve our environment in the future whilst balancing the resources to make sure they are utilised effectively."

AAP

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