Tasmanian timber workers hail forest plan

Australian prime minister John Howard's long-awaited Tasmanian forests plan has been warmly welcomed by the state's timber industry.

During a visit to Tasmania, Mr Howard unveiled a plan to protect 170,000ha of forest without costing jobs in the industry.

The plan includes a A$50m fund to boost skills, promote tourism, help sawmills and end use of 1080 poison on public and private land. It would also fund research alternatives to clear felling.

The Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union welcomed the plan, which it said was better than Labour leader Mark Latham's A$800m scheme to protect 240,000ha of old-growth forest.