VicForests is responsible for the sustainable harvest and commercial sale of timber from state forests in Victoria, Australia. It aims to salvage log about 10,000ha of forest in fire areas in 2007.
Contractors are currently salvage logging at Connor’s Plains near Erica and at Orbost.
Pat Groenhout, from VicForests, said the timber was already starting to split and may be worthless if left too long.
He said harvesters were obliged to avoid unburnt patches and buffer zones near waterways.
“We audit each contractor on a monthly basis and they also have to be inducted, so we undertake special training with them to familiarise them with the differences between this type of harvesting from normal types,” he said.
