Tasmania's forest industry has rejected a Greens plan to ban logging in high conservation value forests.  The Greens says 300 jobs would be lost but more than 700 created through the strategy.  Even job creation is not enough to move the die-hard destructive mentality.  Both Labor and Liberals support Gunns pulp mill and neither is proposing any new forest reserves.
Trees up to hundreds of years old cannot be replaced overnight, despite how "sustainable" the logging is supposed to be!

EEG trial update. The Brown Mountain landmark trial has begun.

Avatar is a remarkable movie, about a fabulous world and an old story with some great new twists and perspectives. This is an exciting and skilled 3D graphics state of the art creation which puts the viewer on a new planet in the skin of an alien tribe. We discuss this experience and the political message of the movie.

Not so long ago, a giant thermal rain-bearing wind carried moisture inland from giant forests on the eastern coast of Australia. The giant thermal has disappeared along with the rain. Read why.
See also, "Deforestation drys continents - new theory explains how" Also see, at end of article, a short report about DSE from defenders of the forest at Brown Mountain.

Senseless slaughter of Victoria's Old Growth..another Brumby legacy for Victoria.

29 April, 2009: Loggers have desperately chainsawed magnificent stands of ancient Australian Eucalypts along Bungywarr Creek in East Gippsland as woodchips, allowing our natural heritage to be sold out to the Japanese for a dispicable $2.50 per tonne!

“Two protestors are ‘flying’ a platform located thirty metres up in the tree canopy”.. "this platform is cabled off to four logging machines, immobilizing them.”

First blockaded in 1994, Old Growth at Bungywarr Creek has been targeted by loggers ever since. Premier John Brumby simply cannot be trusted with Victoria's natural heritage.

VicForests' neo-colonial practice of logging old growth East Gippsland forests attempts to justify the native culling by claiming compliance with Australia's wood production Standard AS 4708-2007. But this standard is a Mein Kampf of ecological genocide for East Gippsland Forests.

I have to pinch myself to realise this is 2009 and not 1959.

This photo just in from the old growth forests of Brown Mountain in East Gippsland - home of remnant giant Australian natives dating up to 600 years old. This photo depicts the Brown Mountain Massacre yesterday (22 April 2009) by VicForests on its celebrated World Forestry Day. Publicly funded yet publicly out of control, 'VicForests' has become emblematic for 'state-sanctioned slaughter and arson'.

Brown Mountain - destruction complete! of 24 Apr 09.

Who's slaughtering Australia's old growth heritage faster - Queensland roadmakers or Victorian loggers?

World Forestry Day is another annual celebration of some cause that in this case captures 21st March each year. The concept sounds noble on the DSE site, but hang on a second! This is all about revenue FROM our native forests, not FOR native forests at all! So why not just rename this 'World Logging Day'?

"At the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) the forest issue was among the most controversial, polarizing developing and developed countries. In Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, intense negotiations among governments at UNCED resulted in the Non-legally Binding Authoritative Statement of Principles for a Global Consensus on the Management, Conservation and Sustainable Development of all Types of Forests, also known as the “Forest Principles”, as well as Chapter 11 of Agenda 21: Combating Deforestation."

Radiocarbon-testing has confirmed that a giant rare old-growth eucalypt located in its natural forest habitat on East Gippsland's Brown Mountain has been chainsawed by VicForests, despite it being scientifically confirmed to be at least 500 years old.

On Thursday 26th March 2009, four people were charged in their efforts to save East Gippsland old growth forests from being chopped down. Is this Victorian Premier Brumby's hypocritical law of conservationists being prime facie guilty of conservation?

Out of the media frenzy to get ratings out of the Victorian bushfires, a 'so-called' bushfire expert on an ABC 730 Report panel (David Packham) advocated a 6 to 7 fold increase in prescribed burning for Victoria.

See also: "Victorian bushfires by arson" of 26 Mar 09.

The Australian Institute of Criminology reported last month that half of Australian bushfires are deliberately lit. Bushfire research needs to go further to evaluate whether in fact, of the most damaging, most are deliberately lit.

The term 'fire bug' is too docile and to start seriously dealing with it, we must change the perception and the language. Bush arson has become so deadly and catastrophic a crime that it warrants the term 'pyroterrorism'.

Since Black Saturday - Feb 7, 2009 - when Australia's worst-ever bushfires on the hottest day in Victoria's recorded history completely destroyed all infrastructure at Wildhaven animal rescue and release center, Alan and Stella Reid have had a few visitors, including Steve Irwin's father, Bob Irwin, and Maryland Wilson of the AWPC, and four kangaroos that also escaped with their lives. Allan Reid tells an incredible story of his own survival as the place burned to the ground leaving him and perhaps four kangaroos alive. Please consider donating money for hay and rebuilding.See alsoImportant Wildhaven Shelter in St Andrews NE Victoria perished needs rebuilding and video.

"If you purchase two copies of The Age this Saturday, soak one in the bath overnight and read the other. Think of the copy coming out of the bath, as the landscape prior [to the impact of repeated fires] and the dry paper, as the landscape is today." (Article by Duane Norris for Natural Sequence Farming)

Andrew Bolt's story, "Green rules, black forests" is one of many mainstream media sources to keep alive the legend of the brave Sheehans' fight for justice and safety against their philistine greenie neighbours. But there is even more to that story than the press have so-far published. Read on...

Just in via the bush telegraph, more on woodchip sales downturn

Guns' mills are faltering. The Japanese company, Nippon, has just bought the Latrobe Valley's Paperlinx factory, at a time of major downturn in woodchip prices. It seems like a very risky purchase - even if they got it dirt cheap. But is this a buyers' market or a fire-sale?

Fall in wood-chip imports is related to the fall in production of cars, machine tools, electronic goods and mobile phones. How so?

Bodies are still being found, the Royal Commission still has no terms of reference and yet the ABC is pointing the finger at the environment movement and the Greens! Friday night's 7.30 Report failed to show that the most 'managed' forests were the worst hit, instead giving the opposite, wrong impression and blaming 'greens'.

Entering the bushfire debate can be a useful, educational experience. These fires provide a great opportunity for conservation advancement. We must challenge the misinformation from the mainstream media. (Article by Paul.)

This is a short sharp account of the various kinds of forests affected in the fires, locations, their prior fire management, and the impact of this. It concludes succinctly with observations about disturbed landscapes.

Animal rescuers are digging into their own pockets to feed the many injured wildlife who are being brought out to them in droves by CFA workers and others from the burned forests. The fire-fighters and other rescue workers rely on Help for Wildlife, which receives buggar-all from the Victorian Government, and needs all the help that you can give. Please don't give up on your fellow travellers.
Help for Wildlife: Ph 0417 380 687 Nigel's Animal Rescue: Ph 0427 533 083 You can use your credit card.

new logging slash at Brown Mountain. This is what causes fatal bushfires and climate change - logging.
See also: "Greens, logging, forest fires and malaria" of 11 Feb 09 and "Brown Mountain Rape" of 26 Jan 09

Just got another email about who's supposedly to blame for the forest fires. Looks to me like the mainstream press is out to stir people up again and put them off voting for Greens or defending forests and wildlife. The latest email even accused 'Greens' of causing deaths from malaria by saying that DDT is bad. These 'anti-greens' never get it right, do they? Malaria is caused by clearing forests, which they are in favour of...

Help for Wildlife Response team need feed such as hay to provide food for starving wildlife and donations for fuel to carry out the extensive search and rescue needed to help these animals. Then they need donations and medical supplies for the months of future care required by those wallabies, kangaroos and other native animals that have survived these terrible fires.
Help for Wildlife: Ph 0417 380 687 Nigel's Animal Rescue: Ph 0427 533 083

Brown Mountain is "literally teaming with endangered species." "The government and logging industry knows it is one of the most diverse and wildlife rich sites remaining unprotected, but refused to identify these animals before they started cutting down their habitat." Wildlife activists had to prove it themselves.

See also Auditor Generals' Reports - especially on Victoria's hopeless wildlife statistics

See also: "Bob Brown: Threatened animal find must stop Brown Mountain logging, "Sue Pennicuik: Heartbreak at Brown Mountain", "Sue Pennicuik: Logging on Brown Mountain is state sanctioned vandalism", "Brown Mountain Rape".

Please support Bob Brown speaking up for Brown Mountain wildlife and forest by coming to Treasury Place TODAY (Wed 28) for 1pm, where he will hold a press conference about threatened species on Brown Mountain.

Contents: "Bob Brown: Threatened animal find must stop Brown Mountain logging, "Sue Pennicuik: Heartbreak at Brown Mountain", "Sue Pennicuik: Logging on Brown Mountain is state sanctioned vandalism"

Not all the protesters are up the trees. There are troops on the ground as well. And in the creek!

Stuff the precautionary Principle- it might get in the way!
Longitude: 148.74495E Latitude: 37.26S. East Gippsland Victoria Australia-
The logging of old growth forest at Brown Mountain has been precipitate and swift. Few Victorians would be aware of the destruction which has occurred over the past few weeks in forest wild life habitat.