National parks are killing red gum forests

In 2005, the New South Wales government purchased Yanga Station, near Balranald in southwest NSW, in order to reserve as national park about 17,000ha of red gum forest, including 150km of river frontage on the Murrumbidgee River. The NSW government paid more than $35 million to turn this property into a national park.

Up until 2005, the red gums on this property were managed on a sustainable basis for the production of sawlogs. Management and operations were supervised by a forester with more than 40 years’ professional experience in both government and private forestry; all codes and regulations applying to this forest were complied with and protection requirements exceeded to ensure a healthy growing forest.

Bob Carr, then Premier of NSW, commended the owners and managers of this property for the excellent care of the forest while the Department of Environment openly expressed the excellent condition of the forest and the environmental values. Most of all the trees were healthy and growing, despite the prolonged drought.

The forest supported a local mill and many jobs in Balranald and the surrounding area. The timber provided employment on a sustainable basis and the livelihood of numerous families. The property paid rates to the Wakool Shire. Most businesses in Balranald had a dependency on Yanga and the people who were directly employed.

And the beautiful red gum forests were healthy and sustainable.

Now at a cost of more than $35 million to NSW taxpayers, that has all been brought to an abrupt halt. All the jobs have gone, business is struggling and the community is suffering.

Previous water management works have been abandoned and specially provided “environmental flows” are allowed to just run off and be wasted.

Yanga now rates as one of the biggest “tree kills” on a single property since white settlement and since native vegetation legislation. It is too easy to blame this situation on the drought. There are hundreds of thousands of dead and dying red gums on Yanga right now, more than 60 per cent of the forest is dead. And the government responsible sits on its hands claiming that this is “conservation”.

Green ideologies and government agency mismanagement, under green policies, have killed this forest. Other managed red gum forests are healthy and growing, despite the drought. Across the river and in stark contrast to Yanga, a healthy, well-managed private forest continues to be managed for timber production and it has not received any special “environmental flows”.

Twenty tax-paying jobs in Balranald have been replaced with six tax-funded jobs from other towns.

Bob Carr said 50,000 tourists per year would fix all this! After four years, one small camping area has been established, yet the forest remains padlocked.

Millions of dollars have been spent on a big shed and homestead renovations, materials are brought in from other areas and a few jobs from other towns have been created. But the trees are still dying.

The NSW Department of Environment and the National Parks Service have made it very clear that local communities and jobs do not count. Their interest is only a national green agenda where country towns and small businesses are not relevant. In their view, the people have no importance and should have no say in the Forest Assessment currently being conducted by the Natural Resources Commission. Bob Carr said don’t worry about the job losses. Don’t worry about the businesses or the future of the community. And the greens aren’t worried about watching all the trees die!

But the dead and dying trees on Yanga National Park disproves any genuine interest in looking after red gum environments. The privately-managed forest across the river is managed as a healthy, sustainable, productive business that can boast credible environmental outcomes.

Forest industries produce important and valuable timber products, capture and store carbon from the atmosphere and reduce demand for high energy products that rely on burning fossil fuels. They provide jobs and an economic basis for rural and regional communities. They sustain healthy forest environments. They provide an economy that can afford sound environmental management without imposing on taxpayer funds. They ensure conservation!

Red gum forests need active management and multiple-use forestry on a sustainable basis to ensure good outcomes for industry, communities and the environment - all delivered as an economic activity rather than a welfare burden on taxpayers.

In the current drought, forests need to be thinned; dead or dying trees need to be removed. Management by Forests NSW over many decades and through previous droughts has proven that the forest health depends on active management. Silvicultural thinning needs to be implemented across the whole of the Riverina, including on private forests; environmental flows of water without thinning is futile. The thinning need is huge, the water need is small but they remain the only tools available to save the red gum forests.

Benign neglect by the Department of Environment and the National Parks Service has proven simply that they are not capable of looking after these forests. Yanga National Park must be returned to active management before it all dies.

We do not need any more national parks in our red gum forests.