Setting the scene

Logging is bad! That's what I always thought. Forests are good and need to be left alone. I was brought up on a property almost covered in forest, the trees and the soil are in my bones. When indigenous cultures talk about being part of a place and the place being part of them I think I get it.

 When my father passed away in 2010 the romance of this notion was broken. Here was a property that had to pay taxes, rates, all the fences were broken and I had scored myself a nice cushy desk job in the city. Beyond starting a tractor and filling up the ute with diesel I had no practical skills and no time to use them if I did.

For the first time ever I considered that at some point we'd have to sell the farm unless we could come up with a viable solution to generate enough income to cover these costs. It would have to be something that didn't take up all my time, so when it was mentioned that the forest might have some trees of value I listened, though I was pretty skeptical when I spoke to a few logging contractors and consultants about it.

Me: "Hi I'm interested in a sustainable logging operation on my property"
Contractor: "Oh mate all logging is sustainable nowdays, the government makes sure of that"

I've seen forests that have been logged "by the rules" and they aren't very nice places.

So there is more to this story to tell along the way but in short I believe there is a way for the forest to pay its own way. To not only cope with harvesting but to thrive because of it. The trick is to know your forest and to not get greedy.

Stay tuned....