Has anyone been to Swans Crossing reserve/picnic area lately? If you haven’t, you will get a surprise next visit. The surrounding forest has been clear felled. I would have thought State Forests would have left a buffer zone, maybe 300 metres, but now it’s just bare hills down to the creek. What’s the big rush to take big chunks of our forest like this? The same thing is happening up Lorne Road and other areas in the Hastings. Once upon a time State Forests used to thin forests 15 — 20 per cent every 15 — 25 years. But not now. When the building industry is at the slowest for 30 years and woodchip prices have collapsed, forests are being cleared at a rapid rate. Why?
Tim Wearne
Lorne
