Up to 50% of the HVP Plantations estate damaged by fire should be salvageable and converted into timber and paper products, with the Upper Murray region bracing up to seven times more truck activity over the next 10 months as crews race to recover a 10-year’s worth of fire-damaged timber.
That is according to Carlie Porteous, manager of the Murray Region Forestry Hub Softwoods Working Group, who revealed the recovered trees will have their burnt bark removed before being transported to mills in Wangaratta, Benalla and Tumbarumba, where they will be turned into furniture and structural timber, or to Visy’s Tumit mill, where they will be used for paper and packaging.
“Salvaged trees will be used for medium‑density fibreboard, structural timber and paperboard used for cardboard packaging,” Porteous said. “These are the normal markets for these trees from this region, and the processors are well established to complete a salvage plan in the short period of time required.”
Speaking to local media, Porteous said the Working Group has already met with the federal government and is busy assisting the Towong, Snowy Valleys and Greater Hume councils in lobbying for additional funding to support local roads that will carry the increased haulage task.
“The salvage operation will take place over the next 10 months and will lead to an increased heavy‑vehicle haulage task on our local and regional roads,” she said, pointing to routes like the Shelley–Walwa Road, which is in major need of continual improvement.
Timber growers should receive the same disaster support as farmers.
As for disaster recovery, Porteous said the industry will continue working with all levels of government to ensure timber processors and growers have access to the same support as other primary industries.
“Trees take 30 years to grow, and therefore the impact of the fires on this industry is longer term than, say, cropping or livestock,” she said. And whilst the fires occurred in Victoria, the economic impact of the recovery will be felt primarily in southern NSW, where much of the timber processing occurs.
The operations follow Wood Central’s last month reporting that an estimated 11,000 hectares of HVP Plantations plantations were damaged by fire, including areas only recently replanted after the 2019–20 Black Summer fires. “Our readiness during last week’s extreme and catastrophic conditions has transitioned to the next phase of active firefighting,” HVP Plantions said in a statement last month. “While we’re still assessing the extent of the losses, our teams have been regrouping and reorganising for the long road ahead.”
- To learn more about Victoria’s bushfires, which burnt through more than 400,000 hectares of forest land, click here for Wood Central’s special feature.
