Speaking in the Federal Parliament this week outgoing Member for Braddon, Gavin Pearce, heaped praise on Tasmania’s sustainable forestry industry for the important role it plays in assisting in times of bushfire crisis, saying, “its our forestry operators saving the day…”. 

As the working forests’ custodians, our industry is acutely aware of the risk of bushfire to our environment and regional communities.  

We live and work in our state’s regional towns, and our businesses can only succeed if our productive private and public forests are protected from fire.   

Our forestry industry already controls the some of the largest coordinated private firefighting crews in Tasmania, with more than 400,000 hectares managed in our private estates. 

Remember forestry not only manages forests, provides essential goods to you daily, but it also protects our regional communities in times of need. Thank you to the professional and volunteer fire fighters and forestry workers working hard to manage the West Coast fires. 

Nick Steel  
Tasmanian Forest Products Association