M Mizzi, Byron Bay
Took a look at Forests NSW’s new ‘corporatised’ website, the graphics of which mirror new signage now being seen in regional areas. These signs and website promoting forests for active recreation with lots of bikes and stuff like shooting and ‘fun’ totally omit any mention of forests being areas for wildlife and the passive appreciation of scenic beauty.
It’s interesting to see how blatantly the gearing up for the commercial industrial uses of our forests now is under the O’Farrell government. The website glowingly talks about carbon solutions from forests and opportunities for investors in renewable tradable energy products while the usual rant about wood left to decompose on forest floors being not good as CO2 storage indicates the total disregard of forest ecology by Forests NSW and highlights the ignorance that addresses forestry management in NSW at this time.
Coupled with the attack on our forests by coal-seam gas and coal miners, it is time the people of NSW stood up and told the O’Farrell government to get their dirty hands off our forests.
There is also no mention of forests as homes of wildlife and their role in preserving biodiversity, as well as being buffers to national parks and nature reserves.
The blatant omission of these latter values is a sign that our state forests will become degraded and badly managed areas where guns and bikes are allowed to run amok through the environment with no regard for the wildlife that live there and no regard for those who want to use our forests for passive recreation.
For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling. 
