Peter Rutherford

Merimbula

In response to Mr Rutherford

Bronte Sommersets’ poem accompanying the photos of the fires in last weeks newspaper (Merimbula News Weekly) highlighted yet another preventable tragedy inflicted on our native flora and fauna.

Which leads me into my reason for writing. Thank goodness for electronic mail. (I) wonder if that ‘armchair activist’ Dianne Gillies uses it, and although I didn’t read her previous letter, I am familiar with her thoughts, and totally agree with her sentiments/concerns.

Having been out in many coupes, and witnessed the mismanagement perpetrated by the Forestry Departments of NSW and Victoria, I believe I have authority to give an opinion. Have you Mr Rutherford?

When I see the many trucks travelling along my road, my heart is filled with not only anger but more so with sadness, as we know that our planets’ ecosystems are in trouble, and people like Mr Rutherford are too ignorant and arrogant to see.

Nine out of ten trucks worth of potential timber for value products are headed for the chipmill, not longer deemed ‘waste’, but operating to keep up the mountain that never seems to shrink.

Yeah, about consumption. Look at the oversized dwellings built to accommodate our small families and retired couples.

Look at the wanton destruction of coastal strips, to accommodate the seachangers so they can have an ocean view.

I regard my footprint as fairly light.

But hey, if laws allow, it is not completely the developers’ fault or the people who drive the trucks but the legislators, pen pushers and supervisors.

Our forests not only play a critical role in cooling the planet, but are vital for water, acting as conduits/ living water tanks and protecting our waterways.

Not to mention, the plethora of other benefits which we are still learning about.

What is left of dwindling forest systems need to be protected and well managed. We are a nation of intelligent participants, yet we are pretty dumb when it comes to protecting this land, which was quite productive before European occupation, and although we cannot change the past, we can certainly learn from past mistakes and do it better.

And who said we have to take imported timber from dubious means, isn’t it a matter of certification?

What about hemp for fibre/paper production?

Last point, the number of outbreaks of fires due to carelessness, needs to be addressed.

I call on the relevant departments(RFS, National Parks, State Forest, and the Bega Valley Shire Council) to hold a public meeting, in which citizens can question the present fire regime, communications, who is accountable,(private landholders are liable), and maybe make suggestions, (the CFUs seem like a reassuring addition) and overall, to be fully informed.

Very last comment.

That picture of the polar bear on that lone block of ice says it all, I hope those young budding marine biologists will pursue such a great career, good on you girls!

Here’s to our wonderful world and all its’ beautiful treasures.

D. Eaton

Lochiel

Bathurst ‘Tigers’ reunion

Former players from the Oberon-RSL-Country (ORC) Cricket Club are being invited to attend a reunion in Bathurst on November 21 to celebrate one of the most successful clubs in the Mitchell Cricket community.

Anyone who has donned the famous Tigers’ logo, or who played for the three parent clubs which formed ORC, is invited to get involved in the event.

With a dinner to be held at the Kelso Hotel on the Saturday evening, the event will also involve a barbecue on the Saturday afternoon which will give attendees the chance to cast an eye over the current first and second grade teams in action, while a social game may be held on Sunday November 22.

For more information and to book your ticket to what promises to be a great night of past memories and tall tales, visit www.orccc.com.au.

Sam Debenham

President

ORC Cricket Club

In response to Mr Collet

Your Philippines correspondent, Geoff Collet (Magnet September 3), describes himself as a “past Eden resident”.

He chooses to live in another country and yet continues to criticise local residents here for expressing concern about environmental issues, regarding the wood-chipping industry in general and the proposed (or is it already a done deal?) so-called “bio-mass” power station in particular.

Many years ago we were told that the (then) Harris-Daishowa pulp mill was built in order to process waste by-product from the saw-log industry.

You don’t need to spend much time on Edrom Road and/or the Princes Highway in Eden to witness the disproportionate number of log-laden trucks heading to the chip-mill as compared to the relatively meagre few going to the sawmill in town.

While several sawmills in the south-east region have ceased operations in recent decades, the pulp industry has carried on, seemingly unaffected by sawmill closures.

It seems the real situation is that quality sawlogs are merely by-product of the pulp industry.

Now we are being told that the “bio-mass” generator (sounds really green, eh?) will be burning waste from the waste!

Give us a break!

On the surface Peter Rutherford (Magnet, August 27) sounds pretty convincing.

In his somewhat derisive letter he chides two previous correspondents for “parroting feel good rhetoric” and misrepresenting the plight of koalas, respectively.

Mr Rutherford gives the impression of having done his homework, but the whiff of tall poppy syndrome regarding Ms. Acton tends to undermine his credibility.

Next up, whilst criticising Ms. Somerset for over-simplifying the case of Sam and koalas in general, he goes on to present some rather fuzzy half-truths himself.

Of course chlamydia is a terrible blight on our dwindling koala populations.

However, Mr Rutherford is no doubt aware - and should acknowledge - that koala habitat and preferred food availability have been severely reduced as a direct result of logging in known koala areas.

Populations have been decimated and fragmented.

When population sizes are reduced, the gene pool also decreases and species become far more susceptible to contagious diseases, genetic deformities, etc. (The current plight of the Tasmanian Devils is another well-publicised example of this phenomenon).

Similarly, a colony of koalas concentrated in a small isolated areas is, of course, far more likely to be destroyed in a bushfire than if the same number of individuals were ranging over a broader area of koala-friendly habitat.

People worldwide from all walks of life are becoming increasingly concerned about environmental damage and climate change.

We are not all chardonnay-sipping yuppies and dread-locked tripod jockeys.

Regarding power generation, forest resource management and other important environmental issues, the Bega Valley community has a choice: move positively and sustainably into the future or sit on its hands in the past.

Gareth Morse

Nethercote