Salvage harvesting operations commenced in pines affected by the December 2006 fires almost immediately. Photo by Paul Wolveridge.

Salvage operations are well underway following a fire near Tumut in December 2006 that affected 11000 hectares of pine plantation, with more than 50 per cent of the fire damaged logs already harvested.

The fire damaged 8500 hectares planted with trees, while the remaining area included roads/easements, environmental exclusion zones and areas already clearfelled in preparation for another crop.

The damaged area represents about eight per cent of Forests NSW plantation resource in the region.

Forests NSW acting director of planted forests operations, Bob Orman, said Forests NSW was going to try and salvage all of the sawlogs (up to a million tonnes) and as much of the smaller pulp logs as possible.

“The aim of the salvage program is to find a market for all of the burnt wood,” Bob said. “We have assigned contractors to carry out the salvage, and every effort is being made to minimise the short and long term impact on the processing industry, haulage and harvesting contractors and Forests NSW ability to supply fibre.”

Bob said timing was all important as the variation in the severity of the fire affected the time frame for the salvage program, which is expected to take up to 12 months.

“We will salvage the heavily burnt trees first and the least burnt ones later. Some trees still have green crowns and will live up to 12 months, while the severely burnt trees need to be salvaged within the next three to four months,” he said.

Bob said ‘burnt wood’ generally only referred to the scorching of the bark, while the wood underneath was still suitable for normal sawmilling once the burnt bark was removed.

“The problem with burnt wood is managing the charcoal, which needs to be fully removed for the logs to be processed, particularly for the manufacture of paper,” he said.

“Wood that cannot be salvaged because the charcoal is too difficult to remove will most probably be used for fuel.”

Another potential enemy of the salvage program could be the early development of ‘blue stain’ in the fire damaged logs.

Warm moist weather will hasten the onset of blue stain development and while the stain will not affect the logs’ performance in service, there is a reluctance to purchase ‘blue’ timber or paper in the market place. Blue stain is not yet a problem.

Bob Orman made special mention of the efforts of the salvage management teams, under the guidance of Forests NSW Hume regional manager, Bob Germantse, and softwood sales manager, Gavin Matthew.

These teams were formed after the fire to manage the sale of the fire damaged logs, to work out the impact of the fire on the short and long term supply from the Tumut forests and manage the replanting of the burnt area.

Bob said the timber industry in the region would remain vibrant and he thanked Forests NSW customers, contractors and the other forest owners in the area for their support during and after the fire.

“The Tumut fire salvage program will become a model for others to follow,” he said.

This article appears in the Winter 2007 edition of Bush Telegraph Magazine.