Snowy Valleys Mayor James Hayes has called on Forestry Corporation to help farmers in fire-hit areas pay for the cost of destroyed and damaged fencing.
“I would like to think they
(Forestry) would be able to assist,” he said.
“I believe they should look
at how they can help. It shouldn’t be 100 per cent on the landholder.
“The fire came out of the
forest into farmland; not the opposite.”
Wagga Wagga MP Dr Joe McGirr
has similar views.
“Forestry is not responsible,
but given the scale of the fire and the damage, and the issues with weed
management, I think the government should be meeting at least half of this
expense,” he said.
Gilmore farmers John and
Tracey Callaway totally agree with the Mayor and Member for Wagga.
“Why shouldn’t they? (help
pay for the fences),” Tracey said.
The Callaway’s 500
hectare-property, on which they run Angus cattle and Merino sheep, is bordered
by Forestry Corporation pine and hardwood forest land.
“When it’s a boundary it’s
usually 50/50, so why should they be exempt from that?” Tracey said.
The Callaways had 30km of
fencing affected by the Dunns Road fire, and while it wasn’t necessarily
destroyed, its lifespan was reduced.
John said the Callaways had
enjoyed good relations with Forestry in the past and would be negotiating with
them.
However, Paul Sturgess, who
has a farm on the Snubba Range at Gilmore, and lost 8.6km of fencing to the
Dunns Road fire, has been in positive talks with Forestry Corporation, and says
they will assist him in rebuilding fences.
“I have been in talks with
them; and they said because they are state government they are not obligated to
help but because they want to be good corporate citizens, they’ll provide us
with some material,” he said.
“It has not been finalised as
yet, but I will provide the labour and the concrete and they will provide
material.”
Forestry land borders the
Sturgess property, with pine on one side and hardwood on another.
For many years, Forestry has
kept a fire tanker vehicle on the Sturgess property.
A Forestry Corporation
spokesperson said the Dunns Road fire started about 10km away from the
state-owned plantations and despite a concerted firefighting effort from the
RFS, Forestry Corporation and others, the fire impacted large areas of
plantations, native forest and local communities.
“The scale of the fires this
year across the whole state means unfortunately Forestry Corporation is unable
to make a voluntary contribution to all the neighbours affected,” they said.
“State forests have tens of
thousands of kilometres of boundaries with private properties state-wide,
including many impacted by the fires.
“In line with other public
land managers, in some instances Forestry Corporation makes a voluntary
contribution towards fencing materials as a community service.
“The NSW government has some
grants in place to assist farmers impacted by fire and Forestry Corporation
continues to look at the fencing issue and any avenues of assistance.”
