Timber production systems and processes
The department's commercial forestry business group, NRW Forest Products, manages native forest timber production on a range of State-controlled land tenures including State forests, timber reserves, forest entitlement areas, leasehold land and native forest buffers intruding into State plantation forests managed by Forestry Plantations Queensland (FPQ). NRW Forest Products also has access to more than 20,000 cubic metres of log timber on certain State-owned hardwood plantations planted prior to 1996. These plantations, including areas near Cooroy, Pomona and Yurol-Ringtail, were made available to the timber industry to offset lack of access to old growth forests in the region following signing of the South East Queensland Forests Agreement.
Sawlog allocation system
A large proportion of NRW Forest Products' sawlog sales are made under a long-standing Native Forest Sawlog Allocation System which provides timber processors with non-competitive access to specified quantities of sawlog-grade timber from State-owned native forests.
Long-term sales permits or log timber supply agreements issued as an outcome of the South East Queensland Forests Agreement and the Statewide Forests Process for the western hardwoods region, and to cypress sawmillers for supply to 2014, were granted under the provisions of this allocation system.
Public benefit test of the allocation system
The department is reviewing the native forest sawlog allocation system and the requirement for it to be authorised under section 51(1)(b) of the Trade Practices Act 1974. The current authorisation (provided in Part 7A of the Forestry Act 1959) expires on 27 November 2009.
A significant component of this process was the undertaking of a public benefit test conducted by Synergies Economic Consulting Pty Ltd, in accordance with Queensland Treasury’s Public Benefit Test Guidelines for a major review. Public submissions were invited and targeted stakeholder consultations were conducted.
The scope included the allocation systems for the South East Queensland native hardwood forests, the Western Hardwoods Region native hardwood forests (of southern-western Queensland), and the native cypress forests of southern and central Queensland. These occur on State-controlled lands and are managed for commercial log timber production by the department’s Forest Products business unit.
Log timber sales
In line with the Queensland Government’s forest policies, most State-owned timber resources are sold under long-term sales permits to provide planning certainty for the timber processing industry. For example, NRW Forest Products currently sells cypress sawlogs to individual timber processing companies under fifteen-year supply agreements that are current to 30 September 2014. Most hardwood log timber sales in South East Queensland are covered by 25-year sales permits current to 31 December 2024 and long-term agreements (applicable to 31 December 2025) will soon be finalised for the western hardwoods region.
These permits specify sale quantities and timber prices (values) payable by permittees to NRW Forest Products as well as a range of environmental, safety, planning and administrative requirements. Timber prices are subject to six-monthly indexation and general value reviews approximately every five years.
Fire management
Over time, forests tend to accumulate significant quantities of natural fuels such as grass, shed bark, leaves and branches and other debris which heighten the risk of major wildfires and the serious forest and community damage that such outbreaks can entail. NRW Forest Products periodically undertakes controlled burning of forests over which it has harvesting rights to reduce the risk of major wildfires, and in the process help to maintain existing carbon sinks. Top disposal burning is also carried out in some situations after harvesting operations to reduce the extent of fuel created by tree heads, and to encourage shedding and germination of seed.
To adequately reduce flammable fuel, and minimise the amount and distribution of smoke, controlled burning is carried out under optimal weather conditions. These operations are also carefully planned to minimise any impact on wildlife corridors and fire-sensitive vegetation communities.
NRW Forest Products cooperates with the EPA and FPQ in controlling and suppressing wildfires on State-owned forests under the terms of a Joint Fire Management and Response Plan, which outlines the responsibilities of each agency.
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Last updated: 24 September 2009