A considerable number of areas of forest on and around Mt Stirling are due to be logged soon (November 2022 onwards). This will have significant impacts on tourism (a number of the areas will be cut along the popular Circuit Road), will further fragment the important alpine ash forests on the mountain, and threaten the viability of older alpine ash and snow gum forests upslope due to the highly flammable nature of logging regrowth..

The coupes were approved in the 2021 Timber Release Plan and we understand that logging will commence very soon. The coupes include:

  • Epic – BenMan 389-507-0002
  • Bus Loop – BenMan 400-501-1008
  • Cobbler View – BenMan 401-501-0002
  • King Saddle West – BenMan 401-501-0004
  • Black Landing – BenMan 401-503-0001
  • King Saddle East – BenMan 401-501-0003
  • Motlock – BenMan 401-402-0002
  • BenMan 386-505-0001
  • BenMan 386-503-0002
  • Bindaree – BenMan 386-504-0001
  • Unknown coupe, between Bindaree and BenMan 386-505-0001
  • BenMan 386-503-0005

Vic Forests will be conducting timber harvesting at eleven coupe sites around the boundary of the Mount Stirling resort, beginning from November 2022 through to April 2023. Timber harvesting operations will be occurring within the Mansfield State Forest and no harvesting will be occurring within the Mount Stirling resort.

Large sections of the Alpine Ash forests have already been logged. These forests – if they regrow – will be highly flammable for decades to come, and threaten the older ash forests that exist higher on the mountain and within the Mt Stirling resort area. Significant sections of Mt Stirling have been burnt in wildfire in recent decades, but valuable older sections of alpine ash and snow gum forest remain.  Fires burn hotter as they run uphill and could kill the precious remaining intact forests on higher elevation slopes and around the summit.

June 2009 017

ABOVE: older alpine ash forest along the Bluff Spur trail on Mt Stirling. While these trees will not be harvested, the older forests on the mountain will be put at risk by logging on the lower slopes of Stirling.

Apart from logging along extensive sections of the Circuit Road, concerns have been expressed about the Bindaree coupe, which is upstream of very popular Bindaree Falls. It is not clear how VicForests could justify logging above this waterfall.

Up to twenty log trucks per day will be using the Circuit Road to move logs (with limited loads on the weekend) from coupes via both King Saddle and Howqua Gap, through Telephone Box Junction and out via the Mount Stirling Road. The combination of logging trucks and 4WD passenger vehicles must be a major concern for all the authorities with responsibilities in the area, including VicForests. It is not yet clear how this will be managed.

Take action

A simple and effective thing to do is to send a quick email to The Hon Lily D’Ambroisio, the minister for the environment, asking her to protect Mt Stirling by stopping logging in all the coupes around the mountain (you could include the coupe numbers from the story above).

lily.dambrosio@parliament.vic.gov.au

DRAFT EMAIL to send to the minister

The Hon Lily D’Ambrosio,

Minister for the Environment

Dear Minister

I am appalled to hear that logging in up to 15 coupes is expected to start in and around Mt Stirling in coming months.

This will have significant impacts on tourism (a number of the areas will be cut along the popular Circuit Road), will further fragment the important alpine ash forests on the mountain, and threaten the viability of older alpine ash and snow gum forests up slope due to the highly flammable nature of logging regrowth.

The coupes are:

  • Epic – BenMan 389-507-0002
  • Bus Loop – BenMan 400-501-1008
  • Cobbler View – BenMan 401-501-0002
  • King Saddle West – BenMan 401-501-0004
  • Black Landing – BenMan 401-503-0001
  • King Saddle East – BenMan 401-501-0003
  • Motlock – BenMan 401-402-0002
  • BenMan 386-505-0001
  • BenMan 386-503-0002
  • Bindaree – BenMan 386-504-0001
  • Unknown coupe, between Bindaree and BenMan 386-505-0001
  • BenMan 386-503-0005

I urge you to act immediately to halt logging in these areas

yours sincerely

Further information

Further information on the environmental value of the coupes can be found here.

Thanks to Charles Street from Friends of Mt Stirling for this information.