South Coast residents and conservationists say a $15,000 fine for Forestry Corporation of NSW's 2020 breach of a post-bushfire logging condition does not go far enough.
Forestry Corporation NSW (FCNSW) was found to have logged a hollow-bearing tree in the South Brooman State Forest near Ulladulla, which are crucial for the survival of native threatened wildlife after bushfires.
Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) executive Greg Sheehy said he was concerned better systems were not put in place to ensure compliance.
"The requirement to retain all hollow-bearing trees was clear," he said.
He said the corporation's forest management and activities did not meet expectations.
"The EPA has put them on notice that failing to meet standards is unacceptable," he said.
$15,000 is the largest fine the EPA is able to issue under the current legislation.
A spokesperson for FCNSW said it did undertake ground assessments with trained staff to identify trees with visible hollows, and hundreds were protected during logging operations.
They said FCNSW disputed it felled a hollow-bearing tree in breach of the rules and was considering whether it would contest the allegation in court.
'Woefully inadequate' response
Brooman resident Takesa Frank said the fine was disappointing.
"I think originally we thought it [the fine] would be higher because of how many complaints we logged," Ms Frank said.
"[The sum] in the big scheme of things is just a few cents out of their back pocket."
NSW independent MP Justin Field was also disappointed.
"It's woefully inadequate because Forestry Corporation are serial offenders," he said.
"They've now suffered prosecutions and fines of up around a quarter of a million dollars over the past couple of years as a result of post-fire logging breaches.
The fine came just weeks after the corporation was also ordered to pay $285,600 by the Land and Environment Court for damaging critical koala habitat on the Mid North Coast near Coffs Harbour in 2018.
Failure to address fire impacts
While residents said a $15,000 fine was better than nothing, they felt there should not be any logging at all.
A leaked report from the Natural Resources Commission, which was advising the NSW Government on the impact of post-bushfire logging, also advised logging in multiple areas on the South Coast including Nowra, Taree and Narooma, should have been suspended for at least three years.
Mr Field said the government had failed to meaningfully address the impacts of fires by not acting on the report.
"The government's own independent advisor says logging should be stopped in some areas or substantially constrained," he said.
"That hasn't happened yet and the government needs to explain why not."
He said koalas on the North Coast and greater gliders on the South Coast didn't have time to wait while the government sat on its hands.
Ms Frank said the big goal was to end native logging in NSW.
"Two other states have done it so we're actually behind on doing this," she said.
Other conservationists said they were waiting on the outcomes of numerous other complaints they had made during the past two-and-a-half years since the bushfires.
A spokesperson for Environment Minister James Griffin said the government was considering the Natural Resources Commission report.
"In the meantime, the EPA has stepped up its compliance efforts pre-, during and post-harvesting to ensure FCNSW is complying with the integrated forestry operations approvals.
"The fact that FCNSW has been fined shows the system is working and that the EPA is holding all operators in the NSW forestry system to account," the spokesperson said.
