Six months on from the devastating Dunns Road Fire that tore through the Snowy Valleys, the timber industry is waiting on government support to help ensure the viability of the industry into the future. Source: Tumut and Adelong Times
The NSW Government is currently assessing sector grants for businesses who provide local jobs to bushfire affected communities, and local timber mill AKD Softwoods is hoping to gain funding to upgrade its sawmill.
The Sector Development Grant, one of two funding streams in the NSW Government’s $140 million Bushfire Industry Recovery Package, aims to support the medium to long-term resilience of the forestry, horticulture and agriculture industries impacted by bushfires since August 31 last year.
Site Manager at AKD’s Tumut mill, Rab Green, expressed his appreciation to all the employees who have been hard at work since the Dunns Road Fire swept across the local area, devastating forestry, farmland and properties.
Following the fires, AKD worked with the Forestry Corporation of NSW (FCNSW) and Snowy Valleys Council to determine what was salvageable from the 40 percent of destroyed timber resource. AKD employees worked around the clock as part of the salvage operation, and the site has currently processed around 300,000 cubic metres of salvage log since February this year.
To compare, the Tumut sawmill generally processes an average of 525,000m3 of sawlog per annum.
Mr Green said that the company has applied for funding through the Sector Development Grant in the hopes of upgrading their main saw line.
He explained that logs are generally around 30 years old when harvested for processing.
To sustain the reduced running capacity after losing 40 per cent of resources, the logs available in the future would be from younger plantations and therefore potentially smaller in diameter. This means the final product would be of a lower quality, and has the potential to impact the viability of the mill.
An upgrade of the main saw line would maximise productivity and recovery of these smaller logs, as well as increasing the amount of product extracted from them.
Mr Green said that the loss of plantation resources has forced the company to think innovatively, and the processing of younger logs is just one of many ideas.
“We’re looking at different products and different opportunities for the business to make sure that we can keep people employed,” he said.
AKD argues that without the funding from the grant, the long-term viability of its sawmill will be tested.
“AKD have spent the first half of the year attempting to salvage as much of the plantation as possible working collaboratively with FCNSW,” AKD Softwood’s CEO Shane Vicary said.
“Whilst AKD would be required to put up considerable funds for this upgrade, the feasibility really is reliant on government support, for what was an unprecedented event.”
Mr Green hopes that if the funding was approved, it would not only make the upgrade possible but also show support for the work done by local AKD employees over the last few months.
“The team at Tumut has been working around the clock to process as many salvage logs as possible,” he said.
“Clearly, whilst a grant could be seen as an upgrade to AKD’s mill, the government would essentially be investing in the heart of the Tumut community and economy.”
The time frame of the salvage operation is still unknown and dependent on weather conditions and the extent of the burn of the log. AKD said that the log quality so far has held quite well, and they are continuing to monitor this closely to ensure they can react quickly if need be.
The recent federal Eden-Monaro by-election brought some attention to the needs of the timber industry, and when asked if anything had come of that attention, Mr Green said “not really, not yet” – there has been more action taken on a state level.
The funding assessment for the Sector Development Grant is due to complete at the end of this month, with announcements taking place in September.
