Thread: Tasmanian Timber collecting

As the following link is a National document I should think it would be applicable.

http://www.deh.gov.au/land/publicati...ris/index.html. It is important to remember that fallen timber (in non urban settings) makes a valuable contribution to biodiversity. you probably think that the amount of impact you have picking up the odd piece of wood is limited and this is so however if too many people do this the impact becomes something to be concerned about.

yes thanks for the link Dadpad, interesting reading.

I undertsand that picking up the odd bit of fallen timber 'may' affect the biodiversity.
However i am commited, a woodworker towards utilising the resoruces available woth cutting green timber and buying 'processed' timber from the production stream.

There si a strong movement in Australia towards using salvaged timber thats already cut, fallen or in someway dead. In most area where i can collect there is a great deal of fallen wood and a few bits here or there is unlikey to make much different in biodiversity terms. This is especially true in tasmania where there is a high treen density and more protected areas than any other state.

I feel its more important for woodworkers to be dilligent in not 'wasting' timber and its more economical to collect stuff thats rotting than to buy production of KD timbers.

As there is some significant difference between what is useful as firewood and what is useful as turning timber i feel it is environmentally sound to collect a few pieces for woodwork, selectivley.
mass forwood collecting may affect areas if too much is taken.

In fact i feel u may have misinterpreted my post, its not firewood i am interested in, no one Tassie spends much time burning Huon pine, celerytopmyrtle, sasafras ,blackwood, banksia leather wood of quality tassie oak or ash etc.. etc...those timbers r too valuable to woodworkers.
Who on an individual level, only take what they need to work with.

cheeeeeers
john

Reeves
if you want to get locked up !

Originally Posted by ptc

Reeves
if you want to get locked up !

yes thats what i was asking, i know the HP is strictly off limits but i was wondering about state forests, roadsides and private land in terms of being able to collect usable timber. Preferable fallen. besides, i was at the Tahuane forest walk thing a fews back and u could see fallen timber all the way up the side of the rivers as far as u can see..it wasnt oding much, juts lying there rotting, quite a bit of it looked like HP as there was lots of it along the river there...so whats the big prob with collecting a bit, thye cnat make any $$ from ya..or thye worries hordes of ageing woodmongers iwth chainsaws at the ready will descend on the place..

My reason being we r thinking of moving to Tasmania and i was wondering what the situation is compared to here. Up here i can gather fallen sheok, blackwood, bluegum and even some red cedar all with 1km of where i am. Not only does this help economically but it makes for a better connection with the wood in terms of having gathered it yrself.

From what i can gather many people in tassie must collect or cut their own stuff as well as buy from mills etc.

Does anyone know anything about the craft license from FT where u gather from coupes once they have clearfelled..

cheeeers
john

John.
my understanding is that they would rather burn it .
than let you have it.
it's all about dollar bills.!

Originally Posted by ptc

John.
my understanding is that they would rather burn it .
than let you have it.
it's all about dollar bills.!

mm yes, thats kind of the impression i get PTC...was wonering if there r many ways aorund it..

cheeeers
john

What if everyone thought the way you did Reeves?

The mistake you are making is seeing timber lying there doing nothing. Its not yours its ours. Instead you should be seeing fallen timber as habitat for lizards and slaters and grubs all food for animals higher up the food chain, as protection against erosion, as mulch that stops water evaporating and as shade to the hundereds of tiny plants lichens etc. Your attitude is the same as the loggers of old who saw enormous forests as an unending supply and the same as todays loggers would be if they were allowed unsupervised access. Production and commercial pressures do funny things to people who are otherwise sensible.

ok so just say I morally support your right to pick up fallen timber for craft wood. What about all the other blokes on this forum, and all the other woodies who dont post here and probaly the people who want a bit of firewood ( i only need a little bit, just for the holiday house.
Roadsides here have been stripped of valuable habitat and a few dheads even felled trees cause there wasnt enough to keep them happy. They all only wanted a little bit

I'd be happy enough to see you have a bit of wood if I knew that, tomorrow someone else wasnt gonna come along and take the bit next to it, and if I knew that every time you picked up a piece you would plant a tree of the same type for my grandkids (and yours) to enjoy using the timber from.

I once slept with a girl who said I could put it in "a little bit"

I cant help you with licences as these need to be issued on a case by case basis by shires and forestry bodies with local knowledge.

Oh and burning slash and undergrowth/deadwood is a very important part of the ecological cycle. I shouldnt have to tell people that anymore.
I'm gonna stop before I get annoyed.

Island Specialty Timbers
Island Specialty Timbers specialises in collecting Tasmanian craftwood salvaged from the forest for wood designers, the craft industry, house and boat builders.
Island Specialty Timbers offers a safe and convenient way to select special pieces of fine Tasmanian timbers year round – ranging from celery top pine poles, turning burls through to the unique blackheart sassafras
phone: (+613) 03 6297 1479
e-mail: [email protected]

Source.
http://www.forestrytas.com.au/forestrytas/pages/productsspecialty.html

1.3 Annual wood production
The wood production figures for the District for the review period are shown in the table below:
Native forest
Commercial Wood Production
Forest type Product 2002-2003 2003-2004 2004-2005
Sawlog Cat. 1 & 3 (m3) 89,599 117,297 113,973
Sawlog Cat. 2 & 8 (m3) 19,799 28,293 18,191
Veneer (m3) 2,668 3,505 2,758
Regrowth peeler (tonnes) 11,271 17,164 31,232
Special species (m3) 1,540 1,841 963
Pulpwood (tonnes) 669,047 731,833 734,256
Fuel & firewood (m3) 3,844 2,594 1,817
Posts & poles (units) 593 1,059 1,333

Craftwood (units) 348 1,050 1,274

Native Forest Total 798,709 904,636 905,797

source http://www.forestrytas.com.au/cgi-bin/htsearch

Tasmanian forestry have a salvage yard at Strahn and they just about give away smaller bits of timber, mostly huon pine but lots of other stuff. Frankly nobody down there will give a stuff if you pick up a bit of roadside salvage but you are very unlikely to find any good bits of huon or musk or sassafrass just lying around, so you might as well go to the experts and save yourself a lot of time which could better be spent in the shed.

Originally Posted by dadpad

What if everyone thought the way you did Reeves?

The mistake you are making is seeing timber lying there doing nothing. Its not yours its ours. Instead you should be seeing fallen timber as habitat for lizards and slaters and grubs all food for animals higher up the food chain, as protection against erosion, as mulch that stops water evaporating and as shade to the hundereds of tiny plants lichens etc. Your attitude is the same as the loggers of old who saw enormous forests as an unending supply and the same as todays loggers would be if they were allowed unsupervised access. Production and commercial pressures do funny things to people who are otherwise sensible.

I think you are missing my point dadpad, i understand the environmental reasoning behind rotting timber and it's importance tot he environment, i would never remove ALL the rotting timber form anywehere. I am just following the woodworkers salvaging ethos and saying that taking a few usable chunks for private woodwork is a good manner of collection. As i mainly turn small items , in size terms 1 or 2 ute loads of timber last me a year. I prefer found timber. The amount i may be looking for would make little difference tot he volume of decomposing timber in any forest area.

bedsies if u r opposed to woodworkers collecting fallen timber why post here ?

I never suggested removing ALL the rotting wood form anywhere and often only a portion of fallen logs are usable.

I think u genuinley misundertsand the situation mate or have some other kind of axe to grind.

Thanks to others who have responded with good comments.

personally i think as much useful woodwork as possible 'should' be made from fallen or already cut logs, it saves live trees from being cut for our purposes and gives greater bonding with yr wood. And does no harm at all to the volumes of rotting timber available for creatures to live off.

Originally Posted by Len McCarthy

Tasmanian forestry have a salvage yard at Strahn and they just about give away smaller bits of timber, mostly huon pine but lots of other stuff. Frankly nobody down there will give a stuff if you pick up a bit of roadside salvage but you are very unlikely to find any good bits of huon or musk or sassafrass just lying around, so you might as well go to the experts and save yourself a lot of time which could better be spent in the shed.

ok thanks Len, i didnt know about the FT salavage yard but have visited Strahan and last time i was there walking along the docks at dawn, outside the mill there was HP offcuts and bits just lying around. heaps of it everywhere. I ahve no problem with the experts, i visit mills when i can but nothing beats collecting yr own timber if u can, just ads a little more to the wood working experience being in the forest n all.

cheeeeers
john

This topic has been thrashed on another thread. Problem with taking "only one or two pieces" is when everybody takes only one or two pieces. Forests suffer death by a thousand small cuts.

Best bet for reeves might be to buy a lot with standing timber. In Tallahassee FL USA, we can cut up to 24" (610mm) dia of our own trees without special permit. Even a small lot can provide a substantial amount. My lot is less than half acre (don't know area conversion), and had 35 trees in front yard alone. Now reduced to about 30.

Joe

Originally Posted by joe greiner

This topic has been thrashed on another thread. Problem with taking "only one or two pieces" is when everybody takes only one or two pieces. Forests suffer death by a thousand small cuts.

i actually own a small lot. 1.3 acres and only cut up what falls in storms etc. My original question had nothing to do with any kind of moral argument about collecting wood. It wa s just about the nature of collecting practices in Tasmania. Where i am thinking of moving. I ask for discussion purposes only, as this is a discussion forum. Its been taken out of context by the usual wankers who just wanna persecute people with out of context high horse crap.

For thousands of years, people have collected wood, often fallen to make tools and useful items from the forest and bush. Today we are no different.

From what I can observe locally and in other parts of australia, "everybody' doesnt collect all the fallen timber for anything, its highly unlikley a few or even many wood collectors will harm the environment at all. Theres too much wood available to even think about. I am sure its worse in many other populous countries where timber is scarce.

If you guys are genuinley worried about depletion of natural mulch harming the environment then i suggest yr efforts may be better spent focusing on the big clearfelling forestry industries, monoculture farming practices, failure to reforest long cleared lands, roadside clearing, single species plantations and other large scale land management issues that are doing exactly as you say. Not me or my friends or other woodies who have enough gumption to get out there and collect a few bits, appreciating the environment and the beauty of wood.

Why pick on a few woodworkers making use of old and fallen timber where possible ?

I think you guys who feel that collecting wood for woodwork is damaging the environment are way off track, go persecute those who are actually doing the environmental damage not small time woodies who are prepared to put a bit of backbone into collecting what they need.

I hate to see good wood rotting, when it can be used, saving trees being cut or endless plantations being planted.I hate to see wood being turned over ONLY for profit, when its a natural resource thats cost nothing to grow. If it was the only log for miles i may leave for the bugs, usually its one of thousands. I hope you guys can see this in the context it's meant and not turn it into some kind of moral argument as you seem to want to do.

I will spot and collect good wood till i die, as long as my legs can carry it and my chainsaw will cut it!

It's my right and responsability. So if you don't wanna enhance the discussion by providing information about wood collecting practices in Tasmania just stay out of a thread i posted.

BTW, i am off to sharpen the chainsaw and go cut up some fresh Hoop Pine logs that a local farmer has pulled down, cos he was clearing space to move an old house. He was gonna burn em but kindly put two aside for me. main problem is theres so much of it i dont have room to store it. Still its some more good wood save from the burning pile and used for woodwork, i am doing my bit to help the environment, feel good, feels proud.

thanks
john