Gary Hughes; 31/12/08
Four new Victorian national parks will protect threatened red gum forests along the Murray and Goulburn rivers, but the Brumby Government has bowed to pressure from opponents of the plan by stopping short of banning four-wheel-driving, hunting, fishing, horse riding, camping and dogs in the environmental zones. Locals can continue collecting firewood in the parks and people will be able to light camp fires throughout the year. But logging will be banned from June, which will cause up to 56 job losses in the timber industry, and farmers will be stopped from grazing their cattle in the forests. Victorian Premier John Brumby said the new national parks, along the Murray, Goulburn and Ovens rivers, which will cost $38 million, were essential if thousands of threatened red gums, some up to 500 years old, were to be saved. Along some stretches of the Murray, up to 75 per cent of the river red gums were already dead or dying, he said.
See: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24858099-5013404,00.html
Tags: Australia, Environment, Murray-Darling Basin