The past 12 months have seen Forestry Corporation of NSW implement a $46 million bushfire recovery program to repair NSW State forests, the largest in the organisation’s history

Locally, this has seen a total of $2.5 million invested to rebuild Eden State forest roads and bridges lost in the 2019-20 bushfire season.

The program has already seen five bridges and road signage replaced, and a program of work implemented to make the forests safe again to visitors, said Forestry Corporation Harvesting and Roading Manager, Jarod Addinsall.

“The last 12 months have been challenging for the forestry industry and communities of the south coast, but we are pleased to be rebuilding forest infrastructure through the support of the NSW government,” Mr Addinsall said.

“We’ve been working closely with local industry to replace bridges and make the forests safe again, with a lot more work slated for delivery over the coming months.”

“This investment has made a positive impact to both our forests and communities; where possible we have used local contractors and suppliers.

In the Eden area, completed work to date includes:

• bridge replacements on Wallaby Road (Yambulla State Forest), Bingera Road (Yambulla State Forest), Bens Road (Yambulla State Forest), Tin Mine Road (Tantawangalo State forest) and Scrubby Creek access trail (East Boyd State Forest)
• forest safety program to remove dangerous trees and repair forest roads
• replacement of damaged road signs and guide posts on Imlay and Edrom Roads, Yambulla and East Boyd State Forests.

Forestry Corporation will also soon install four concrete bridges, three box culverts and continue a program of road grading locally as part of this program.

This work is part of the $46 million equity injection and is part of the larger NSW Government $100 million COVID stimulus package, designed to directly stimulate economies in regional NSW.

This equity injection has seen investment to support the forestry industry and support recovering regional communities, said Forestry Corporation Acting CEO Anshul Chaudhary.

“The work happening across the south coast is a great example of how government and industry are working together to help regional communities recover from the 2019-20 bushfire season.

“Over the last 12 months, the equity injection has seen Forestry Corporation repair priority damaged public infrastructure, expand its Grafton and Blowering nurseries and start replanting bushfire-affected State forests.”

Find out more about Forestry Corporation’s bushfire recovery program at www.forestrycorporation.com.au

Media contact: Rodney Campbell