Tallaganda State Forest contains a mix of native forests and softwood timber plantations, which are managed side-by-side. In January 2024, work will commence in the softwood timber plantations in Tallaganda State Forest to carry out thinning and salvage operations. The work will also include road upgrades, harvesting along roads, fire trail maintenance, weed management and setup for future replanting.
Operations take place over up to three years from January 2024. Work will include:
These plantations are 15-17 years old. Thinning means removing smaller and weaker trees to allow others more space and light to grow. Remaining trees will grow on before being harvested at 30-40 years old, after which the entire area will be replanted.
Salvage operations will remove some wind-blown and damaged plantation trees within the plantation area. Both thinning and salvage help improve overall health of the standing trees. The entire plantation will be harvested and replanted in the future.
Some road infrastructure in the forest will be upgraded to allow safe access for forestry operations and log trucks. There will also be some tree removal along roads.
Up to four trucks a day will transport logs to mills for processing. The haulage route is through Captains Flat Road, Briars Sharrow Road, Plains Road, Hoskintown Road, Rossi Road and Lowden Road.
Forestry Corporation is a fire fighting authority and maintains a network of roads and fire trails throughout State forests. Some fire trail maintenance will be carried out during operations.
Timber plantations are continually harvested and regrown. Operations will include weed control and preparation of areas for future replanting.
For safety reasons, some areas may be temporarily closed or restricted at various times during operations. Please check the closures and notices section of this website for information about any current closures before you visit. Forestry Corporation will clearly sign post closed areas. Please pay attention to any signs in the forest or instructions from staff.
Forestry Corporation understands the value of these areas, to our community and will limit the time access is restricted.
Due to the age of the trees being between 15 – 22 years of age the main product to come from these plantations will be pulp and structural timber used to create products like timber panels for kitchen cupboards and benchtops, engineered timber products and paper products.
Timber is the most renewable building material available and renewable timber sourced from sustainably managed forests is a key part of the climate solution. Find out more about renewable timber.