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By. Bernie Farquarson May 2022 Dear partners and stake holders Thank you for your contribution to this amazing and effective project , the project is in full swing,
two mills are operating 5 days a week 5 full time employed people who were previously un
employed, all now accredited in Forestry Management and chainsaw and lucas mill operation
recognised Nata certificates through our Local Tafe. Milestones - Formation of East Gippsland Milling project lncorporated.
- Working Partnership with BRV, DELWP, NRRA, Rotary, Lions, Minderoo
- 105 properties registered.
- 33 completed
- 780 logs milled estimated retailValue {$1.5mill}
- S40k of timber surplus to property owners needs, donated to those property owners who do not have trees down.
- Average time on spent on property 3 weeks
- Average timeline for cutting logs with 50% moisture content 4-5years dependant on weather and log location.
Greatest strengths, Economic impact,
1. We only cut, fallen trees, generally a waste product left by the devastation of 2019-20 fires.
1000s of trees were felled during this disaster. Not just from wind and fire but back burning
operations created enormous resource that would otherwise be chipped or burnt.
2. Dollar Value of Timber packs. average price StSk average packs cut per farm 10. The average
cost of timber required to replace a small cattle yard is S35k.
3. Our contractors , 5 passionate previously unemployed people now running 3 contracting
companies. Great training and mentoring programs supplied by tafe rotary and lions.
4. Grant money directly injected into East Gippsland economy, no overheads, board is totally
volunteered.
5. Replanting, every tree we cut we offer 10 trees to landholders to plant, these trees are from
seeds collected from local areas and propagated by volunteers and returned as saplings.
6. Socials and mental health, while we do not train for this, our team manager lost her own
home in the fires, as the window and first contact to our business her empathy towards the
loss is making our project extremely successful in getting the property owner out of the dark
spot and re focused, Getting the farmer involved in our operation is a key to keeping them
out of the health system and getting back on track. We have letters from Partners stating we
have saved their partners lives and the farm.
7. We bring community together, farmers dragging logs from each others farms to milling
sites, the building of a Lectern for the local hall, from timber contributed from each farm we
have cut from. Community launches are held to bring farmers togethers a chance to talk,
discuss and plan.
8. Facebook page East Gippsland Milling Project.
We now need further funding, our property owner list is growing and a recent visit to the Genoa
Mallacoota area has revealed an additional 12 properties, their community has been preparing for
our visit, Famers and lions club members have been working together retrieving logs and stacking
them onto suitable sites ready for our teams to arrive.
Trees on the ground have a time line for cutting, as they dry out the milling becomes increasing
harder on our machinery, a wet summer has been beneficial to our course.
We have purchased another mill and have trained and accredited another team in preparation we
need operation funding for this mill.
We also need another two mills to complete our goal of 105 properties in that 5 year window. The
need is established , the formulae has been tested and works, the dollars are now needed to provide
our farmers and property owners with a real tangible relief from 2 years of extraordinary
circumstances and 3 years of drought prior to the fires and pandemic.
Bernie Farquhar
Rotary club of Mitchell river Bairnsdale.
Secretary East Gippsland Milling project
EAST GIPPSLAND TIMBER MILLING PROJECT
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