I hate bureaucracy 

I hate bureaucracy

Bureaucrats are the bane of all life. Bureaucracy. I hate it.

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Flaming fools kill forest giant

By Simon Benson
December 11, 2003

IT'S a sad day for trees. The biggest, most robust hardwood in Australia - 350 years old - is dead.

El Grande in happier times / File
At 79m and with a girth of 20m, El Grande stood alone in a patch of cleared forest in the Tasmanian wilderness.

Yesterday, the tree was officially declared dead - a victim of stupidity and mismanagement.

Those that killed it, Forestry Tasmania, finally admitted to responsibility for its death through an "accidental burning".

"I guess this is a learning experience," operations manager Kim Creak said.

"We are pretty disappointed we lost the tree. What we've learned from this mistake is that single trees cannot be adequately protected in open harvested areas.

"Procedures have been developed for all the taller forests, so giant trees will be protected in groups and stands with natural vegetation buffers."

But few people involved in trying to save the tree believes this.

Conservationists who have campaigned tirelessly to protect the hardwood forests of this region - which boast the world's biggest hardwood trees - are outraged.

"Forestry has now finally confessed," Wilderness Society campaign manager Geoff Law said.

"They have always tried to avoid responsibility but they killed it through mismanagement.

"Their failure to protect this one tree shows we can no longer entrust these hardwoods trees to Forestry. We need the Federal Government to step in to protect these areas."

Conservationists issued a death certificate in May - claiming the tree had been "cooked" in the regeneration burn - while Forestry Tasmania was waiting until spring to see if the tree would regenerate.

"Forest scientists have conducted an assessment of the condition of the tree," Mr Creak said.

"Unfortunately, it is deceased."

The Daily Telegraph

Source.

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