Dawn of 100 new national parksYesterday, as part of the State's final regional forest agreement, and after months of haggling, their wish was granted.
The Carr Government has announced it will create a huge network of 324,000 hectares of national parks on the South Coast, a decision that has angered the Federal Government and the timber industry.
More than 100 parks and reserves are to be created as a result of what the State Government calls the Southern Forest Agreement, and there are to be 80 additions to existing protected areas. In return, the timber industry is to be given reduced, but guaranteed, access for 20 years.
But, to the consternation of environmentalists, an icon wilderness area, the Deua - along with three other identified wilderness areas - have only been partly protected.
One of NSW's most popular and beautiful parks, Murramarang, is to have its area increased fivefold and will now take in the catchment of Durras Lake - forest previously managed for timber harvesting by State Forests.
Another major addition to the National Parks and Wildlife Service's estate will be Meroo National Park, which will take in four coastal lakes - Meroo, Termeil, Tabourie and Burrill.
The executive director of the Total Environment Centre, Mr Jeff Angel, said: "Murramarang, in particular, fulfils the dreams of two generations of conservationists."
But the executive director of the Forest Products Association, Mr Col Dorber, described the Premier's announcement as a "sell-out".
Mr Dorber said Mr Carr had overridden the advice of other Cabinet ministers and Government agencies, who, he said, had pushed for a total of 49,000 cubic metres of timber for harvesting each year on the South Coast. Instead, they had been given 42,000 cubic metres.
In the Tumut region, which is also part of the agreement, timber volume available for harvesting will increase from 38,000 to 48,000 cubic metres. This is expected to create 19 jobs in the area.
"The Premier has taken every patch of productive forest he could get," Mr Dorber said.
"We are going to campaign to have this decision reviewed and modified."
He said the executive of his organisation had unanimously decided to urge the Prime Minister not to provide the more than $40 million that were to be spent on re-structuring the timber industry. "We are not going to sell our souls for $47 million," he said.
The Federal Minister for Forestry and Conservation, Mr Tuckey, described Mr Carr's decision as a "double-cross" of timber workers.
He said the money for structural adjustment of the timber industry would be withheld.
The Premier said there would now be a continuous corridor of national parks stretching for 350 kilometres from the Victorian border to Macquarie Pass, in the Southern Highlands.
"These are large areas set aside for conservation," he said.