Mt Stirling is a well known and much loved mountain and cross country ski resort in the mountains of Victoria.
A considerable number of areas of forest on and around the mountain are due to be logged soon (any time from November 2022 onwards). We understand that this logging has been held up by road damage on the mountain but could start soon.
Logging will have significant impacts on tourism (a number of the areas will be cut along the popular Circuit Road), will further fragment the important alpine ash forests on the mountain, and threaten the viability of older alpine ash and snow gum forests up slope due to the highly flammable nature of logging regrowth. It will also directly impact two sections of the famous Alpine Epic mountain bike route.
The map below shows where the coupes will be located.
The coupes were approved in the 2021 Timber Release Plan and we understand that logging will commence very soon. The coupes include:
- Bus Loop – BenMan 400-501-1008
- Epic – BenMan 389-507-0002
- Pinnacle Track - this is a linear coupe - meaning it is mostly a logging road
- Cobbler View – BenMan 401-501-0002
- King Saddle West – BenMan 401-501-0004
- Black Landing – BenMan 401-503-0001
- King Saddle East – BenMan 401-501-0003
- Motlock – BenMan 401-402-0002
- Harlequin - BenMan 386-505-0001
- Bindaree Corner - BenMan 386-503-0002
- Bindaree – BenMan 386-504-0001
- Bindaree Road North - BenMan 386-503-0007
- Sweetcorn - BenMan 386-503-0005
See text below for details on the ecological values of the coupes.
Vic Forests will be conducting timber harvesting at eleven coupe sites around the boundary of the Mount Stirling resort, beginning from November 2022 through to April 2023. Timber harvesting operations will be occurring within the Mansfield State Forest and no harvesting will be occurring within the Mount Stirling resort.
Large sections of the Alpine Ash forests have already been logged. These forests – if they regrow – will be highly flammable for decades to come, and threaten the older ash forests that exist higher on the mountain and within the Mt Stirling resort area. Significant sections of Mt Stirling have been burnt in wildfire in recent decades, but valuable older sections of alpine ash and snow gum forest remain. Fires burn hotter as they run uphill and could kill the precious remaining intact forests on higher elevation slopes and around the summit.
Apart from logging along extensive sections of the Circuit Road, concerns have been expressed about the Bindaree coupe, which is upstream of the very popular Bindaree Falls. It is not clear how VicForests could justify logging above this waterfall.
Up to twenty log trucks per day will be using the Circuit Road to move logs (with limited loads on the weekend) from coupes via both King Saddle and Howqua Gap, through Telephone Box Junction and out via the Mount Stirling Road. The combination of logging trucks and 4WD passenger vehicles must be a major concern for all the authorities with responsibilities in the area, including VicForests. It is not yet clear how this will be managed.
Impacts on mountain bike trails
Mt Buller and Mt Stirling are famous for the fantastic bike trails that exist on both mountains. The Australian Alpine Epic route is described as ‘one of only a handful of IMBA Epic accredited trails in the world, the Australian Alpine Epic is a unique, tough and exhilarating journey’. It climbs onto Mt Stirling from the Delatite Valley before heading north past Mt Winstanley.
Sadly, now sections of the Epic ride will be directly impacted by logging operations on Mt Stirling – unless we stop it.
It is not yet clear how the track will be managed during the logging operations, but the visual impacts will be long lasting. While MTB riders are used to a range of conditions – open country, pine plantations, state forests and so on, the Epic track is unusual because of it’s long distance riding through an intact mountain environment. Now logging threatens to directly impact on the experience of riding in this special mountain environment.
The key impacts will be in two areas to the north of Mt Stirling:
- The Bus Loop coupe will cut right to the edge of the Epic trail as it leaves the No 3 road towards Pinnacle Track
- The ‘upgrade’ of the Pinnacle Track. Where the Epic track joins the Pinnacle Track, this will be converted into a logging road for several kilometres. A patch of older Alpine Ash will be logged around the Pinnacle track, as well as coupes above the track
You can find out more about likely impacts on the Epic Trail here.
Above: this part of the Alpine Epic trail will be upgraded into a logging road and this forest (part of the Epic coupe) will be logged, as will the forests below, seen from the Epic trail.
Take action
1/ A simple and effective thing to do is to send a quick email to The Hon Lily D’Ambroisio, the minister for the environment, asking her to protect Mt Stirling by stopping logging in all the coupes around the mountain (you could include the coupe numbers from the story above). See below for possible text to send.
2/ sign this letter to the minister urging her to intervene and protect key areas in the Victorian high country from logging.
DRAFT EMAIL to send to the minister
The Hon Lily D'Ambrosio,
Minister for the Environment
Dear Minister
I am appalled to hear that logging in up to 15 coupes is expected to start in and around Mt Stirling in coming months.
This will have significant impacts on tourism (a number of the areas will be cut along the popular Circuit Road), will further fragment the important alpine ash forests on the mountain, and threaten the viability of older alpine ash and snow gum forests up slope due to the highly flammable nature of logging regrowth.
The coupes are:
Bus Loop – BenMan 400-501-1008
Epic – BenMan 389-507-0002
Pinnacle Track - this is a linear coupe - meaning it is mostly a logging road
Cobbler View – BenMan 401-501-0002
King Saddle West – BenMan 401-501-0004
Black Landing – BenMan 401-503-0001
King Saddle East – BenMan 401-501-0003
Motlock – BenMan 401-402-0002
Harlequin - BenMan 386-505-0001
Bindaree Corner - BenMan 386-503-0002
Bindaree – BenMan 386-504-0001
Bindaree Road North - BenMan 386-503-0007
Sweetcorn - BenMan 386-503-0005
I urge you to act immediately to halt logging in these areas
Specific details on the Mt Stirling coupes
There is a reportback from a survey trip conducted in late November 2022 which is available here and provides extra information about many of these areas.
Epic – BenMan 389-507-0002
This area of forest is upstream from streams containing the Barred Galaxias (Galaxias Fuscus) which is a critically endangered freshwater fish. The planned logging will clear cut forest located directly on the frequently visited “Epic Trail” which is used for mountain biking.
Pinnacle Track
This is a linear coupe - meaning it is mostly a logging road. It passes through snow gum woodland, recovering alpine ash, badly fire affected forests, and some lovely older ash. It is currently a quiet trail at present, but will become a much wider and open logging road under the logging plans.
Bus Loop – BenMan 400-501-1008
Around half of this forested area is projected to be Sub-Alpine woodland that contains Snow Gum trees on the higher ground, as well as Eucalypt trees. This area supports many of the threatened species referenced in the Victorian Biodiversity Atlas (VBA). One of these species is the Royal Grevillea (Grevillea victoriae subsp. Victoriae) which is a rare flowering shrub that is endemic to New South Whales and montane ecosystems in Victoria. In addition, this area is within 10 meters of the Alpine Epic bike trail.
King Saddle West – BenMan 401-501-0004
This area of forest lies adjacent to a special protection area established to protect the endangered Alpine Stonefly (Thaumatoperla alpina). This coupe lies between two previously logged areas along the Mt. Stirling Alpine Resort Boundary. The planned logging would occur along the frequently visited Circuit Road on a site that is 500 m from a scenic picnic area with parking.
Black Landing – BenMan 401-503-0001
This coupe contains hollow bearing trees which provide habitat for owls such as the Sooty Owl (Tyto tenebricosa tenebricosa) and the Powerful Owl (Ninox strenua). This area is located on the northern border of the Mount Stirling Alpine Resort and along the scenic Circuit Road.
King Saddle East – BenMan 401-501-0003
This area of forest overlaps with the Mount Stirling Alpine Resort’s northern boundary by 2.5 hectares. The coupe lies adjacent to a special protection zone that aims to protect the endangered Alpine Stonefly (Thaumatoperla alpina) which has a confirmed sighting within 100 meters of the coupe.
Motlock – BenMan 401-402-0002
There have been confirmed sightings of the Scooty Owl (Tyto tenebricosa tenebricosa) within this coupe. Motlock has hollow bearing trees which provide habitat and shelter for this owl and other night gliders. It is also located on the northern border of the Mount Stirling Alpine Resort along the Circuit Road which lies adjacent to an Alpine Stonefly Special Protection Area.
The Bindaree coupes
BenMan 386-505-0001
BenMan 386-503-0002
Bindaree – BenMan 386-504-0001
This area is essential to tourism, water catchment, and provides habitat for endangered species. Bindaree Falls is a popular tourist destination along the Circuit Road. 10% of the water catchment for these falls lies within the bounds of the Bindaree coup. It is also upstream from a studied and recorded spotted tree frog population. Bindaree is adjacent to special protection zones for the Alpine stonefly and is also a confirmed habitat for great gliders. The hollow bearing trees in Bindaree could be home for other endangered nocturnal species however, there is a need for a nocturnal survey to confirm this.
Thanks to Charles Street from Friends of Mt Stirling, Blake from VNPA, and Gerard McPhee for information used in this story.