61 The contagion erupts

Within a few months clearing had started 5 km further down the road. It was in an area of old growth forest possibly containing the last koalas to survive on the Monaro; koala sightings from passing cars with their windows steamed up were rare but claimed unequivocal. This clearing was mandatory because a fence was being erected by the landholder to prevent stock from straying onto the road. He had no stock but would one day. A fence generally has a cleared area on either side wider than the height of standing trees. This protects the fence from damage by falling trees. By this action, the 20 metre wide felled strip along the road became 40 m wide. A Mohican fringe of erect roadside trees was left as a token to mark the boundary. They were soon discarded through a combination of strong winds and heavy snowfalls.

The invasive contagious thought wafted over to Forestry Headquarters. They had a big order for chip wood to be filled that season. They were going to be struggling to fill it using their normal felling method of harvesting caches separated by untouched forest. Caching allows any wild things that can move quickly some temporary protection and a nearby food source. Native plants can also recolonise the felled caches from within the intact forest.

They moved into Creewah. There were no caches. Felling was continuous though trees that were significant as nesting sites or refuges for ring tailed possums or greater gliders were left standing. These holey trees stood almost as lonely as Lone Pine on the rise above Anzac Cove. Steep-sided water courses were untouched.

Over two seasons the Forestry juggernaut rolled on sparing little and even taking narrow slices into the National Park where it was permissible. Undergrowth was flattened by the tracked vehicles and useless timber was pushed over to rot and bar animal tracks as the good timber was extracted. Satellite images showed exactly the small extent of private unlogged land in the area. It was sad.