After the announcement, FFMVic stated that harvesting and haulage contractors would remain engaged by VicForests until 30 June 2024 and continue to support the fuel-reduction burning program.
VicForests Community Forest licensees (firewood etc.) could also continue to cut until 30 June 2024.
But then on 5 January 2024, VicForests instructed all its Community Forestry licensees that they had only a month left, and that operations were to cease on Monday 5 February.
Allegedly, the date was brought forward by five months because it was feared that conservation groups, who were taking court action against VicForests, were about to launch additional legal action against individual licensees as well.
Geoff Evans grew up in Stawell and graduated from the Victorian School of Forestry at Creswick in 1971.
On leaving Creswick he was posted at Toolangi and assisted in managing the 1939 ash regrowth thinning program.
After completing a forestry degree at Melbourne University, Geoff then moved to Forrest in 1975 to supervise logging and regeneration operations on the Otway Ridge.
In 1978, he was transferred to Powelltown as the Assistant District Forester, responsible for fire protection and forest operations. He was also responsible, along with others, for building the iconic “Walk Into History”.
In 1981, Geoff moved to Horsham as the Fire Protection Planning Officer for Western Victoria, but on the formation of CFL in 1984 he secured the new role as the Assistant Regional Manager Operations (ARM-OPS) for the Horsham Region.
In 1985, he was accredited as one of the first Level 3 Fire Controllers, a position he maintained for 26 years. Geoff went to America in 2000 as part of the first international fire deployment and was awarded the prestigious Australian Fire Service Medal (AFSM) in 2004.
Following more restructures in 1993, Geoff was appointed Senior Forester and Fire Management Officer at Horsham.
Geoff retired in 2011 and applied for commercial C License to cut firewood in the Cherrypool State Forest 45kms South of Horsham.
Over his 13 years of thinning Redgum regrowth, Geoff cut an average of 20m3 firewood per month over an 8-month season, which began each October. His best-ever month was 69m3, but in the rush of his last four weeks before the closure, he and his family managed to cut a massive 175 m3.
Following the early shutdown, VicForests held a “wake” for all its community forestry licensees across Victoria at Beaufort on 5 April 2024. Prior to the event the VicForests supervisors had got together and come up with a few awards and Geoff was presented with the “Most Consistent Cutter” award.
At the “wake” it also emerged that Geoff Evans had felled the very last commercially harvested tree on State forest on the morning of 5 February 2024. The tree was a Red Gum on his firewood coupe in the Cherrypool State forest.
It’s ironic that the honour fell (pun intended) to such a notable Victorian forester.
Note – images were taken as screen shots from a video
https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/edit?mid=1AKjxZh0KoT3Eb–sNUsyI6PYE7Rlg_E&usp=sharing
Victoria’s Forests & Bushfire Heritage 