A computer - based harvest plan mapping system developed over the past 18 months by the Division of Forestry and State Forests of NSW is ready for operational use. An important part of the collaboration with State Forests has been field testing the system in a range of New South Wales hardwood forests. Research aimed at further automating the mapping system is now under way. The GIS technology is capable of identifying those areas', McCormack says. These trails are used by the harvesting machinery to bring logs to the roadside, and can have adverse environmental impacts if poorly sited.
Poor location can also adversely affect the performance of the logging machines.
Studies of environmental and economic impacts of track location now under way will help improve the planning program. Our goal is to link the research outcomes into the new planning format', McCormack says. However, the research revealed that application of nitrogen fertiliser in the quantities needed for very high growth rates may cause serious soil damage, making the practice unsustainable. An alternative means of supplying the nitrogen, such as via nitrogen-fixing trees planted with the eucalypts, appears necessary. The results come from a series of experiments by the Division of Forestry in collaboration with the Queensland Forest Service.