When VicForests was created in 2004, the area of ash forest set to be logged annually in the 5 years from 2014 to 2019 in the Central Forest Management Area was 386 ha.  (The Central FMA comprises the Toolangi, Marysville and Alexandra forest districts). That logging rate is now double what was forecast in 2004.  In 2014/15 - - despite around 13,500 ha of the ash forests of the Central FMA being killed in 2009 - - the area of ash forest logged in the Central FMA was 758 ha.

Across the state, the Central FMA’s ash forests appear to be the most heavily logged area in Victoria.  Around half of the total ‘available’ ash forest area in the Central FMA has been either logged or burnt in the past decade.

Allowing for the logging that occurred in the period prior to 2004/05, and making a prudent allowance for future catastrophic fires, for biodiversity protection and for scenic values, the unsustainability of current logging is immediately apparent.