Chained to a tree

[croc]

...
Bloody oath.
...c

[Stephen Whiteside]

Yes, Marty, the scientists think the Leadbeater's possum is probably doomed now regardless of what anybody does, which is a shame.

[Glenny Palmer]

Oh Stephen that is a marvellous poem. I had not seen it before & my first thought on reading it was that you must have stayed up all night last night writing it.

I was remiss in not acknowledging Marty who brought this to our attention....Vote 1 for Marty! (Deputy PM?)
Now that would be a team!

I'm sure I don't know what we can do for this little creature in the face of the ever worshipping of the mighty dollar...at ANY cost. Give praise, support & hope to the lobby group trying to have some sanity prevail I suppose. It is very depressing. Thank you for posting your poem.
I like Maureen's obsevations re human behaviour too. Deep sigh.
Glenny

[Stephen Whiteside]

Thanks, Glenny. Will be interesting to see what happens in court today.

[croc]

...
...Keep it posted please Stephen; As for myself, something that has been around for centuries knows the 'lay of the land',... no pun intended there... and from me trawling through a shed load of www. it would appear that this little marsupial is cleverer than most humans would give it credit for. I reckon it will survive. It probably won't flourish into millions, but I don't think we should just give up on the creature... Nature has a more powerful plan than any bloody logging company can ever hope to have, and nature will win no matter what the odds stacked against her.
Keep the faith ...
...croc

p/s ... as my beloved says Stephen... a bloody good write mate.

[Dave Smith]

Why don't we send a couple of pairs to NZ they seem to like our possums over there?

TTFN

[Stephen Whiteside]

Thanks, croc.

[Stephen Whiteside]

Here's a 'copy and paste' from Steve Meacher.



Good evening all,

I begin this message taking a moment to remember the events of Black Saturday, three years ago. Today, of all days, we are conscious of what was lost and give thanks for what we still are lucky enough to have. We honour the memory of those who were not so fortunate.

And we are reminded of the importance of doing what we can to protect the people and places we love, including what is left of the forest that so defines the character of the Ranges in which we choose to live.

- o0o -

As expected, My Environment -v- VicForests continued in the Supreme Court today.

The day was mostly spent with counsel for VicForests diligently endeavouring to establish the framework of his client's defence, through extensive reference to the legislation and foreshadowing some of the evidence that they intend to bring before the court.

It was mentioned that, if the court finds that the three coupes that are the subject of this case cannot be legally logged, then the same will apply to another 162 coupes across Victoria, making it clear that this case could have much broader significance.

Immediately after lunch arrangements were confirmed for the viewing tomorrow, so there will be no sitting in court. VicForests then concluded outlining their case, before the court rose at 4:38 pm. The hearing will continue in the Supreme Court on Thursday at 10:30 am.

The case was mentioned again on the ABC TV news this evening and a summary of last night's report is now on the ABC News website, with a video link to the first part of Friday's 7:30 Vic story. There was also a brief mention in The Age (see below), at the end of another story. Please help keep the story alive with a letter to the editor - letters@theage.com.au

To follow developments, visit the My Environment link.

If you can support the campaign in any way, including much needed financial donations, now is the time!

And, once again, please forward this message to anyone who might be interested and/or sympathetic, including larger environmental organisations that should be supporting us.

Many thanks,

For the forests,

Steve

from The Age

■THE population of Victoria's endangered faunal emblem, Leadbeater's possum, was cut roughly in half by the Black Saturday bushfires as 45 per cent of its habitat was destroyed, the Supreme Court has heard. The claim came on the opening day of a civil trial brought by a conservation group trying to stop native forest logging in parts of Victoria's central highlands on the grounds they provide habitat for the species.
VicForests will outline its defence before Justice Robert Osborn today.

[croc]

...
Goodonya Stephen... cheers mate. keep it posted up because I am living in the bush in a caravan without radio or t/v. Just as well I can't afford them because there is no reception here anyway. I have to stand on my head in the corner every time I want to make a phone call... I run a p/c orf a 44kg lpg bottle at a rate of 65Mbps... not bad for lpg.

Goodonya doc...
...croc

[croc]

G'day Dave...
The last count I made of the brush tail possum in New Zealand came to just a few over 93 million. They are proven bovine t/b carriers and are classed as pest number one. There is a $10 or more bounty on the skin, and if Norman the Lawman sees you walking past a possum without making a very valid attempt to terminate its journey through life, he'll probably run you in.

I worked the orchards in N/z for some time, and it's not very pleasant to get into an orchard at sunup, to discover that the lmajority of the fruit has been ruined by large numbers of possums overnight. It's money out of everyones pocket then.

Vet Science is at this point working on the pros and cons of releasing a nematode which will render the possums sterile and therefore they will all die of natural attrition. The only drawback at this stage is making it host sopecific.

Cheers ...
...croc