Approval of logging within rare mushroom habitat in the Sunshine Coast Forest District

On November 28, 1995, the Board received a complaint from a member of the public asserting that “logging has been approved within the habitat of an extremely rare, probably endangered, species of mushroom in the genus Tricholoma”. The blocks where logging had been approved are within the Small Business Forest Enterprise Program administered by the Ministry of Forests in the Sunshine Coast Forest District.

The Board decided the complaint was about preparation and approval of silviculture prescriptions for these blocks by the Ministry of Forests. The Ministry of Environment, Lands and Parks has the opportunity to participate in the preparation of silviculture prescriptions, making it necessary for the Board to examine their role in this complaint.