Length of green-up periods
An industry submission, referring to the critique, states that growth projections using 'managed stand yield curves' indicate more rapid growth in plantations or managed forests which suggests possible increases in long-term timber supply.
Integrated resource management practices
Though many submissions support the concept of integrated resource management, some reflect concern about how this objective is implemented.
One submission suggests responsible management requires harvesting at the long-term sustainable level now, thereby allowing time to improve understanding about forest ecosystem relationships and the use of forest resources.
Another submission proposes that adequate protection of water quality and stream flow requires trees to be 70 to 80 per cent of their mature height or at least 20 metres tall.
Many of the submissions acknowledge the difficulty of maintaining the current harvest level using existing forest management practices while achieving acceptable management of non-timber resources. These respondents question whether acceptable management of non-timber resources can be achieved using 'more recent integrated management practices' and emphasize that the Forest Practices Code will further constrain the volume of timber available for harvest.
Combined impacts
A number of the submissions identify the potential for combined effects among critical factors.
One submission considers the combined effect of green-up and riparian impacts and concludes that the combination of poor growth of plantations and restricted access to timber in riparian areas will reduce the harvest level by 15 per cent.
Another submission, acknowledges the uncertainty regarding appropriate green-up and the availability of existing mature timber and states these factors were not adequately reflected in the Forest Service base case forecast.
