Forest service

Growing trees is good for the planet. Harvesting mature timber, selling it to amortize investments is better, especially in forestry close to nature and with an approved sustainable management document.

The buyer of the cut or the wood will then implement his teams of lumberjacks, skidders, and longshoremen to bring the wood along the forest lane. There, logging or forestry trucks will be able to access and carry the logs or ridges.

The creation of forestry groups has allowed the establishment of structuring roads that represent an excellent internal service for our forests. Many of these tracks are today used and valued within the framework of easements established by the State for the defense of forests against fire and are therefore regularly maintained.

It is their connection to the large public road network, highways and motorways, through municipal and departmental roads that often remains problematic.

Many black spots persist, for example, either due to a limitation in the tonnage of these lanes, or too tight bends for logging machines, or even municipal by-laws prohibiting the transport of wood to avoid degrading the platform or causing discomfort for residents.

Article L153-8 of the Forest Code requires each Department to develop annually, in consultation, a scheme for access to forest resources. This scheme provides for routes using departmental, municipal and inter-municipal roads and ensuring the transport of logs from forest roads to the various delivery points.

In the Hérault, the Department never realized it and it seems to bother no one. However, if it existed, it would have made it possible to find solutions to ensure the transport of logs and ridges from forest groups to sawmills or storage platforms.

The forest service scheme is part of a global approach to sustainable forest management, respecting both the environmental, economic and social imperatives related to forests as a common resource.

The departmental federation of forestry groups has been asking the Department for several years to bring this scheme into being.

It would be in the pipeline according to the latest news...