13 million trees to be replanted after Victorian State fires

Friday 27 Feb 2026

 
The fire threat in Victoria's Upper Murray has eased, but the region's famously green, undulating hills still bear the black scars of a devastating bushfire. The Walwa-Mt Lawson State Park fire started in early January, spreading through 120,000 hectares of land before it was contained just over a month later.

It was one of several major fires that burned in Victoria during catastrophic conditions.

"It's surprising how much it's demolished and how quickly it did it," Koetong wool producer Meaghan Williams said. Fourteen homes were lost, farms were razed and 11,000 hectares of pine plantation were wiped out.

Down the road, the Shelley pine plantation, owned by Melbourne-based HVP Plantations, is a forest of black trees. Corporate fire and silviculture manager Richard Mailer said the fire burnt 80 per cent of the 13,500-hectare plantation. "That [was] 10,500 hectares of plantations that varied from one year old to 37 years old," he said. "We also lost some specialised forest harvesting equipment and our shelling works centre."

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Source: ABC
Image credit: HVP Plantations
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