How long for a felling license.

Mollydog123

Hi All, I have 30 acres in Clare that was planted in 1992. Got one of the forestry companies out in 2019 and they applied for felling license in April 2019. I've read through a lot of the posts here and I seem to be exceptional at 2 years and no license. Anyone know where I could get more information.

Alibaba

Mollydog123 wrote: »

Hi All, I have 30 acres in Clare that was planted in 1992. Got one of the forestry companies out in 2019 and they applied for felling license in April 2019. I've read through a lot of the posts here and I seem to be exceptional at 2 years and no license. Anyone know where I could get more information.

Call the Forest Service , Johnstown Castle , Co Wexford

Redjacketboy

That's way too long. They are taking longer in last year or so but 2019 should only have been a few weeks really. Planted 1992, presume you're clearfelling?

biddyearley

some felling licences have been in the system for 4 years.

paddyte20

My brother does the felling licences in Johnston castle.

felling.forestservice@agriculture.gov.ie

+3530539163400 phone number wexford

They have alot of extra staff trying to clear them now.

biddyearley

You do realize that under the new AA bull**** that a massive surrounding area has to be screened?https://www.farmersjournal.ie/average-planting-sites-of-7ha-need-niss-covering-70-000ha-614557

biddyearley

It is nonsense, the Inspectorate at Agriculture House knows it, and refuses to change it. It is like the co-pilot informing the captain of the aircraft that the AGL inputs in the flight-plan are too low and that you will bang straight into a mountain unless the course is corrected.

Mollydog123

Redjacketboy wrote: »

That's way too long. They are taking longer in last year or so but 2019 should only have been a few weeks really. Planted 1992, presume you're clearfelling?

No a second thinning. Forester said should be clear-felled 7 years after that. That was 2 years ago. He contacted me 2 weeks ago to say that the Dept told him they were concentrating on felling license's now as another poster has mentioned.

Mollydog123

biddyearley wrote: »

You do realize that under the new AA bull**** that a massive surrounding area has to be screened?https://www.farmersjournal.ie/average-planting-sites-of-7ha-need-niss-covering-70-000ha-614557

That seems crazy

biddyearley

Mollydog123 wrote: »

That seems crazy

It is insane, and it is reckoned to be part of an attempt to stop conifer afforestation in its tracks and to get people to plant native broadleaves only. It does not matter that there will most likely be no timber except firewood produced from such plantations, the object is native trees.

This lunatic policy is being enforced by Dublin born and bred foresters.

How DAFM expects to supply timber to the mills, and people to make a living is anyone's guess.


Protest the madness to pippa.hackett@oireachtas.ie

99nsr125

biddyearley wrote: »

It is insane, and it is reckoned to be part of an attempt to stop conifer afforestation in its tracks and to get people to plant native broadleaves only. It does not matter that there will most likely be no timber except firewood produced from such plantations, the object is native trees.

This lunatic policy is being enforced by Dublin born and bred foresters.

How DAFM expects to supply timber to the mills, and people to make a living is anyone's guess.


Protest the madness to pippa.hackett@oireachtas.ie

Do you or anyone have a complaint template by any chance

blue5000

Who is the relevant minister for forestry these days? Is it part of the ag portfolio or is it lumped in with something else these days? There's no point in spamming up Pippa Hackett's inbox if we should be lobbying someone else.

If this keeps up there will be illegal logging going on, I mean one Sitka board at a sawmill looks very like another one at a sawmill. This fiasco has been going on far too long.

biddyearley

99nsr125 wrote: »

Do you or anyone have a complaint template by any chance

Thanks for the inquiry but no.
Everyone and the dog in Leinster House knows what and who the problems are but as they say "ever hear of a public servant being fired". Minister Hackett is a weak minister who has been fully informed repeatedly whao and what the problems are in the Forest Service but like a rabbet in the headlights she's terrified to make a hard decision.
Current policy, unstated of course, is to plant Native Woodland everywhere and anywhere before any conifer. One stipulation is that NWS projects should be able to produce commercial sawlog and that is one of the biggest scams these people are perpetrating. Call NWS what it is which is necessary forest creation for the birds, which is fine, but pay people for 30years instead of 15, and stop bull****ting them that they will get commercial sawlog some day.


DAFM is also prioritizing Coillte felling licenses ahead of private licenses.



The DAFM staff who are responsible for the industry collapse cannot be fired, held accountable or disciplined and they will get paid and pensioned no matter what happens.


Call/email/write your elected reps. I'm amazed that the industry is sitting back and not organizing a mass strike or refusing DAFM personnel onto their property.


Write to the newspapers and call them to account. The current inspectorate is hellbent on destroying conifer afforestation in this country. Nurseries have had to destroy trees because demand in Ireland has collapsed, but they have been saved by exporting 80% of their trees to the UK.



leo.varadkar@oireachtas.ie
micheal.martin@oireachtas.ie
pippa.hackett@oirecahtas.ie
Colm.Hayes@agriculture.gov.ie civil servant in charge of forestry
brendan.gleeson@agriculture.gov.ie Sec General of DAFM
seamus.dunne@agriculture.gov.ie Chief Inspector

kevin.collins@agriculture.gov.ie Driver of NWS afforestation


Find your public representative here

https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/members/tds/



With email your complaint is now valid and you will get an acknowledgement, but get friends and family to email and make your voices heard.

blue5000

Started the ball rolling on a felling licence this week. will keep you updated until we get the permission. Hopefully timber prices will hold up until 2023.

893bet

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118085475#Comment_118085475

Planning on the same, you do it yourself?

blue5000

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118091065#Comment_118091065

No, I think in theory it is possible. But in practice it's impossible, according to the forester it was possible up until about 2018 for a farmer to diy. Going for a 10 yr one.

893bet

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118091342#Comment_118091342

I am getting a forester myself. Think it’s only 300 or so. Too much risk of making a DIY application in messing it up and ending at the back of a long que again.

Going for the clearfell 10 yr one also in the assumption that it will take 4 years to get it……so that’s 14 years in theory…

Mollydog123

Finally got approval for my felling license in August after 2.5 years. Only problem is that its too wet to go onto the land now. The forester has said that with the delay, my forestry has gone past second thinning stage and more advanced than he would like. Will have a look at it again in spring next year.

maestroamado

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118116360#Comment_118116360

https://forestry-maps.apps.rhos.agriculture.gov.ie

If you want to know the history of your application and every application its here... just pull up the relevant map...

I think best do application in own name as the dept will only answer questions from the applicant... it only costs about €300... also better use individual forester as not tied in with any company when we decide to proceed with planting/felling...

leinster93

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118116378#Comment_118116378

Anyone got an update on the link https://forestry-maps.apps./

The one there isn't working any more...

maestroamado

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118171857#Comment_118171857

https://forestry-maps.apps.rhos.agriculture.gov.ie

leinster93

The link says site can't be reached🙁

maestroamado

its your server.... i think chrome best...

blue5000

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118171969#Comment_118171969

Not working for me either and I use chrome.

mullinr2

My parents applied for their ten year licence nearly three years ago and are still waiting. They have down everything possible like got an environmental report to speed things up. It is a large private forest of 150 acres and this is what seems to be holding things up. I can see the licences being granted to smaller forest acreage. It's causing them a lot of stress and anxiety. Totally unfair that they can't harvest their tress. A tillage, diary or beef farmer is not prevented in making money from their line of farming but a forest farmer is.

Good loser

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118316867#Comment_118316867

That is indeed a disgrace. Are you talking about a licence to clearfell which will last for ten years? If it was a private company it could be sued. Or an injunction sought to compel them to issue a licence. Going public might be the best way to force their hands.

Bureaucrats out of control!

maestroamado

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118316867#Comment_118316867

Why don't you phone them and ask... i just got planting license for a small planting area in 6 months and i ring fort close + a few objections. I found them helpful for any query i had... it may be that if a company applied you cannot ask.. have you looked at the application online...

mullinr2

Good news on my parents application. I emailed the forestry licence section last week highlighting how long it's taking and how much stress they are under waiting for it. They have just been granted their licence this week.

Easten

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118171911#Comment_118171911

Bit of smoke and mirrors going on there. The link doesn't link to where it says it is linking to instead it links to forestry-maps.apps.

here is the correct link

Forestry Licence Viewer (agriculture.gov.ie)

maestroamado

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118532927#Comment_118532927

It always works for me... thats all i know... yours does too thanks as i save in case...

timfromtang

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118532927#Comment_118532927

this map shows new applications for licences, is there a similar map that allows viewing of issued felling licences etc?

tim

Easten

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118534516#Comment_118534516

Its on the side bar, you can select map type, felling licenses and other filters

blue5000

So had the forester out for a look last October, paid them 350 didn’t hear anything from dept so got in touch a week ago, application not even gone in. They got it in since, got a letter from Jownstown castle looking for €20 registration fee. Can’t blame Johnstown castle for all the delays with a felling licence. Now we wait……

I really think farmers should be allowed do there own application form for a felling licence. At least you would know it was gone in to the department.

Mollydog123

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119231195#Comment_119231195

Talking to my forester last week. Took me 3 years to get the thinning license but the problem is there's been a lot of growth in those 3 years and it could be better to just go for Clear-fell. Seemingly you can get a combo clear-fell and thinning license now so you dont have to apply 2 times. He was saying there is a problem getting machines as a lot sold there machines with the delay in the thinning licenses.

blue5000

I think a 10 year licence is what you get, covers most of the thinning operations. How old are your trees?

Mollydog123

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119289062#Comment_119289062

30 years old. Have grown well.

Get your TDS to ask parliamentary questions, repeatedly. Felling license number and name. Copy it to Martin and Varadkar. PQs have to be answered and it highlights the laziness and truculence and deliberate attempts to break the private sector by DAFM.

You might be happy to hear that Inspector Kark Coggins is the Inspector who solely manages Coilltes licensing, and he processes them very quickly. He's smart and capable, unlike inspectors Collins and Dunne who'd give Laurel and Hardy a run for their money.

blue5000

I was at a conifer event a couple of weeks ago, got talking to a few people and the big delay seems to be ecological reports needed if your forestry is anywhere near an SAC or hen harrier area etc. etc.

Hen harriers actually hunt over newly planted conifers before it closes in, it’s good habitat for them. I see a good few nests in my Norway spruce trees, someone needs to tell city people that there is wildlife in conifer forests.

There’s lots of fungi in there too.

timfromtang

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119853009#Comment_119853009

According to our local forestry inspector (a sound lad I met during a recent knowledge transfer thing for forest owners)

The license issue is largely getting back to normal, from just one ecologist they have hired an extra 31, and licenses are now being turned around in a reasonable length of time. There are however a number of delayed applications in the system and a backlog that is still being cleared.

tim

blue5000

Got my 10 yr thinning licence, reading through it I see the forester omitted Sitka altogether, Jesus wept. They're probably the most advanced and will need thinning first.

tabby aspreme

How long did it take to get the application, Blue

blue5000

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119981761#Comment_119981761

Wasn't actually that long in the end, about 4 and a half months from the time the application went in. I think what helped it was that there's no SAC or hen harrier areas near us. Forester was surprised that it came through fairly fast. It's a 10 year one. I presume you mean licence, not application.

Other people have said that things have improved this year.

ppn

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119994549#Comment_119994549

Waited over 4 years for a Felling Licence for 1st Thinning received in late Summer 2022, by which time I needed to change application to add Clearfell. The system is a complete joke and I believe the Dept is closed for Forest Road applications now, I could be wrong, but they are not sure themselves. Of course, there was none of this red tape when the forest was originally planted.

893bet

Applied last June/July ish and got approval this week.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119853266#Comment_119853266

The sooner DAFM gives a justification for the 15k zoning for ecological reports the better. It's NOT a court ruling. It was picked without any thought or consultation or planning by the technical leadership of DAFM. Unanswerable and unaccountable public servants.

I must say the contradictions in the description of DAFM staff are hilarious. No leadership and a lack of service.

We have the worst forestry minister since the foundation of the state. There is no planting program in place for the first time in the history of the state. 74ha of new planting this year-DAFM will try to bump it up by adding replanting areas to the overall figure. Her priorities are nepotism and star-****. As for the Inspectorate, they personify incompetence at its most egregious.

Of course, Coillte has its own dedicated DAFM Inspector to push its licenses through. Part of Asst Sec. Colm Hayes plan to get rid of private sector forest owners and allow Coillte only to produce timber.

I have it on good authority from a DI that DAFM is NOT investigating unlicensed clearfells or unauthorized road building. So much for environmental protection rules.

Jonnyc135

Can a felling license be changed once granted, ie. change of replanting obligation type

_Brian

How about approval to plant. How long is that taking ??

endainoz

Hi folks, I have a smallish Sitka plantation which was planted in 2008, in assuming it's due for a thinning soon?

blue5000

15 years old so probably due to start getting the paperwork rolling. If you can prune the branches off in a line perpendicular to where you think the first rows of trees will be taken out. Makes life a lot easier for anyone to inspect what you have.