Issue
Is the off-road use of a road vehicle in travelling between coupes within a forest or plantation, in order to provide on-site supervision to work crews engaged in the planting and tending of trees, 'forestry' for the purposes of section 35 of the Energy Grants (Credits) Scheme Act 2003 (EGCSA)?
Decision
Yes. The off-road use of a road vehicle to travel within a forest or plantation in order to give on-site supervision to work crews engaged in the planting and tending of trees, is 'forestry' for the purposes of section 35 of the EGCSA.
Facts
An entity carries on a forestry enterprise in the form of a plantation to produce trees for felling.
Forestry employees are engaged in work crews in various activities in the plantation, such as the planting of seedlings, weed control, the pruning of young trees and the making and maintaining of firebreaks.
The entity has advised that the effective and efficient performance of the activities requires the regular supervision of a person qualified or knowledgeable in silvicultural practice.
A supervisor regularly travels to the various sites in the plantation where those activities are carried out by the work crews. The supervisor attends these sites to ensure that the forestry activities are effectively and efficiently carried out.
The supervisor travels in a road vehicle. The road vehicle does not travel on any public road.
Reasons for Decision
'Forestry' is relevantly defined in section 35 of the EGCSA as follows:
The expression forestry means: (a) the planting or tending, in a forest or plantation, of trees intended for felling; or (b) the thinning or felling, in a forest or plantation, of standing timber; ...
Activities that constitute the planting or tending trees intended for felling fall within paragraph (a) of the definition of in section 35 of the EGCSA.
The activities carried out by the forestry employees are within the meaning of 'forestry'.
The effective and efficient performance of the activities requires the regular supervision of a person qualified or knowledgeable in silvicultural practice. Therefore the supervision is properly regarded as an integral part of the activities of 'planting or tending' within paragraph 35(a) of the EGCSA and 'thinning or felling' within paragraph 35(b) of the EGCSA.
Therefore, the off-road use of a vehicle for the purpose of supervising work crews engaged in the planting and tending of trees in a forest is 'forestry' for the purposes of section 35 of the EGCSA.