Environmental activists who stopped logging operations in Shallow Crossing earlier this week have some under fire for leaving refuse and the remains of a treesit in the forest.
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Images circulated on social media of the treesit's remains in the bush sparked outrage from people who accused the activists of hypocrisy, and being more interested in publicity students than actually protecting the environment.
However former Ulladulla High School captain Takesa Frank, who spent much of Monday, March 6, suspended 20 metres above the ground in the treesit, said police ordered her out of the Brooman State Forest immediately after climbing down about 5pm.
She said the remains had since been cleaned up the activists.
"The only reason it wasn't done on the sport was that we literally had to leave and we weren't allowed to stay to clean up," Ms Frank said.
To make matters worse the logging contractors cut down the tree that the treesit was in, bringing it crashing to the ground.
She climbed that tree in the dark on the day of the protest, and was in location when logging contractors arrived to start work at 5am.
Cables attached the treesit to four logging machines, while about 20 local residents and Greens MP Sue Higgenson were on site in support of the action.
When four police officers arrived at the location later in the morning they moved on most of the protestors, and spent several hours removing the cables attached to logging equipment.
Ms Frank said she climbed down once the treesit was free from the cables.
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And while the action simply delayed logging work by one day, Ms Frank said she felt it was worth the risk of being arrested and possibly charged.
"I got in the treesit to stop logging for the day but also to ask the NSW Government to put an end to native logging, and part of that is to raise awareness coming up to the election in a couple of weeks' time so that voters are voting for forests, and I think we did a very good job of that," she said.
Ms Franks explained her passion for the forest at Shallow Crossing by saying it was essentially her back yard.
"I have lived in this forest my entire life, and I hear the logging every day," she said.
"My family fought the fires to protect our home and the neighbouring Shallow Crossing State Forest.
"We tried so hard to protect this forest from a natural disaster that we couldn't prevent, and now the the NSW Government is logging the forest which is easily preventable, and there's actually no reasons for them to log this forest."
She said her family "knows this forest".
"We hear the powerful owl calling at night. We see endangered gang-gangs raising their young in the hollows of big old trees.
"Now for the last three years, all we hear is big old trees crashing to the ground and heavy machinery bulldozing new roads and destroying our mountainside."
