Nervous Nellie
You make some good points. It is understandable that neither side would not be keen to find more LBP. The other exception to the mountain forest habitat, is I think in Swamp Gum lower down in the Yarra Valley - but I'm not 100% sure on that.

I agree with the principle that the more you look, the more you find. I was based in the Orbost Forest District in the early 1980s when the Long-footed Potoroo was first discovered in 25-year old logging regowth close to the Bellbird Hotel on the Princes Hwy new Bemm River. It seemed inconceivable that this could be its only locality, but it was declared as a threatened species.

Thirty years on and the species has now been found throughout the length and breadth of Gippsland at high and low altitudes, and even in logging regrowth from 2 - 5 years old. There are estimated to be at least 10,000 of them, but the initial endangered classification hasn't changed as far as I'm aware.

ybgirp wrote "removing the last vestiges of the old growth forests that precariously sustain a host of endangered living species." Actually you have inadvertently made a good point. This is the message that green groups want us to get. It is an easy message to sell because the forests are photogenic and there are a simple "good" and "bad" characters. Sadly, ybgirp, like many in Australia, has been duped. Where are Australia's most endangered species? In the tall, photogenic forests? No! In Victoria, for example, the eastern barred bandicoot recently became extinct in the wild. Its problem - it didn't live in photogenic forests and there was no obvious "baddie" to protest against. Funnily enough I would be surprised if many people even knew of the extinction of the wild population. Makes you wonder about the green groups priorities, doesn't it?