Almost 100 loggers have returned from fighting fires to be told they no longer have a timber job, with contracts to harvest timber torn up in the wake of the fires.

Key points: VicForests said force majeure notices were issued because fires had affected logging in harvest areas

VicForests said force majeure notices were issued because fires had affected logging in harvest areas Agriculture Minister Jaclyn Symes said the Government was talking to VicForests about work for the loggers

Agriculture Minister Jaclyn Symes said the Government was talking to VicForests about work for the loggers The notices are another blow to the logging entire industry after the Premier announced a plan to end native logging by 2030

Forty per cent of the area earmarked for native timber logging in East Gippsland has been burnt by this summer's bushfires, with officials still assessing the extent of the damage.

Some species survive fire and can still grow, so the ferocity of the fire will also determine if the timber is salvageable.

This week, 10 timber contractors were issued with force majeure notices by state-owned VicForests, voiding current contracts to harvest timber in East Gippsland.

Force majeure, meaning "superior force", is a common clause in contracts that frees both parties from liability in the event of an extraordinary circumstance beyond the control of both parties preventing one of both of them from fulfilling their obligations under the contract.

The contractors employ 90 people.

The native timber industry was dealt another blow last week after the Supreme Court ordered a halt to logging due to the impact of this summer's bushfires. ( ABC News )

Among those workers are some loggers who downed tools to fight the bushfires as volunteers or as front-line workers, using their heavy machinery to cuts fire breaks and tracks for the CFA.

Many of the contractors had deals to cut timber until 2024 and financed expensive machinery on that basis. The shredding of their contracts will place them under financial strain.

Government trying to arrange work for loggers

VicForests said it had advised 10 contractors the force majeure notices were issued because fires had affected logging in their harvest areas in the short term.

"We feel for the predicament of contractors and are helping them in every way possible," a VicForests spokesman said.

"We have assured contractors that we will strive to maximise opportunities for work, in the short term this work will include building firebreaks and emergency road clearance.''

"Over the mid-term, it will include additional haulage through VicForests selling timber out of storage or negotiating opportunities more broadly across the industry."

VicForests says it is helping contractors to find more work. ( ABC News: Richard Willingham )

Agriculture Minister Jaclyn Symes said the Government was talking to VicForests about work.

"There's lots and lots of work for contractors at the moment as a result of the fires, and the forest workers are doing an amazing job out there clearing roads, felling dangerous trees and the like,'' she said.

10-year timeline for halting logging may not be feasible

Opposition Leader Michael O'Brien said the force majeure was a massive concern and called on the Government to give the contractors work in bushfire clean-up.

"Regional Victoria needs help, you don't help regional Victoria by putting people out of work but the danger is that is exactly what VicForests is doing,'' Mr O'Brien said.

Logging is an environmentally sensitive issue, with the fate of endangered species suh as the Greater glider linked to logging in East Gippsland. ( ABC Open contributor faunagraphic_ )

The contract termination is a further blow for the industry. Last week, the Supreme Court halted logging in the central highlands after environmentalists argued the fires in Gippsland had destroyed sensitive habitat for threatened species, and as a result, their remaining habitats should be protected.

The Andrews Government is phasing out native timber logging by 2030, blaming dwindling sustainable supplies for the shutdown. The shortage is due to environmental protection for threatened species and the impact of bushfires, including Black Saturday.

In the wake of this summer's fires, some senior figures within the Government have privately warned that the 2030 timeline is no longer feasible. Some in the industry have also made the same warnings.

Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) national secretary Michael O'Connor said the way the notices were issued sent shivers through the entire industry, which was already reeling from the Premier's decision to close the sector.

"If you are a timber worker and you hear this, it just drives people into fits of despair,'' Mr O'Connor said.

He said news like this was adding to the mental stress of people in the industry and accused the Andrews Government of lacking empathy.

And with the 2030 target looking uncertain, Mr O'Connor called on the Government to bring employers, experts, unions and forestry workers together to work out how to distribute the remaining timber sustainably.

The CFMEU and the forestry industry have launched ads today thanking the work of forestry workers in fighting the fires. The videos show the timber workers driving land-moving equipment through the heart of intense fires.

Stacey Gardner from the Australian Forest Contractors Association said it showed the hard work of timber workers during the fires.

"They are the first to put their hands up to risk their lives to assist with cleaning up safely. We greatly appreciate their skills and use of equipment and it is vital that we realise the huge contribution that they make,'' she said.