Eden's chip mill is now back in the hands of owners Allied Natural Wood Exports after being secured by the RFS following the bushfire that devastated the area.
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General manager for Pentarch Forestry Paul Heubner said the site was handed back on Tuesday by the RFS.
"We are working through a long process and have assessors on site," Mr Heubner said adding that they have to decide what needs to be demolished, what can be salvaged and what "the long-term fix is to get things working".
One of the issues is the lack of power and cabling that has been burnt.
The mill was visited on Wednesday by Natural Disaster and Emergency Management Minister David Littleproud who said that it was one of the largest businesses impacted by the bushfires.
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"Time is of the essence and if we don't move now I fear we could see a significant loss of jobs, not just inside the fence (of the chip mill) but outside," Minister Littleproud said.
His office has instructed the ADF "to get generators there as soon as possible" to assist with the recovery as the site has no power.
Cr Robyn Bain, who has has a long-term association with the timber industry, has maintained that the mill is recoverable and said that soft wood logs would be available for export in the near future.
Cr Bain was speaking at a packed public meeting of the Eden Chamber of Commerce on Monday, January 20.
The chip mill employs about 100 people but over 700 more rely on the mill indirectly for their jobs.
Cr Bain said that soft wood whole logs would be sourced for export in the first instance and then in the second stage workers would be involved in the recovery of any soft wood timber from plantations.
"In terms of native timber they will be working with the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) and will divide it into blackwood and green wood."
Negotiations are expected to take place about allowing the industry to recover black wood first Cr Bain said.
There are hopes that Forestry workers will be able to go into the areas where containment lines were cut and recover some of the logs that had to be pushed down, Cr Bain said.
"We will try to recover those as fencing timber for the farming community."
