Land clearing linked to NSW farm killing

The simmering tensions over land clearing have reached a fatal boiling point in northern NSW.

Elderly farmer Ian Robert Turnbull has been accused of the shooting death of environmental inspector Glen Turner on a property north of Moree, in Croppa Creek, on Tuesday afternoon.

Tamworth-based Mr Turner, a father of two, visited the 79-year-old Turnbull over alleged vegetation clearing.

Police arrived to find the body of the 51-year-old senior compliance officer about 5.40pm (AEST) and Turnbull was arrested five hours later at a nearby property and charged with murder.

Turnbull had past run-ins with the environment department over land clearing, including a case that reached the Land and Environment Court involving the alleged clearing of more than 3000 trees.

Moree Shire Plains mayor Katrina Humphries said the community had been embroiled in tensions over environmental issues ranging from coal seam gas to land clearing.

"I am not saying it flippantly and I mean it, I am not surprised this has happened," she told AAP.

"Because I know people have been pushed and pushed and pushed.

"This is their life and this is their livelihood."

Ecologist Phil Spark, who has worked in the Croppa Creek community, says some land holders knew they couldn't afford to lose another tree on the sparse landscape.

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Land clearing linked to NSW farm killing