Man, 79, charged with murdering environment officer after alleged shooting at Moree, NSW

ABC NSW environment officer Glen Turner was fatally shot on Tuesday.

A farmer whose property had been at the centre of an illegal land-clearing dispute has been charged with murder after allegedly shooting dead an environment officer.

Ian Robert Turnbull, 79, is accused of killing 51-year-old NSW Environment Department compliance and regulation officer Glen Turner at Croppa Creek, 55 kilometres north of Moree in northern New South Wales.

On Wednesday the Moree Local Court was told Turnbull had been in a long-running dispute with the NSW Office of Environment and Heritage, and had a criminal history.

Illegal land-clearing on Turnbull's property was the subject of a case in the NSW Land and Environment Court this year.

The victim, a father of two from Tamworth, had been in charge of some of Turnbull's matters before the court.

Mr Turner had been serving a notice on a property near Talga Lane over the illegal clearing of land when Turnbull fired a number of shots towards him, with one hitting him in the back, the court was told.

Turnbull was denied bail after the prosecution requested it be refused due to the seriousness of the charge.

He will be back in court on August 5.

Police and ambulance paramedics were called to the property about 5:40pm yesterday, police said in a statement.

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Man, 79, charged with murdering environment officer after alleged shooting at Moree, NSW