Today is the 60th anniversary of the Battle of Long Tan which also marks Vietnam Veterans Day…
Desmond (Des) John Collins had never really travelled far from Daylesford until he was conscripted into National Service in September 1965. Sent to nearby Puckapunyal, Des completed his basic recruit training before being posted as Trooper (3787452) to the newly formed 1st Armoured Personnel Carrier Squadron (1 APC Sqn). Des trained as a driver of…
Wood is Good.
Providing timber for housing and domestic use from the State’s native forests, together with expanding softwood plantations to support Victoria’s rapidly expanding population, had long been a stated goal for the Forests Commission. There had also been a very clear directive to the Commission from the State Government to meet Victoria’s timber needs and to…
Pyneboard – Rosedale.
Particleboard was developed in Germany in the late 1940s and introduced to Australia in 1957 when Coreboard Ltd. (later purchased by Softwood Holdings Ltd.) established a plant at Mt. Gambier. The Coreboard plant created a much-needed market for early thinnings from the rapidly expanding radiata pine plantations as well as for sawn waste. Before mechanisation,…
The Trinity of Norms.
The “Normal Forest” is a theoretical condition where the growing stock of trees has a more or less even series of age classes, with an even spread of tree sizes, with full stocking on each site growing with normal increments (AKA – The Trinity of Norms). The idea of the normal forest emerged in the…
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Peter McHugh
Retiring in 2016 after nearly 40 years as a field forester and firefighter in Victoria I now find time to write about the forests and their rich history..
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The Working Forests – Volume 1.
The notion of The Working Forests sits at the very heart of traditional forest management and the long-term approach to sustainability. It conjures up an image of a continuous cycle of harvest and renewal, of balance and multiple use of a wide range of environmental, social and economic benefits, while growing, and protecting forests for the future.
This eBook comes in two volumes and aims to capture the story of Victoria’s State Forests from the earliest days of the Colony in the 1800s through to the present.
Volume 1 covers the period from colonisation of Victoria, through to roughly the end of World War Two.
Peter McHugh (2025).
The Working Forests – Volume 2.
The notion of The Working Forests sits at the very heart of traditional forest management and the long-term approach to sustainability. It conjures up an image of a continuous cycle of harvest and renewal, of balance and multiple use of a wide range of environmental, social and economic benefits, while growing, and protecting forests for the future.
This eBook comes in two volumes and aims to capture the story of Victoria’s State Forests from the earliest days of the Colony in the 1800s through to the present.
Volume 2 covers the period from World War Two to the present. But there are inevitable overlaps with some topics.
Peter McHugh (2025).
The 1983 Ash Wednesday Bushfires.
The 1982-83 Victorian Bushfire Season.
Including Ash Wednesday – 16 February 1983.
A forester’s perspective – Peter McHugh (2022).
Forests and Bushfire History of Victoria: A compilation of short stories. Series 5.
Peter McHugh (2024).
Forests and Bushfire History of Victoria: A compilation of short stories. Series 4.
Peter McHugh (2023).
Forests and Bushfire History of Victoria: A compilation of short stories. Series 3.
Peter McHugh (2022).
Forests and Bushfire History of Victoria: A compilation of short stories. Series 2.
Peter McHugh (2021).
Forests and Bushfire History of Victoria: A compilation of short stories. Series 1.
Peter McHugh (2020)
Forest Faces : Mysterious carved wooden faces of Gippsland’s forests and roadsides.
Peter McHugh (2021)
1965 Gippsland Bushfires : A reconstruction of events from February to March 1965
Peter McHugh (2020)
Copyright © Peter McHugh – 2022. All rights reserved.
This blog draws a selection of my original stories from a parrallel FaceBook Page.
Contact: theworkingforests@gmail.com
Victoria’s Forests & Bushfire Heritage 