Fire Management – 101. The case for landscape burning.
Many seasoned firefighters advocate for a return to the methods used in the 1960s and ‘70s when the Forests Commission lit small spot fires on main ridges in the back country during autumn and let them trickle down the slope and go out overnight, or in a day or two. These small, widely spaced spot…
Fire Management – 101. Fuel Reduction Burning (FRB) – Part 2.
Fuel Reduction Burning / Mosaic Burning / Landscape Burning / Asset Protection Burning / Hazard Burning / Slash Burning / Patch Burning / Ecological Burning / Back Burning / Cool Burning / Indigenous Cultural Burning… are all these terms more or less the same thing? Well… it depends on the objectives of the burn… Fuel…
Fire Management – 101. Fuel Reduction Burning (FRB) – Part 1.
Put simply – less fuel equals less fire. Reducing the overall fuel load, particularly bark fuels, together with changing near surface and elevated fuel arrangement by burning or mechanical treatments like slashing or mulching are the only large-scale techniques that forest managers have available to them of lessening bushfire behaviour. Fire weather cannot be controlled,…
Fire Management – 101. Aerial Ignition.
By the early 1960s, there was a growing recognition by Australian foresters of the need for large-scale controlled burning to reduce fuel loads. Alan McArthur published his landmark paper, “Controlled burning in eucalypt forests” in 1962. Leaflet No. 80 proved a turning point for forest and fire managers across Australia. It also became evident that…
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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 