Victorian timber industry – 1982.

What a difference 42 years makes.

This 1982 map shows Victorian hardwood and softwood sawlog production, as well as the number of mills by region.

The Forests Commission reported in 1981-82 that there were fewer new houses completed than for the previous 30 years. Home loan interest rates were at a record high of 16.5%.

Consequently, the sales of sawlogs from State forests were down from the previous year to 1.08 million m3 of hardwoods and 0.33 million m3 of softwoods.

Pulpwood to APM at Maryvale and softwood pulp to Australian Forest Industries at Myrtleford and Australian Newsprint Mills at Albury are not included in the map.

Importantly, the map was produced before the 1985 report of Timber Industry Inquiry, chaired by Professor Ian Ferguson from the University of Melbourne.

Ferguson’s report was followed by the Timber Industry Strategy (TIS) in 1986 which set new and optimist directions.

The TIS included 15-year sawlog licences to give greater resource security; encouragement of investment in value adding such as kiln drying; a new log grading system; clearer log allocation and pricing mechanisms; regional sustainable yields rather than statewide figures; Forest Management Area Plans with new public consultation ideas; the Code of Forest Practice; Harvesting Prescriptions; Forest Operator Licencing and a roading levy which built the South Face Road among others.

The TIS was also the catalyst for the Silvicultural System Program (SSP) trials in the Central Highlands and East Gippsland to assess alternative harvesting techniques.

Funding was also increased for major reforestation programs and Statewide Forest Resource Inventory (SFRI) to map and measure timber resources.

From: Atlas of Victoria. Ed by J S Duncan – 1982.