Forest Research.

Prior to formation of the State Forest Department (SFD) in 1907, and later the Forests Commission Victoria (FCV) in 1918, there is little evidence that formal research programs were in place, other than botanical work of Ferdinand Von Mueller and others like Joseph Bosisto, who examined the chemical properties of Eucalyptus Oil.

There is no doubt that research and development work would have been conducted at both the Macedon and Creswick nurseries in the late 1800s, but it’s not well reported.

The 4-year Royal Commission into the destruction of forest which ran from 1897 to 1901 recorded some very valuable information.

The Newport Seasoning Works were established in 1910 to research the sawing and drying characteristics of Victorian eucalypts.

The research and publication of the “Handbook of Forest Trees for Victorian Foresters” in 1925 by Professor Alfred Ewart from the University of Melbourne proved a compulsory reference text.

One of the first specific records of FCV research appears in the 1927/28 Annual Report which mentions work on forest fires and weather along with growth studies of conifers and hardwoods.

The Chairman of the Commission, A.V. Galbraith, maintained a vision to expand Victorian forest research.  He wanted to foster programs into forest genetics and silviculture along with working plans, but a lack of funds brought about by the imperatives of the Great Depression and the war years hampered his progress.

Galbraith’s focus instead remained on consolidating the Forestry School at Creswick and building lasting relationships with the University of Melbourne after the bitter falling out with Charles Lane-Poole over the establishment of the Australian Forestry School at Canberra.

It wasn’t until after the Stretton inquiry into the 1939 bushfires and the prosperous post war housing boom that the Commission, now under the Chairmanship of Alf Lawrence, acquired the capacity to deliver on Galbraith’s dream of a Forest Research Branch.

It was a tough road for research proponents. First, they had to support themselves during their post graduate studies. And it was also mandatory to convince the Department and field foresters of the worth of their project.

In 1946, the Commission began holding monthly meetings of the “Forest Council” to question researchers, listen to their reports and give suggestions in an open forum. This rigorous critique in front of peers, practitioners and senior managers led to continuous improvement.

These methods seem harsh but had the effect of establishing a research branch made up of those fully dedicated to their work and determined to see the results implemented in practice.

Much of the early silvicultural knowledge was unsuccessfully translated from European forests of Oaks and Pines.

In response to the difficulties achieving satisfactory regrowth after harvesting, the initial focus of the scientific research was into biology of the eucalypts and developing operational techniques for high intensity slash burning, aerial seeding, planting, thinning and tending.

Eminent scientists like Barrie Dexter, Ron Grose, Murray Cunningham, Fred Craig, Arthur Webb and Leon Pederick conducted their most innovative work in cooperation with the likes of David Ashton, Peter Attiwell, Gretna Weste and many others at the University of Melbourne.

Dr Ron Grose’s painstaking laboratory and field work finally “cracked the code” on the seed dormancy and germination of alpine ash (E. delegatensis). He also showed that the logging slash left behind in alpine and mountain ash coupes needed to be burned in a high intensity fire to provide a receptive seedbed best suited for regeneration.

Athol Hodgson and David McKittrick did practical fire research work. Alan McArthur, Phillip Cheney and others at the CSIRO did some pioneering fire behaviour work. Others from the FCV followed including Richard Rawson, Greg McCarthy and Kevin Tolhurst.

In 1950, Frank Moulds became the first FCV officer to achieve a PhD qualification with studies at Yale University.

Also in 1950, a greater research focus developed under the leadership of Walter Zimmer. He relocated to Head Office in Treasury Place as the Silvicultural Officer and then set about establishing the FCV’s Research Branch, which had its beginnings in the basement of a building at 188 King Street.

Collaboration with other research institutes and publishing of scientific papers was always important. In 1956, the Australian and New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science met in Melbourne, and, for the first time, technical forestry papers were presented.

The Forestry Education and Research Division first appeared as a discrete entity during the 1957 restructure of the Commission. Dr Frank Moulds was appointed as its first Chief.

The first experimental fertiliser trials were established in 1950 at Anglesea on a site where the original 1920’s plantation that had failed.

The State and Federal Government committed significant funding during the 1960s to expand softwood plantations. This uplift in activity revealed the need for research work into softwood silviculture and regeneration, Sirex control, tree genetics, nutrition, entomology, pathology, fire and nurseries.

Hydrology studies into the effects of forestry activities on water quality and quantity in conjunction with the MMBW were commenced in 1961.

A major review of the FCV’s research effort in 1964 reported that much had been achieved, but there was still much to learn. The Commission recommitted to its research program to underpin the science of forestry and land management.

Forestry Technical Papers (FTP) were first published in April 1959 and were aimed principally for internal circulation.

Research and Development Notes (RDNs) were a later initiative in response to District staff requesting scientific information.

The Research Activity series was published between 1969 and 1977 and provided an annual summary of the assortment of studies conducted.

About 350 quality Research Branch reports were written between March 1971 and March 1992, and many were published in prestigious journals like Australian Forestry.

In the 1960s and 1970s there was a shift of focus onto other environmental topics. Research work expanded to study bushfire, soils and water, hydrology, flora and fauna, recreation, landscape protection, forest management, economics, impacts of conversion to pine plantations, carbon storage, farm forestry, nurseries, and forest ecology were added to the already extensive forest harvesting and silviculture research program.

Forest mensuration and yield regulation was also a new area of study during this period led by Arthur Webb.

As the Research Branch consolidated, it expanded its networks with Monash and Latrobe Universities, government agencies such as the State Rivers and Water Supply Commission, Soil Conservation Authority, Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works, the Arthur Rylah Research Institute and the Department of Agriculture.

At the Commonwealth level, relationships with the CSIRO, Royal Australian Air Force, Bureau of Meteorology, Department of Defence and the National Sirex Committee were strengthened.

While at an international level, the fire research group led by Athol Hodgson and the innovative fire equipment workshops at Altona under Rocky Marsden had built strong relationships with their North American counterparts.

The Commission also maintained regional research centres at Creswick, Orbost, Sherbrook and other locations.

But in accordance with the government directives in the 1990s about downsizing and outsourcing, the Department’s sizable Research Branch underwent a major transformation. During 1993/94 it became the Centre for Forest Tree Technology (CFTT) as a separate “business unit’ from its parent, the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (CNR).

CFTT, with Dr David Flinn as its interim director formed an alliance with the University of Melbourne later in 1998 with the aim to secure significant portion of its funding from the Commonwealth. overseas and the private sector.

But then in 1999, along with all sections of the public service there was another Government wide downsizing of staff, and nine positions were lost.

By 2000/01 the CFTT still had 58 staff involved in forest research working on 67 projects. They published 26 peer-reviewed papers, plus many more technical reports.

Between 2001 and 2006 the Government invested over $37 million in forest research, development and education.

But forest research capacity continued to collapse at State and Federal levels across Australia from the early to mid-2000s.

By 2014, Forestry Tasmania could boast the last remaining internal forest research group.

Turner J, Flinn D, Lambert M, Wareing K, Murphy S (2011) Management of Victoria’s publicly owned native forests for wood production: A review of the science underpinning their management, Forest and Wood Products Australia, Project Number PRC 147-0809, pp. 216. https://drive.google.com/file/d/14WJY9HIH-QHDIcPGCaaelgetPpIal4Dq/view

https://www.victoriasforestryheritage.org.au/activities1/researching/961-big-picture-r-d.html