Category Archives: Forests

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 noContinue reading “Forest Research.”

The Silvicultural Systems Project (SSP) was a key research initiative that followed the release of the Timber Industry Strategy (TIS) in 1986. Long running controversy about clearfelling of forests for sawlogs and pulpwood (woodchips), which was the dominant harvesting and regeneration system, led to the SSP to develop and evaluate alternatives. SSP trials were establishedContinue reading “Silvicultural Systems Project (SSP).”

The idea of independent certification and labelling of timber began to take hold in Europe and north America during the early 1990s. Retailers and suppliers wanted to promote their products to consumers as complying with sustainable and responsible forestry practices. Certification also fitted neatly with an idea, that was pervasive at the time, of timberContinue reading “Forest Certification.”

I often joked throughout my 40-year forestry and bushfire career that there were three sorts of firefighters in rural Victoria. Unable to employ much simpler “surround and drown” tactics that usually last less than 12 hours or so, forest firefighters often confront large campaign bushfires in remote and rough terrain that can stretch for weeksContinue reading “Bushfire Widows – a tribute.”

About one-third of Victoria, or about 7.1 million hectares, is publicly owned native forest. The first area of State forest set aside for recreation was in 1912 at Centennial Park, which was then part of the Mt Arapiles Timber Reserve. Recreational use of State forests expanded in the 1930s with greater access to private vehiclesContinue reading “Head to the Hills.”

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 always been an important goal for the Forests Commission. It had also been a very a clear directive from the State Government to meet Victoria’s timber needs and to expand theContinue reading “Wood is Good.”

Sir Wilhelm Schlich noted in his 1922 summary of Forest Policy of the British Empire that while progress was being made Australia lacked many of the skills to undertake inventory needed to prepare proper working plans. Responding to the shortage, the Chairman of the Forests Commission, A.V. Galbraith, made concerted efforts in 1926 and 1927Continue reading “Kristian Drangsholt – Man of the Forest.”

Lake Elizabeth stretches languidly for about a kilometre along the heavily forested valley of the East Barwon River, about seven kilometres east of the township of Forrest in the Otway Ranges. It’s a popular attraction for campers, walkers, and canoeists, not least because you can spot platypus in the early morning and at twilight…. ifContinue reading “Lake Elizabeth – Otways.”

The Forestry Heritage Museum at Beechworth, which was opened with much flourish and fanfare by John Haber Phillips AC, Chief Justice of Victoria, during the Beechworth 150th celebrations on 27 July 2003, closes forever today. A merry band of volunteers from the Forests Commission Retired Personnel Association (FCRPA) will brave the chilly conditions this weekContinue reading “Beechworth forestry museum closes its doors today.”

Judge Stretton clearly identified the inseparable trinity of forests, soil and water. The “Save the Forests” campaign was founded in January 1944 and rose from the ashes of the 1939 Black Friday bushfires. It was broad-based and included representatives from over 50 government and philanthropic organisations, and boasted over 100,000 members. The Forests Commission playedContinue reading “Save the Forests.”

The Forests Commission Retired Personnel Association (FCRPA) have been entrusted with a couple of very generous donations over the last few months. These are the Chinese robes that belonged to Forests Commission fireguard and builder of Moscow Villa – Bill ah Chow. Every organisation has a handful of colourful characters, and the Commission had itsContinue reading “Bill ah Chow – robes.”

The Forests Commission Retired Personnel Association (FCRPA) have received a couple of very generous donations over the last few months. One is the brass identification plate from the Washington Winch. The winch sits deep in the forest east of Swifts Creek and is the last one of its particular type left in Australia. It wasContinue reading “Washington Winch Identification Plate.”

Wilhelm Schlich was from the Prussian school of forest management in the 1890s. He worked extensively in India for the British and later became a professor at Cooper’s Hill forestry school near Surrey in England, where he influenced generations of foresters across the British colonies. He advocated the use of working plans in his five-volumeContinue reading “Wilhelm Schlich – Working Plans.”

There are some important parallels between the efforts of early foresters in North America to protect and conserve their forests from exploitation and clearing, and the experiences here in Victoria. There are also some striking differences. The US Forest Service began in 1905 around the same time as the Victorian State Forest Department and theContinue reading “Gifford Pinchot – The Greatest Good.”

Andraes Stihl was a Swiss-born engineer and is often said to be the “father of chainsaws”. After serving during WW1, he studied mechanical engineering in Eisenach and later founded the Andreas Stihl Company. Then in 1926, Stihl patented the “Cutoff Chainsaw for Electric Power” which was the world’s first electric chainsaw. But it weighed aContinue reading “Andraes Stihl.”

The forests of far East Gippsland are different. The cabbage-tree palm (Livistona australis) grows along the remote Cabbage Tree Creek, 30 kilometres east of Orbost.  The palm is regularly found in NSW and Queensland, but only at this isolated spot in Victoria. Famous explorer, A. W. Howitt wrote that heart of the Cabbage-tree was eatenContinue reading “Cabbage-Tree Palm hats.”

The magnificent River Red Gum (Eucalyptus camaldulensis) has the widest natural distribution of any of the Australian eucalypts. Specimens have also been planted across the globe, including Sicily where I have just returned from. It seems that River Red Gum was widely planted by Italian authorities after the war for timber and to stabilise soils,Continue reading “The iconic River Red Gum was named after an order of Tuscan monks.”

With the generous support of the Dahl Trust I have been busy over the last few months writing a new eBook titled “The Working Forests”. The project about Victoria’s rich forest and bushfire heritage is due to be finished by the end of the year. I had to break it up into two volumes becauseContinue reading “The Working Forests (Volume 1) – draft for comment.”