Category Archives: Forests

Before Airbnb, TripAdvisor and online accommodation bookings, or grabbing a glossy colour brochure at the local travel agent, tourism was a core function of both State government and local councils. The Victorian Railways first established an “Inquiry Office” in 1888 at Spencer Street Station to assist tourists. They offered road maps and guides and alsoContinue reading “Victorian Government Tourist Bureau.”

This magnificent 80-page coffee table book was produced as a prelude to the 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games. There were others in the series produced by the Australian Publicity Council. The effusive preface was written by the Premier John Cain Snr. This small selection of images reflects an unashamed sense of optimism and pride in countryContinue reading “Under Southern Skies.”

By the early 1980s, the Forests Commission employed some 300 foresters, plus a further 500 technical and administrative staff, and well over 1000 works and fire crew, spread across country Victoria in 48 districts and 7 divisional offices. Most of them lived and worked in small country towns or larger regional cities. Head Office wasContinue reading “Pride of Place.”

A new FCV pavilion was officially opened by Minister of Forests, Lindsay Thompson, on 20 September 1965 at the Royal Melbourne Show Grounds. It replaced the original building, which was built in 1922, but was badly in need of expensive repairs. Victorian timbers were on display along with free advice to visitors, architects and homeContinue reading “Royal Melbourne Show Pavilion.”

In my experience, there are three topics that are guaranteed to upset staff. 1. rearrangements to office accommodation, 2. allocation and use of vehicles, and 3. uniforms. The matter of uniforms in the Forests Commission has a long and fraught history. A motion was raised at the 1966 meeting of the Victorian State Foresters AssociationContinue reading “Staff Uniforms.”

The State Forest Department (SFD) was established in 1907 following several scathing inquiries leading to a Royal Commission (1897-1901) into the destruction and waste of Victoria’s forests which followed the gold rush of the 1850s. Foresters were a lonely voice advocating for conservation and the combined principles of sustainability, multiple use and economic development ofContinue reading “Organisational Culture.”

A simple working plan for the Grampians State Forest had been produced in 1939, but a new blueprint was prepared by Commission in 1974 which reaffirmed its core principles of balance and multiple use. The document was an innovative attempt at the time to set out a vision for the 210,000 ha Grampians State forestsContinue reading “Multiple Use Case Study – Grampians 1974.”

Sir William Schlich, the famous Professor of Forestry at Oxford University, advocated the idea of multiple use in his classic five-volume, Manuals of Forestry, which were originally published between 1889 and 1896. “Multiple Use” of forests remained a popular term and seemingly simple enough concept. But like many popular terms, it remained ambiguous. People oftenContinue reading “Multiple Use.”

The Mount Dandenong Observatory Reserve, and the nearby TV Towers, are important landmarks for metropolitan Melbourne. The summit of Mount Corhanwarrabul at 2077 feet is the highest peak in the Dandenong Ranges and has attracted tourists for over a century who are drawn by the superb views of the city. In the 1860s, the summitContinue reading “Mount Dandenong Observatory.”

Alan graduated from Creswick at the end of 1941 and spent time in a FCV construction camp at Taggerty building roads and driving trucks for the massive fire salvage program underway at that time. Following a well-worn path of many field foresters before him,  Alan then moved in March 1945 to Neerim South; in JanuaryContinue reading “Alan Threader.”

Victoria’s wet mountain forests are the native habitat of the destructive spur legged phasmid, or stick insect, Didymuria violescens which can cause severe defoliation over large areas and often results in premature tree death. From the late 1950s the Forests Commission had become concerned about a build-up of large populations of the stick insect. TheContinue reading “Phasmatids.”

The soil-borne pathogen, Phytophthora cinnamomi or cinnamon fungus, poses a significant threat to native forests. It was first discovered in 1922 in Sumatra and is now one of the most widely distributed of all phytophthora species. This pathogen spreads easily, causing disease, death and potential extinction in susceptible plants, and loss of habitat for animals.Continue reading “Phytophthora.”

There had been timber assessments in Victorian State forests since the late 1920’s, coinciding with arrival of the three Norwegian foresters. The program was accelerated during the post-war housing boom. It was driven by the push eastwards away from the Central Highlands to find timber resources after the 1939 bushfire salvage was completed. Spending timeContinue reading “Criterion Laser.”

The Sirex Wood Wasp (Sirex noctilio) attacks softwood species particularly, Pinus radiata, which is planted extensively across southern Australia to supply timber. Originally from Northern Europe, the wasp was found in softwood plantations in New Zealand in the early 1900s. In 1949, the Commonwealth Forestry and Timber Bureau proposed a national planting program to makeContinue reading “Sirex Wood Wasp.”

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.”