Victoria’s Forests & Bushfire Heritage

Black Butt – Mt Fatigue.

This photo from the State Library comes in black and white as well as colour versions, so I guess it was sold as a postcard.

It also features in the Leader Newspaper published on 30 August 1902. The caption says the road was recently constructed with an unemployment scheme.

I clambered all over those soggy and leach infested hills as a young forester and I reckon the photo was taken a couple of km south of Gunyah Junction on the Toora-Gunyah Road, near the turn off to the old Mt Fatigue firetower.

The scrub on the left side of the road is the current Gunyah Rainforest Reserve, with the monumental Gunyah Tree nearby.

Ironically, this area of about 2000 acres was set aside in June 1882 for “growth and preservation of timber” after concerns from early foresters about the wastage of forests in the hasty, and ultimately failed, scramble to settle the Strzelecki Ranges for farming.

Interestingly, the trees are labelled black butt which was an early, and now rarely used, name for mountain ash (Eucalyptus regans), or “King of the forest”.

As you can see the understory is sparse but that’s not uncommon for dense and mature mountain ash stands.

I’ve seen it suggested that the understory looks as though it’s been recently burnt, and while it’s hard to be certain, bushfire generally kills mountain ash trees, and the photo was taken three years before the major bushfires in 1905-06 which swept through the hills behind Toora and killed 7 people.

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/196582413

http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/110137

http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/295138

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/196582413

Power Poles.

Hardwood poles have always been a very high value forest product with a royalty much higher than sawlogs.

In 1946 the Forests Commission produced some 250,000 lineal feet (76.2 km) of telephone and electric power poles, mostly for the Post Master General (PMG) and State Electricity Commission (SEC).

From about 1947, as the power grid expanded during the post war period, durable species such as Gippsland grey box was getting harder to find so the SEC allowed Class 2 of round timbers such as white and yellow stringybark.

From about 1957, Class 3 species such as messmate and mountain grey gum were also in use.

The use of creosote and CCA to protect poles from decay began in about 1972 while treated pine and concrete poles were in widespread use from the mid 1990s.

Each hardwood pole carried a metal inspection tag which indicated its date, class, and species.

SEC Annual Report 1946. https://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/papers/govpub/VPARL1945-47No26.pdf

Total Fire Bans in Victoria – a history.

The declaration of a Total Fire Ban (TFB) in Victoria was for many years the key indicator of a day of extreme fire danger for both the fire agencies and the public. But it also served, and indeed continues, to prohibit a range of activities well beyond a ban on barbeques and burning off.

Total Fire Bans have been around for many years but their origins, naming and application have changed since the first “ban” was applied under the County Fire Authority Act 1944. Originally, the term “total fire ban” was not even used, although this was in effect what was imposed. Instead, warnings and prohibitions were issued about “acute fire danger” days.

Prior to the CFA Act, restrictions upon the use of fire were largely contained in the Forests Act 1927 and these extended beyond the public estate and onto private lands. The Bush Fire Brigades Act 1933 was silent on the matter.

During World War 2, after the disastrous 1939 bushfires but before those of 1944 which spurred on the creation of the CFA, the Government used the provisions of the wartime national security regulations to institute a Rural Fire Prevention Order to provide for the prohibition of the use of fire in rural areas during times of high risk. Originally aimed to deal with enemy action resulting in fire, it was later used as a general fire prevention measure.

The creation of the CFA shifted responsibility for restrictions on fire in the country area of Victoria outside public lands to the new authority. The provision for restrictions on the use of fire during the summer period largely replicated the terms and penalties of the Forests Act in relation to burning off. Clause 41 of the Country Fire Authority Bill 1944 contained provisions in relation to “days of acute fire danger”, on which no fires would be allowed.

In speaking to the bill in the Legislative Council, the responsible minister Hon. Gilbert Chandler pointed out that warnings of days of acute fire danger would be “made available by means of radio broadcasts and through the medium of the police”. A major point of contention around the new law related to its impact upon gas-producers – the charcoal burners in use on vehicles as an austerity measure to save fuel during the war. Their use was to be banned on acute fire danger days. The penalties for lighting a fire in country Victoria in contravention of the new law were the same as under the forests legislation: a fine of up to £200 or two-years imprisonment.

As late as 1959, the Country Fire Authority Service Manual issued to personnel referred to the “important provision of the ‘Acute Fire Danger Day‘”, pointing out that when news of this was broadcast “no fires may be lit or maintained in the open air at all”.

The manual stated: “In practice, whenever possible, the warnings of such days (with a clear explanation) are given at the conclusion of the 7 o’clock news session over the National stations the previous day and are repeated at intervals.”

In Victoria, the term “total fire ban” did not come into common use until the mid-1960s. In other states, notably South Australia’, the term “total fire ban” had been in use from the late 1950s and in the early 1960s there was reference to “total bans” in New South Wales. (Interestingly, NSW fire personnel still use the term “To-Ban” [pr. “tow-ban”], whereas in Victoria “TFB” is the more common short version).

By 1965, the term was being used in official communications. The 1966 Victorian Government publication Summer Peril, introduced by an avuncular-looking Sir Henry Bolte, talked about the CFA “Summer Periods” and Forests Commission “Prohibited Periods” and placed Total Fire Bans firmly on the agenda.

“On certain days, when the fire danger is extremely high, the lighting of fires may be totally prohibited,” the booklet stated. “Always watch for this warning – Total Fire Ban To-day”. It went on to explain that the warning would be given over the radio, television and in the press and would usually apply to the whole state, including forest, country and metropolitan areas.

“The ban includes incinerators, barbecues, out-door cooking appliances of all types, including L.P. gas appliances and camp and picnic fires, and burning off for which a permit has previously been obtained.”

Broadcast warnings in the 1960s and 1970s were given in multiple languages. (My father, a German language broadcaster, was among those who did the foreign language voiceovers.)

Until 1985, Total Fire Bans were imposed for the whole of Victoria, a measure seen in some quarters as sensible given the relatively small size of the state. The bans have since been applied to the whole state or to specific fire weather districts, based upon fire weather conditions determined by the Bureau of Meteorology.

Legislation took a little while to catch up with common usage. It was not until 1974 that the words “a warning of the likelihood of the occurrence of weather conditions conducive to the spread of fires” in the CFA Act were replaced by “a declaration of a day of total fire ban”. And it was not until 1983 that section 40 (the original clause 41) was replaced altogether with a new section, ‘Provisions about total fire bans’, which stated: “The Authority may when it thinks fit declare a day or partial day of total fire ban in respect of the whole or any part or parts of Victoria and may at any time amend or revoke such a declaration.”

The declaration of a Total Fire Ban has many consequences, particularly for industry as the range of activities prohibited expanded, while some such as the use of gas barbecues have been modified. A TFB became an important “trigger for action” for community members in making decisions about whether to stay and defend property or leave early.

Determined in consultation with the operational leaders of the other Victorian fire agencies, the TFB in time became the most significant and readily understood indicator of fire danger across all land tenures, both private and public.

However, the significance of TFBs was diminished to some extent by the national fire danger ratings system which came into play after the 2009 Victorian bushfires. The new rating of Code Red (or Catastrophic, as it was in every other state) was confusing to many Victorians who then saw this as their trigger for action, even though it foretold of fire weather conditions far worse than those required for a TFB declaration. Hopefully, the 2022 revision of the national ratings (Victoria has now adopted Catastrophic in line with the rest of the country) and its accompanying campaign will clarify matters.

The declaration of a Total Fire Ban remains crucially important in reducing the potential source of fire ignitions on days of extreme danger and as a trigger point for decision-making and action by the public.

A database of all “total fire ban days” since 1945 is maintained on the CFA website

By John Schauble

Footnote: the 84/85 season was the last for ‘whole of state’ only for TFB. For 85/86 the state was divided into 5 TFB districts – North West, South West, Central (which included Melb & Geelong), North East and Gippsland.

It was in Nov 2010 when it changed to the present nine TFB districts and some BOM forecast district boundaries were slightly altered so that TFB and forecast more generally aligned.

Sundial Peak – Grampians.

Sundial Peak in the Grampians National Park sits at the southern end of the Wonderland Range and overlooks Lake Bellfield.

It was named by early settlers who noticed that the 2360-foot-high peak received the first and last rays of sun each day.

In 1968, form-five students at nearby Stawell Technical School, under the guidance of their maths and science teacher, the legendary Ralph Sinclair*, were making their own sundials as a class project.

One student asked, “Why is there no sundial on Sundial Peak,” and so began the quest to design and install one.

Then State forest, permission was granted for the installation from the local District Forester at Stawell, George Jennings.

It was decided to make the sundial for the princely sum of $50 which was covered by the School Principal and Hawthorn footballer, John Kennedy, who said he would just “find the money”.

In early November 1968, the 150 kg black granite sundial, mounted on a special frame made by the school’s sheet metal department, was delicately carried over 2 km from the car park to the mountain peak by the students along the difficult and winding track. They also carried sand, screenings, timber, cement, water and watering cans.

When correctly oriented and mounted on its cairn the sundial was carefully grouted into place.

The names of all the school students involved in the project were embossed onto an aluminium strip and placed under the new installation.

A large number of Forests Commission staff, civic dignitaries, school teachers and journalists joined the students for the unveiling.

Ralph Sinclair was also my maths and science teacher in the early 1970s. Very deservingly, Ralph was awarded an Order of Australia in 2012 for “service to science education”. I can also personally attest that he made a huge and lasting impression on so many young lives.

Photo L – R, John Rudolph, Maurice Morrissey, Jike Jones, Neil Pickering, Brian Giles, Neville Pietsch, Joe Peacock, Lyal Carter. Source: Halls Gap and Grampians Past FB Page

Common nowadays in the era of GPS satellites and google maps, but this ortho-photo map produced in 1973 by the Forests Commission’s Drafting Branch was probably one of the earliest of its kind made for public recreational use. Source: State Library.
http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/140362

National Service – Vietnam Veterans Day.

Unlike other military conflicts, the records of Forests Commission staff who served in Vietnam are not consolidated or recognised on honour boards.

I know a few names…

One of the most notable was Des Collins who worked on the crew at Daylesford and was killed along with his workmate, Alan Lynch, at the Greendale fire on Saturday 8 January 1983.

Des had never really travelled far from Daylesford until he was conscripted into National Service in September 1965.

Sent to nearby Puckapunyal, Des completed his basic recruit training before being posted as Trooper (3787452) to the newly formed 1st Armoured Personnel Carrier Squadron (1 APC Sqn).

Des trained as a driver of an M113 Armoured Personnel Carrier (APC), and in May 1966 sailed on the HMAS Sydney to South Vietnam to join the 1st Australian Task Force at Nui Dat.

Upon its arrival, the first tasks for the APC squadron were to secure the new base by erecting defences and keeping the road between Vung Tau, on the coast, and Saigon open.

Because there were so few APCs at Nui Dat, the squadron was constantly busy supporting infantry, fire support, reconnaissance, cavalry roles, offensive manoeuvres against enemy positions, troop transport, moving equipment, towing artillery guns and casualty evacuation.

The squadron’s most notable battle was on 18 August 1966 to transport soldiers from A Company to relieve 108 soldiers of D Company holding out against overwhelming odds of about 2500 Vietcong, in the pouring rain, in a rubber plantation at Long Tan.

The day was supposed to be relaxing for the troops at Nui Dat with a concert by entertainers Little Pattie and Col Joye.

An artillery barrage began around mid-day on enemy positions 2.5 km away while RAAF helicopters flew over the beleaguered solders of D Company to resupply them with ammunition.

The rain became very heavy as Des Collins rumbled his APC out through the wire surrounding the base around 6 pm. It was a typical tropical downpour, but it muffled the noise of the engines and squeaking of the tracks which confused and surprised the Vietcong.

On arrival on the battlefield across the soggy rice paddies and flooded creeks, the APCs fanned out to make a sweep through enemy lines where they inflicted heavy casualties, before the Vietcong broke off and melted back into the jungle.

The battle ended and the monsoonal storm abated, as suddenly as both began. Under cover of darkness, the Australian units withdrew and regrouped while the dead and wounded were evacuated by helicopters. Soldiers spent a restless night as artillery and air strikes continued to pound the battle site and likely enemy withdrawal routes.

The next morning, a combined force of infantry and armoured personnel carriers went back into the battlefield to conduct a thorough clearance.

The Australians lost 18 men killed and 24 wounded. One of those killed was from 1st APC Sqn, and for their actions, three men from the squadron received gallantry awards.

After spending 12 months overseas in Vietnam, Des was honourably discharged in September 1967 and returned home to Daylesford. Like many other veterans, Des rarely spoke of his experiences.

Des remained an active member of the local football club, playing and then coaching juniors. He was also a member of the Daylesford RSL and CFA.

Around 1969, Des got a job on the crew with the Forests Commission at Daylesford, a job he loved.

One of his good friends was Alan Lynch, who also worked for the Commission on the crew, and they often walked to work together.

Both Alan and Des had many practical bush skills including roadbuilding, firefighting and driving heavy machinery.

But their tragic deaths in a bushfire at Greendale when their machine was overrun by fire were somewhat overshadowed by the major Ash Wednesday bushfires of 16 February 1983 only a few weeks later.

A 40th anniversary memorial service was held for the two men earlier this year.

Trooper Collins at home before leaving for Vietnam in 1966. Source: Carol Collins

Troops of 6th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (6RAR) on Armoured Personnel Carriers of 1 APC squadron waiting to return to base at Nui Dat after the battle of Long Tan. 19 Aug 1966. Source: AWM

Trooper Desmond John Collins, 1st Armoured Personnel Carrier Squadron (in beret, looking at camera) looks on as a member of 6RAR inspects a 57mm recoilless rifle captured during the Battle of Long Tan, on display at Dat Do. 19 August 1966. Source: AWM

Little Pattie at Nui Dat – 18 August 1966. Source: AWM

The drivers controls inside a M113 Armoured Personnel Carrier.

Greendale – 1983.

https://anzacportal.dva.gov.au/stories/national-service-1951-1972

Group portrait of a mixture of 2, 3, and 4 Troop, 1st Armoured Personnel Squadron, en route to picking up 6 Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (6 RAR), taken three weeks before the battle of Long Tan. Des Collins circled

Pole Plot – Sherbrooke Forest.

The Sherbrooke Forest pole plot is at the southern end of Coles Ridge Track, between Belgrave and Kallista.

The study plot in wet forest was paired with another site in drier bush near Winton, on the old Hume Highway.

Both research plots are thought to have been established in the 1930s by Post Master General (PMG) Department to test the durability of different species of hardwood poles under field conditions.

Initially, each plot had 160 poles with different treatments including charring and creosote. Some poles were capped while others were not. Some wooden cross beams were also part of the trial.

Copper Chrome Arsenic (CCA) pressure treatment of pine poles was available in the 1930s but didn’t come to dominate the market until the 1970s when durable hardwood timbers became harder to get.

Over time many of the test poles rotted away and were not replaced but some still have PMG metal identification tags. Others just have numbers.

Somewhere in the Forests Commission’s files at the Kallista was a map and key to the research treatments.

It’s also thought that the CSIRO may have taken over monitoring of the plots at some later stage.

In the 1970s the scrub was regularly slashed by the Commission, but the site doesn’t look like it’s had any maintenance for many years and is being slowly reclaimed by the forest.

Info: John Llyod – FCV Ranger at Sherbrooke, 1968-1999.

Photos: Tom Fairman 2020

Pennies for Pines.

Margaret March-Mount began working for the U.S. Forest Service in 1913 as a clerk on the Bighorn National Forest in Wyoming.

Growing up in southern Illinois and Kansas, Margaret had witnessed the devastating effects of erosion from wind and rain. She envisioned a nation of healthy trees so began writing and speaking about the benefits of the national forests.

By 1928, her public relations work propelled Margaret onward and upward. She listed her official title as “assistant information specialist.” Others described Margaret as “director of women’s forest activities,” “woman ranger,” “woman forester,” and “ambassador of the trees” – a title which she liked the best.

March-Mount worked tirelessly with women’s clubs and school children to encourage fire prevention and tree planting across the national forests.

Her “pennies for pines” crusade encouraged children to give pennies for planting pine trees. The Forest Service then planted 1,000 seedlings for every $4 received. Through her activities nearly 6 million trees were planted on 6,000 acres by 1940.

She advocated the idea of “women as forest builders”, and in a 1942 interview with the Washington Post was scathing of war expenditure and the billions spent on bombs.

Margaret wanted the nation’s children to invest in trees, and she is credited with motivating the national Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) to plant 5 million seedlings in 36 states.

Margaret also founded the “Squirrel Club,” which became a national organisation. Prospective candidates to the Club had to climb to the top of a lookout tower and sign a pledge to prevent forest fires caused by humans.

Margaret assisted many women’s organisations in planning forestry programs and went from town to city all over the country writing and talking to clubs and educational groups.

School children were especially enthusiastic in their response to the “Tree Lady” and planted thousands of acres of school forests in her wake.

Margaret March-Mount retired from the U.S. Forest Service in 1943 and moved to Hollywood. In 1950 she was awarded an honorary degree in forestry from the prestigious Biltmore Forest School.

https://foresthistory.org/research-explore/us-forest-service-history/people/national-forests/margaret-march-mount/

Powell Wood Process – Powelltown.

In about 1900, experiments were conducted in England by Mr William Powell to perfect a new process of preserving wood.

Mr Powell, who owned a sugar refinery in Liverpool, had noticed that the wooden staves supporting the vats on the side where the molasses was spilt lasted longer than those untouched by the solution.

Pondering the reason, he decided that sugar must have some durable effect on the wood, and by experiment gradually evolved the powellising process.

William Powell took out patents in 1904 for his new timber preservation process and companies were formed to exploit his idea around the globe.

The process was very simple. Timber was first cut to size such as sleepers or floorboards and then stacked onto small rail trucks which were run into large iron tanks about 15 ft high and 25 ft deep and then made watertight.

A thin syrup of molasses and other chemicals was poured into the tanks until the stack of wood was completely immersed. Arsenic was added as a preservative against termites.

Brought to boiling point by steam passing through pipes the solution was kept at high temperature for about three hours, or longer depending on the size of the timber, and then allowed to cool.

After about 24 hours the process was complete, and the solution was drained off. The treated timber was then taken out and placed into drying kilns where it was kept for about 12 days. Sleepers were not dried in the kiln but were stacked wet.

It was claimed that the Powellising process could convert both hardwoods and softwoods into nonporous, homogenous timber that was harder, stronger and tougher than the timber in its original state. It was also claimed the treated timber would resist dry rot and termites.

In Australia, the process was first demonstrated in 1905 at a small plant near Perth. The Western Australian State Government then contracted the company in 1908 to supply 230,000 treated jarrah railway sleepers for the Port Hedland – Marble Bar railway.

A plant was also built in Sydney and Powellised timber was used for telegraph poles for the NSW railways, flooring for the Sydney Harbour Trust and wooden blocks for paving the streets of Sydney.

In January 1911, the NSW company wrote to the Victorian Conservator of Forests, Hugh Mackay, seeking details of timber royalty charges and information about the availability of mountain ash forests in the Upper Yarra and Neerim districts.

The Managing Director of the NSW parent company, John Rose Gorton, (father of future Prime Minister, John Grey Gorton) applied for a permit in July 1911 and the proposal was submitted to State Cabinet for consideration. After some due diligence and checking on the financial status of the company, an offer was made in September 1911 for two, 1,000 acre cutting areas with a further 2,000 acres in reserve.

In 1912, the Victorian Powell Wood Process Limited (VPWPL) was established, and during its first year of operations work proceeded rapidly on the construction of a sawmill and timber processing works at Powelltown.

To support the mill the company built a town around it, and to provide transport, it built a 3 ft gauge tramway, some 11 miles long from Yarra Junction.

It’s a long story, but it was called a “tramway” for legal purposes. An Act of Parliament was needed to build a railway, something not easy for a private company to achieve. The Yarra Shire, and not all the locals were entirely pleased about a private line either and would have preferred a Victorian Railways one.

And even before any rails had been laid, a Baldwin 2-4-0 steam locomotive, “Little Yarra”, arrived in Yarra Junction. The line to Powelltown was in operation by May 1913 carrying machinery to the new mill site.

The Powelltown tramway was unique in providing a passenger service and it also carried goods for farmers along the Little Yarra valley. The service continued until the construction of an all-weather road to Powelltown in the late 1920s.

Beyond Powelltown the company built a further two miles of tramway into the bush to access its log supply. This network was progressively extended over the subsequent decades and serviced many small sawmills in the bush.

However, the company was a financial failure and only operated for one year. It had secured a lucrative contract to supply 100,000 Powellised sleepers to the Trans-Australian Railway, then under construction to link South Australia with Western Australia. But of the first delivery of 6000 sleepers, only 500 were accepted, and only nine met the contract specification. The sleepers were cracked and distorted in shape. It was thought that the drying process and sap replacement had damaged the timber. Not surprisingly the contract was cancelled.

This was not the only example of the failure of Powellised timber. A Royal Commission was held by the Commonwealth Government into the fiasco, but the WA Government was uncooperative and refused to give evidence. The Commission heard damming testimony that Powellised sleepers in NSW had been a failure as early as 1909. It was the same story in New Zealand where 66% of the powellised softwood sleepers had to be removed within two years.

Just why the company went ahead in 1911 with such a huge investment at Powelltown after the inconclusive results in WA and NSW remains a mystery. But by September 1915 the company had folded with huge losses.

The site at Powelltown then reverted to a sawmill which was operated successfully for many years by the Victorian Hardwood Company.

Ref: Stamford, F. E, Stuckey E.G., and Maynard, G L. (1984). Powelltown. Light Railways Research Society.

https://www.victoriasforestryheritage.org.au/maps/centralhighlands/centralhighlands28082020/index.html#11/-37.8862/145.9530

http://media.lrrsa.org.au/ptc/Powelltown_Tramway_Centenary_spreads.pdf

Powelltown after completion of the mill in 1913. The building in the middle is the Powellising plant. Source: FCRPA.

Powelltown 1912-13. Sheds and infrastructure associated with the Powell wood process under construction. Source: Frank Stamford.

Powelltown 1912-13. The new sawmill is under construction on the right and the Victorian Powell Wood Process Company offices on the left. The wooden rail tramway in the foreground connects with Yarra Junction and was soon to be replaced by a steel railed tramway. Source: Frank Stamford.

Powelltown 1912-13. On the right in the distance is the new mill building under construction. Behind the photographer is Blake’s sawmill which is providing timber for the new mill and houses. Blake’s mill dated from 1902 and closed after the new mill started operations (late in 1913 or early 1914). The wooden rail tramway connects with Yarra Junction and was soon to be replaced by a steel tramway. Source: Frank Stamford.

Powelltown 1912-13 – the Manager’s house. The manager at that time was John Rose Gorton, the father of John Grey Gorton (a former Australian Prime Minister. Source: Frank Stamford.

Little Yarra at the Powelltown mill, 1937.
Photo: J L Buckland

Bailey Bridge – Great Ocean Road.

Almost 11 inches of torrential rain fell over 18 hours during the evening of Wednesday 15 February 1954.

The deluge pushed soil and debris down the steep hills adjoining the Great Ocean Road and blocked a small culvert at Hutt Gully, just west of Anglesea. Water spilled across the road, gouging two impassable gaps up to 150 feet wide and 50 feet deep and cutting the traffic between Anglesea and Lorne.

The Country Roads Board (CRB) mobilised the Army Reserve’s 22 Construction Regiment from Melbourne to help erect a single lane Bailey Bridge across the gaps.

In the same way that the Forests Commission sponsored the 91 Forestry Squadron (AKA – The Woodpeckers), 22 Construction Regiment had been formed in 1949 and drew its ranks from ex-servicemen, with the support of the CRB, MMBW and State Rivers and Water Supply.

Bailey Bridges were a technical marvel of the Second World War and incorporated portable sections requiring no special tools or heavy equipment to assemble and were light enough to be manhandled and joined.

The cross-braced bridge components, that each weighed 570 pounds, could be progressively assembled on one side of the gap, and with the aid of a launching nose then pushed out on metal rollers, bit by bit, across the gap to reach the other side.

Forty sappers and CRB workers had the Great Ocean Road open to traffic across the temporary Bailey Bridges within two days.

New culverts of larger diameter were later installed by the CRB.

Several Bailey Bridges existed in State forest but sadly I don’t have any good photos.

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/26592361

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bailey_bridge

Photos: RAE collection.

Muckleford Creek Railway Bridge.

Timber bridges demonstrate the fundamental significance that State forests played in the rapid development of the new colony of Victoria after the gold rush of 1851.

Two Acts of Parliament passed in December 1880 and December 1884, authorised the construction of 89 new railway lines, more than doubling Victoria’s network to over 2,900 miles by 1892.

The legislation became famously known as the “Octopus Acts” in reference to the tentacle like web of tracks created. The period was characterised by blatant political interference in railway planning with parliamentarians shamelessly lobbying to have railways built through their own electorates or even to serve land developments in which they had a direct financial interest.

From the early 1870s the Victorian Railways maintained a policy of building all new bridges from timber to reduce costs, except in special circumstances which required the use of more permanent materials like brick, steel and concrete.

Although cheaper to construct, the timber bridges required more frequent and expensive on-going maintenance. Most of the elements such as sleepers, girders, cross beams, piles etc would have been progressively replaced with locally sourced hardwoods.

Over 2000 wooden bridges were built on the railway network but most of these lines are now closed. The bridges then fell victim to decay, neglect, floods and bushfires, but a few operational bridges remain, mostly on heritage railways like Puffing Billy.

In December 1976, the Maldon line was closed by the Victorian Railways, but the Castlemaine and Maldon Railway Preservation Society was quickly formed, and ten years later reopened the line from Maldon station to the Bendigo Road level crossing.

The six surviving wooden bridges on the Goldfields Railway are historically, scientifically and aesthetically significant and are listed on the National Trust database at the state level.

The Muckleford Creek bridge was originally constructed in 1889 and as part of the railway restoration works, the Army Reserve’s 91 Forestry Squadron (The Woodpeckers) milled structural timbers during their annual camp at Puckapunyal in October 1989 using their 60-inch sawmill. The large logs were sourced from State forest.

The Woodpeckers were then invited as special guests at an open day hosted by the railway preservation society on 19 May 1990.

But maintaining access to large dimension and specialty timbers from State forests for these types of community projects is currently under a cloud.

Photos courtesy of the RAE collection PV521. https://raevictoria.com/

http://vhd.heritage.vic.gov.au/search/nattrust_result_detail/69245

More blowing stuff up.

The Army Reserve was always willing to help the Forests Commission and rural municipalities blow stuff up.

In November 1976, sappers in the 7 Field Engineers Regiment (7FER) from Ringwood, plus some other engineers from Gippsland, helped the Horsham Shire remove an old wooden bridge on Bulgana Road, east of Stawell.

About 63 kg of plastic explosives, 11 kg of TNT, a bag of ammonium nitrate, 60 detonators and primers, plus several hundred metres of detonating fuse was enough to shatter a 50 m long timber bridge on the Wimmera River.

It was replaced by a low-level crossing.

Source: RAE photo collection.

Blowing stuff up.

The Forests Commission Victoria (FCV) had a large and active engineering branch for making stuff… as well as breaking stuff…

Most overseers, as well as some foresters, were trained in the use of explosives to “blow stuff up” such as removing stumps and rocks from roads. Districts usually had a small powder magazine tucked away in the bush for storage of gelignite and detonators.

However, the legendary FCV demolitions expert, Jock Paxton, was on-hand for large or more complex works like road construction and quarry blasts.

In January 1977, a minor demolition project was arranged to remove the silt from a small fire dam on Clematis Creek in Sherbrooke Forest, which just happened to be adjacent to the main Belgrave-Kallista Tourist Road.

In his thick Scottish accent Jock directed proceedings from the roadside, while the difficult and dirty work of wading through the mud, digging holes and loading the charges fell to a couple of forestry school students, Geoff Pike and Megan Varty, working over their summer vacation.

Blast holes, about 3 inches in diameter and about 3 feet deep, were dug on a grid pattern into the gooey mud. The holes were filled with granular ammonium nitrate mixed with diesel, which is an ideal “lifting charge”. Half sticks of gelignite and detonators were then inserted into the blast holes.

The charges were electrically wired with micro delay fuses. The sequence of ignitions was set to direct the blast upstream of the small dam and away from the wall.

Local staff were on hand to observe the blast including Ranger – John Lloyd, Overseer – Max Seamer and Assistant Forester – Phil Evans

All was set to go, and the forestry students were given the honour of detonating their hard work. They hid behind a nearby tree and Megan flicked the blasting switch.

KABOOM !!! … mud went flying everywhere…

Maybe there had been a miscalculation, but the effect was mud mayhem. Tree ferns were also laid flat in concentric circles around the dam.

The blast certainly cleared the dam as intended but also spread an inch-thick layer of mud across the adjoining Belgrave-Kallista Road.

Luckily it was a quiet day with not too many tourists around. There was no traffic management in place other than Jock standing on lookout. But one car came down the road from Kallista and slid on the gooey mess into an embankment.

The shire grader happened to be passing from Upwey and scraped the road clean of mud while the Olinda tanker came down to give it a wash down.

Megan and Geoff spent the remainder of their afternoon propping up flattened tree ferns.

But Jock’s valiant utility had been parked on the roadside, and forgetfully he had left the passenger-side window down, so the entire inside, including the seat, steering wheel and dashboard became smothered with thick mud and debris. The tray of Jock’s work ute also received a pasting. Staff tried hard not to laugh.

Everything was cleaned up and life resumed to normal, but the sorry tale of the layers of sticky mud inside Jock’s car became the stuff of local legend. But sadly, there is no photographic evidence of the embarrassing escapade.

Blasting by departmental staff and crews continued until about 2008 when there was a serious accident at a quarry near Marysville. All blasting is now done by qualified contractors.

https://www.victoriasforestryheritage.org.au/fire-sidebar/memories/211-evans-bernie-gelignite.html

harlie Saunders teaching the use of explosives for overseers at Mt Disappointment – 1962.
L / R; Bert Allen, Jack Hutchison, Don Dyke, Geoff Mair, Col English, Ron Smedley, D’Arcy Smith, Ron Harris, Stan Kirkham, Bill Barnes, Des Kelly, Jack Blythman, Clarrie Pring, Len Arnold, Ken Doyle, Tom Waldron and Max Seamer. FCRPA Collection

John Wilson, construction overseer, setting charges on the Tamboritha Road. C 1960. FCRPA Collection

The knitting needle computer.

Edge-notched index cards were invented in about 1896 and have holes punched around the borders. The top right-hand corner is also clipped to help stacking the deck. The holes could be clipped to search and sort information.

For foresters, these cards were commonly used to identify timber samples.

Using a 10X magnifying lens, or a microscope, the key structural features of the timber sample were first identified. For example, softwood or hardwood.

A long knitting needle was inserted into the hole for the feature and the cards shaken. Those cards which matched fell onto the table. The fallen cards were then restacked and the next identifying feature selected with the needle. The whole process repeated until there was only one, or maybe a few, cards left.

Each sample card had a more detailed description of the timber.

It was a very simple and effective binary (yes/no) decision process to search through hundreds of timber types.

Needless to say, computers replaced the old wood technology cards.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edge-notched_card

Denser cells and presence of large pores (xylem vessels) in hardwoods (oak, top) compared to a more open structure and an absence of pores in softwoods (pine, bottom). The cell walls of xylem vessels in hardwoods are lined with lignin, which is an extremely hard material, and in part is, responsible for the hardness of the tree. Source: Wikipedia

Timber Workers Strike – 1929.

The 1929 timber workers strike was the first in Australia after the onset of the Great Depression.

The strike lasted nearly six months and affected all sections of the timber industry including the Forests Commission Victoria (FCV) which supplied logs from State forest. The Commission also operated its own sawmill at Nayook, near Noojee, as well as a major timber seasoning plant at Newport.

The Commission estimated the loss in production of sawn timber during the strike was £500,000, with the loss of direct revenue of £27,000.

The immediate cause of the dispute was a wages award made on 23 December 1928 by Judge Lionel Lukin from the Commonwealth Arbitration Court.

His decision reduced wages by 3 shillings per week and increased hours for 20,000 timber workers from 44 to 48 hours per week.

The decision also affected the ratio of juveniles to adults in the workforce which could lead to a major loss of adult jobs.

At the time, timber workers had a more generous pay deal compared to other sectors because of an earlier decision of the Arbitration Court in 1920.

Trouble had been brewing for some time. The Timber Workers Union was very militant under the leadership of future Labor Prime Minister, and ex Creswick lad, John Curtin.

After the 1925 election, the Nationalist Party Prime Minister Stanley Bruce seemed obsessed with industrial relations. He amended the Crimes Act in 1926 to “deal with industrial extremists”.

Bruce became emboldened after the 1928 election which he won on a law-and-order reform platform, mainly as it applied to unions. Timber workers, waterside workers and miners were his obvious targets.

It’s worth noting that the timber workers had more political clout in the 1920s because the Australian economy depended heavily on timber, with almost everything packed in wood such as fruit cases and butter boxes.

The urban nature of timber mills in 1929 also meant that industrial action was concentrated around the working-class areas of the affected cities such as Glebe in Sydney.

In Melbourne, the dispute centred in the industrial areas south of the Yarra where some major timber mills and wholesalers were located. The biggest was John Sharp and Sons at 169 City Road, South Melbourne. Millers was another large timber importer on Maffra Street while Wrights was in Sturt Street, whereas Fulwood’s was right in the middle of the City on the corner of Lonsdale and Spencer Street.

The timber workers held mass meetings on 3 January 1929 in Melbourne, Sydney, and Adelaide and refused to work the four hours extra stipulated by the Lukin award. The Federal Government took legal action against the Union which was fined £1000.

A secret ballot, which was largely boycotted by the workers, was held with an overwhelming number of those responding voting no to the new conditions. This was the first attempt to enforce a secret ballot in an Australian industrial dispute.

As the dispute dragged on things got a bit nasty. Near Powelltown one group of disgruntled strikers wanted to remove sections of the train tracks to stop “black” workers from arriving the township, but fortunately cooler heads prevailed, so instead they put grease the steel rails on an uphill stretch to the stop train getting through. The grease was quickly removed but the action caused considerable division amongst the townsfolk for some time to come.

Those that refused to work at Powelltown were threatened with eviction from company houses, but with the onset of cold weather this could have become a serious matter, and thankfully nothing came of it.

But striking families in the bush were far from the public eye and many left to find other work.

The strike dragged on and union support funds began to dry up, while some sawmills kept operating with scab labour. It was the middle of the great depression and people would do almost anything to earn a living.

It eventually became apparent that the workers could not hope to win, and by late June 1929, the strike had all but collapsed and most men chose to return to work.

At the end of July, seven union leaders were charged with “unlawful conspiracy by violence and threats of violence”, but a jury subsequently acquitted them.

Stanley Bruce lost the federal election in October 1929, in part, because of his Government’s approach to industrial relations.

Timber Workers’ strike conference at the Melbourne Town Hall. Source: University of Melbourne Archives

Timber workers in Oxford St Sydney on their way to Darlinghurst Court House. The workers named in the photo were all sent to jail. Source: Wikipedia

John Sharp and Sons was established in the 1870’s close to the Yarra River at 169 City Road South Melbourne and was Melbourne’s biggest timber trader.

Gateway to a Man’s Career.

The main gates to the Victorian School of Forestry (VSF) at Creswick were dedicated to Sir Alexander Peacock KCMG by the Minister for Lands and Forests, Sir Albert Lind, on 10 October 1952.

Prior to the new gates there was just a simple wire fence.

Peacock was born at Creswick in 1861 and was the local politician at the time when VSF opened in 1910. He spent 44 years in State Parliament including becoming the 20th Premier of Victoria in 1901. He died in October 1933.

The old Creswick hospital buildings and grounds were purchased by the Victorian Government and refurbished at the instigation of John Johnstone, Superintendent of State Plantations, under the direction of Donald McLeod, then Minister of Forests, (1904–1909) followed by Sir Peter McBride, Minister from 1909 to 1913.

There is some debate about the role and significance that Sir Alexander Peacock made compared to Johnstone.

The new entrance was promoted as a “Gateway to a Man’s Career” by the Forests Commission until female students first entered the school in 1976.

Photograph taken in 1915 (Source: FCRPA) : Tremearne House and the Victorian School of Forestry

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1P5vrGp8QwplQe__Tg_cNTtuTqizg8kJJ/view

Leslie (Les) Thomas Ortlipp.

Les Ortlipp was born on 18 May 1925 at Culcairn in New South Wales but moved to Bright in NE Victoria in 1933 after his father died and his mother remarried.

Les left school aged 12 and took an apprenticeship at the local Jack Sharp’s bakery.

When aged only 16, Les lied about his age to join the Army, but his mum found out and he was sent home. But about 12 months later in 1943 he joined again (# VX93307) and was sent overseas. He served as a machine gunner in New Guinea, the Islands, Halmaheras, Morotai and Borneo, before being accidently sent to Japan with the American Occupation Forces. Les was discharged in 1947.

On his return to Australia, Les worked briefly for the Forests Commission Victoria (FCV) at Bright, before spending a couple of years as a Guard on the Old Ghan railway between Quorn and Alice Springs.

After getting married at Quorn to Colleen, Les returned to Bright in March 1951 and resumed his job on the crew with the Forests Commission.

During the summer months from 1951-1956, Les worked as a fire lookout at Mt Clearspot overlooking the Ovens Valley Plantations. He rode his horse up each day to the summit. And until the late 1950s, there was no tower and not much shelter other than a couple of recycled Stanley Huts on just a bit of open ground, with a telescope mounted on a movable tripod.

During this period at Bright, Les became an active volunteer with the CFA and a foundation member of the local Civil Defence Branch (the forerunner to the State Emergency Service). Les also taught first aid as a St Johns volunteer and was one of the first Ambulance drivers in the township.

Because he showed strong leadership skills and an aptitude for forestry and bushfire work, Les was selected, along with a number of others, to attend the 6-month forest foreman’s school at Mt Disappointment near Broadford in 1962.

On completion of the course, and some short postings in other forest districts, Les returned to Bright in mid-1963 and was later appointed to a permanent Forest Overseer position in June 1965.

A bit like Warrant Officers in the Army, Forest Overseers with the Commission were the people who led the works crew and made things happen. Whether it be remote firefighting, building a road or establishing a plantation, overseers were practical, reliable and down to earth men with a wealth of knowledge. They also guided many a young wet-behind-the-ears forestry school graduate.

But unlike foresters who were compulsorily moved around the state every few years to different districts, Forest Overseers tended to stay put in one place for long periods and so got to know their communities and their patch of forest better than many others.

Les was so familiar with the bush, the mountains, the landmarks and the tracks he was often called upon when the Police needed assistance.

In 1980 and fit as a trout, Les, then aged 55, was the oldest competitor in the “king of the mountains” marathon running event to ascend Mt Bogong, Mt Porepunkah, Mt Feathertop, Mt Hotham and Mt Buffalo over five consecutive days.

Les was well known and well liked throughout the Forests Commission and became instantly recognisable for his trademark bushy mutton chops and moustache.

He spent the remainder of his career at Bright before retiring in late 1984, aged nearly 60. This was around the time of the major disruption and restructuring associated with the newly amalgamated Department of Conservation, Forests and Lands (CFL). Many senior staff chose to leave which led to a massive loss of corporate knowledge and field experience.

The Forests Commission organised a farewell dinner for Les in November 1984. The District Forester Derrick Rolland together with senior FCV dignitaries including Commissioner Ron Gross, Chief of Forest Operations, Max Boucher and Divisional Forester Russ Ritche along with 60 guests attended. A gift included a collection of wood working tools. Les also became an avid photographer of the alps in later years.

The Bright Shire Council also organised a testimonial dinner in his honour a year later on 6 December 1985, after which Les and Colleen moved to a new home at Howlong near Albury.

Les Ortlipp later died in Melbourne on 17 April 2004 and his ashes were returned to Mount Clearspot.

Thank you to Charles Ortlipp for his help with compiling this story.

Les Ortlipp about to head off to fight bushfires. C 1960s. Photo: Charles Ortlipp

In the 1950s the FCV upgraded Mt Clearspot with a couple of Stanley Huts. Then by 1960 they built a two-story dedicated lookout tower. Photo: Charles Ortlipp.

Les Ortlipp (centre) planting trees at Bright. C 1970. Photo: Charles Ortlipp

Erecting Snow Poles on the walking track across the high plains from Hotham to Bogong in 1977. Les Ortlipp and Neville Robinson from the FCV were the team leader/surveyors. Source: Charles Ortlipp

Les attended the Forest Foreman’s School at Mt Disappointment in 1962. Photo FCRPA
Standing; Ian Sartori, Jack Blythman, Clarrie Pring, Stan Kirkham, Laurie Ritchie, Les Ortlipp, Bill Barnes, Kelvin Taylor, Fred Craig, Harry Blanch, Albert Allen, Max Boucher, Don Sexton behind, Jack Hutchison behind Bill Woods, John Edwards, Len Arnold Denis O’ Connor, Ray Bennett, Stan Gillett, Brian Sheehan, Don Dyke, Chris Collin, Bert Toogood, George Mortimer, Doug Barge, Max Seamer, Des Kelly, Theo Goldie and Noel Fraser.
Squatting; Ken Doyle, Brian Warren, Ray Hines Phil King, Ron Harris, Jim Speirs, Eddie Page, Billy Fitz, Geoff Clinch, Tom Waldron, D’arcy Smith, Col English, Ernie Cole and Geoff Mair.

The camp at Mt Disappointment had been used during the war to house Italian internees. The Stanley Huts were bleak in winter. Photo: Noel Fraser – FCRPA

World’s first bushfire reconnaissance flight.

On 29 June 1915, 108 years ago today, what is believed to be the world’s first forest patrol flight was made at Trout Lake in Wisconsin.

Aviation pioneer and wealthy Chicago sportsman Logan “Jack” Vilas made the initial flight to demonstrate the viability of using aircraft in fire prevention.

He took Chief Forester, Edward Griffith, for a ride in his new Curtiss Flying Boat to demonstrate how easy it was to spot forest fires from the air.

Impressed, Griffith had the Wisconsin Conservation Commission appoint Vilas as a flying fire warden. Vilas flew almost daily in July and August from the forestry headquarters at Trout Lake in Boulder Junction.

The use of aerial detection to spot and report forest fires—dubbed the “Wisconsin Plan”—soon became a vital tool in fighting wildfires in many forested countries.

The U.S. Forest Service joined with the Army Air Service in 1919 to introduce aerial fire patrols over national forests.

Rumour has it that the planes were equipped with a telescope and machine gun as a deterrent to arson—the number of fires on the Cleveland National Forest decreased for a while.

But reviews by foresters were mixed. Not as many fires were first spotted by the air patrols as hoped, and the lack of wireless radios for communication between pilot and ground crew slowed the fire reporting process down significantly.

In 1925, Secretary of War, John Weeks, ended the program, telling the Forest Service it was time to turn patrols over to commercial operations. But having already purchased some planes the Forest Service continued their own patrols for two more years.

In Australia, discussion took place between the Forests Commission Victoria (FCV) and the Air Board as early as 1926, and then over a period of years prior to 1929-30, with the view to commencing regular fire patrols using RAAF aircraft but a lack of safe landing areas and radio communications proved the main obstacle.

Eventually, the first fire spotting aircraft in Australia was deployed on 18 February 1930 when a RAAF Westland Wapiti from No.1 Squadron operating out of Point Cook near Melbourne flew over the nearby Dandenong Ranges.

So break out your silk scarves and goggles to celebrate those daring young men in their flying machines because the rest is history….

American Forestry magazine – September 1915 issue.

https://foresthistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/AviatorDetectFires.pdf
https://foresthistory.org/envira/fire-suppression-aircraft/

Thomson Reservoir High Water Mark.

The decision to build the massive Thomson Dam in Gippsland was a result of a State Government inquiry into Melbourne’s water security in the late 1960s.

The dam wall and diversion tunnels were built in three stages between 1969 and 1985.

But unlike the Upper Yarra and Maroondah catchments which were “vested“ in the Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works (MMBW) and closed to public access, the Thomson catchment remained State Forest to managed by the Forests Commission and available for timber harvesting and some other uses.

It’s fair to say, that neither the MMBW nor the Forests Commission were entirely happy about the arrangements.

One of the major issues was the delineation of land to be inundated for water storage.

The wonderfully straight horizontal line along the 450 m contour of the high-water mark was no accident.

Forests Commission staff spend many months trudging through the thick scrub with an aneroid barometer marking the exact elevation.

The barometer relied on differences in atmospheric pressure to measure elevation. Regular radio calls were made back to the FCV Erica Office throughout the day to check on deviations in atmospheric pressures to recalibrate the gauge.

The sawlogs and pulpwood below the line were salvaged before MMBW bulldozers scraped the slopes bare and pushed all the debris into the bottom of the gullies ready to be burnt.

Above: Pocket Altimeter – Aneroid Barometer Type, Fitzpatrick & Co, Melbourne, circa 1900
Photographer: Jon Augier. Source: Museums Victoria