In mid-1968, Sir William “Blackjack” McDonald, a pastoralist from western Victoria and the Minister for Lands, Soldier Settlement and Conservation, controversially announced a new rural settlement scheme which involved clearing of remnant mallee woodlands and then selling Crown Land in the Little Desert. Some two hundred thousand acres was slated for agricultural subdivision.
The immediate outcry over the Little Desert proposal galvanised public opinion and threatened to become a major political issue for the Liberal government led by Sir Henry Bolte.
For the first time, the many disparate and divided conservation groups joined forces into a peak body known as the Conservation Council of Victoria.
An unlikely alliance of farmers, agricultural experts, economists, academics, suburban activists, scientists and conservationists banded together to stop McDonald’s scheme. The plan was even opposed by some Liberal politicians, including a young Bill Borthwick, who later replaced McDonald as minister.
For more than 100 years there had been occasional bitter disputes between foresters and the Lands Department over the clearing of forests and selling of public land. The new Conservation Council of Victoria enjoyed the support and benefited from the considerable political nous of some very influential forestry bureaucrats. Those quietly offering valuable contacts, insights and advice from the sidelines included the recently retired Chairman of the FCV, Alf Lawrence, the local FCV District Forester and noted ornithologist on the edge of the Little Desert at Wail, Bill Middleton, together with Dr. Peter Attiwill, a respected forestry lecturer from the University of Melbourne.
Leading Wimmera naturalist and National Park Ranger at Kiata, Keith Hateley, who the father of notable forester and gifted VSF lecturer, Ron Hateley, was also outspoken against McDonald’s plan.
In July 1969, several students at the Victorian School of Forestry also joined the protests with a jointly signed letter to The Age.
The Age Newspaper was fiercely critical and ran months of reports and editorials opposing the proposal.
Controversially, on 4 October 1969, a front-page story revealed a 16-mile road to be built through the desert would end at the property of Blackjack McDonald’s brother-in-law, Charles Koch. McDonald denied any wrongdoing or conflict of interest and demanded an apology from The Age for what he deemed “the tactics of low-class spectacular journalism”. He remained defiant and indignant and later sued The Age for libel, but eventually settled the matter out of court.
By November 1969, Sir William, who had initially dug in for a fight, was forced to capitulate and scale back his bold scheme to just twelve sheep farms, while at the same time announcing the creation of a new 90,000-acre Little Desert National Park.
But on 4 December 1969, the Labor and Country parties combined in the Legislative Council to block the Bill and McDonald’s poorly conceived scheme was consigned to oblivion.
Furthermore, the surprise loss of the safe Liberal seat of Dandenong to Labor’s Alan Lind (the nephew of long serving politician for East Gippsland and former Minister for Forests Sir Albert Lind) on the 6 December 1969 byelection sounded alarm bells and forced the government’s hand.
The State Premier, Sir Henry Bolte, was at a loss over the unexpected public outrage and wanted to diffuse the newly emerging “greenie” disquiet. As the longest-serving Victorian premier in history, he was not about to end his reign with an inglorious electoral defeat over a bit of mallee scrub.
During the 1970 election campaign, the usually hard-nosed Bolte promised at a public meeting in Ararat to increase the size and number of national parks, establish an environmental protection agency and acquire large areas of the Dandenong Ranges for public use and to improve fire protection.
But there remained a widespread electoral backlash against the Bolte Government in the May 1970 elections when the Country Party directed preferences against the Liberal Party across the State. Bolte narrowly won the election, but McDonald ignominiously lost his safe Liberal seat of Dundas, after holding it for over 15 years.
The summation of these tumultuous political events in the late 1960s proved a watershed moment and are often considered to mark the beginning of widespread environmental awareness and activism in Victoria.
Ironically, McDonald’s failed Little Desert plan laid the foundations for the State Government to create the Land Conservation Council (LCC) later in 1971. Its main charter was to make recommendations to parliament on the balanced use of Victoria’s public land.
The LCC was chaired by the formidable and politically well-connected figure of Sam Dimmick, while the Forests Commission was represented by its Chairman, Dr Frank Moulds.
The Council was proposed as an impartial mechanism to assess public land use but there were criticisms of its early composition as a “closed shop”, dominated by permanent heads of government departments. But the LCC pioneered processes for community input and many FCV staff moved over to the new organisation. One of the first was the talented Roger Cowley who drafted the policy that led to the initial definitions of reserves.
In its early years, the LCC’s community members included Professor John Turner, head of the School of Botany at the University of Melbourne, and John Landy (later Governor of Victoria) who was an agricultural scientist working for ICI and was also well-known for his sporting achievements. Later Dr Malcolm Calder brought his considerable botanical expertise to the LCC’s deliberations.
When Bill Borthwick, Victoria’s newly minted Minister for Conservation, delivered his welcoming speech to the freshly formed council members he advised them to make their recommendations… “as if for a thousand years”… And with that, he left them to it…
More than a decade earlier, in 1958, a major revision of the Forest Act included a new provision known as Section 50 which gave the Forests Commission powers to set aside State forests for special purposes such as recreation, conservation, landscape and so on.
By the time of the formation of the LCC in 1971, the Commission had set aside some 88 Section 50 Reserves including Sherbrooke Forest, Grampians Wonderland Reserve, Mt Macedon, Angahook, and Mt Baw Baw.
In response to shifting community moods, the Commission, under new Chairman Dr Frank Moulds, also formed the Recreation Branch. By 1972, its responsibilities had been considerably broadened and it became known as the Forest Environment and Recreation Branch (FEAR). This new direction did not initially enjoy whole-hearted support throughout the organisation, but it was soon embraced, and other State forest agencies quickly adopted the idea. FEAR Branch was first headed by Athol Hodgson.
Meanwhile, the Commission continued to strongly advocate for multiple use of the State’s forests as its core policy. The idea aimed to use forests for more than one purpose and compliment the more formal conservation reserves such as national parks. The central objective of multiple use was to balance timber production and other forest products such as firewood, farm timbers, fence posts, poles, sleepers and honey. It also provided for active recreation, protection of landscape, historic places, as well as water and biodiversity conservation. Protection from fire remained an overarching theme.
The visionary and robust deliberations of the LCC ultimately led to a progressive expansion of Victoria’s magnificent National Parks and Reserves.
In 1956, when the first National Parks Legislation was enacted, only 13 Parks existed including the iconic Mt Buffalo and Wilsons Prom. But by 1975, when the first of the LCC’s recommendations were tabled in parliament, that number had increased to 26, totalling over 226,000 ha.
The LCC morphed into the Environment Conservation Council (ECC) in 1997 and then into the Victorian Environmental Assessment Council (VEAC) in 2001.
By 2024, a bit over half of Victoria’s public land estate of 7.1 million Ha was set aside as Parks and Conservation Reserves with the remainder as State forests.
New parks in western Victoria around the Wombat Forest have recently been added and some controversial parks in the Central Highlands are proposed and being vigorously debated.
Forest hydrology is a complex science but, put simply, water yield or stream flows from forested catchments depends on rainfall patterns, droughts, soil type, soil depth, forest type and forest age.
Decades of pioneering research by the MMBW have shown that wet mountain ash forests consume nearly 70% of the rainfall leaving the remainder available for streamflow.
Mountain ash forests are very susceptible to bushfire and are generally killed, but they regenerate rapidly from seed.
The younger and more vigorous regrowth, with thousands of stems per hectare, intercept and slurp up much more water compared to older forests with large and widely spaced trees.
This graph published nearly 40 years ago by George Kuczera illustrates the dramatic response in water yield from mountain ash forests as they age.
The important thing to note is that water yield drops sharply immediately after bushfires when the trees are killed, and vigorous regrowth forest becomes established. Streamflow remains low for 20-30 years and then slowly recovers.
A major bushfire in Melbourne’s forested water catchments would have serious consequences for the city’s water supplies. It’s been calculated that a major fire could reduce stream flows by as much as 60% and that it would take about 150 years for the catchments to return to pre-fire levels.
Athol Hodgson made a significant and lasting contribution to Victorian forestry and bushfire management over his long and distinguished career.
Born in Wagga Wagga on 20 March 1930 into a large family of seven siblings, Athol spent his early years on the family dairy farm at Nariel near Corryong in northeastern Victoria. He often recalled helping to protect the property from the 1939 bushfires, and these events stuck in his mind and possibly helped shape his career.
Schooling at Nariel and then later boarding at Bendigo High School to obtain his Leaving Certificate, Athol’s family made major commitments and sacrifices to further his education.
At the beginning of 1948, Athol secured a coveted scholarship to enter the Victorian School of Forestry (VSF) at Creswick. This was during a growth period in the school’s history which saw a rapid rise in the intake from about 5 to 15 students per year. But because he only had his Leaving Certificate, Athol was required to study some additional subjects by correspondence towards his matriculation.
It was during his first year at Creswick that Athol met his future wife, Joy Dowler.
In addition to academic subjects and practical field work, Athol ran the school’s forest office administering the school bush, issuing harvesting licences and supervising contractors. Athol also proved to be a pretty handy footballer while at the school.
He worked his summer vacation in the Fire Protection Branch and got to meet the Forests Commission’s movers and shakers of the time including Alf Lawrence, Finton Gerraty, Arch Shillinglaw, Karl Ferguson, Herb Galbraith, Mervyn Bill, Charlie Ewart and Frank Treyvaud.
Athol graduated with a Diploma of Forestry at the end of 1950 as second in his class of twelve.
Like so many others before him, Athol’s first posting with the Forests Commission Victoria (FCV) was to the Assessment Branch (1951-52), where he undertook resource inventories across parts of eastern Victoria. He also made topographic and contour maps of the remote forests using stereoscopic aerial photographs taken by the RAAF during the war.
His first assessment job was to Heyfield where he camped with a small team in the mountains beyond Connors Plain at Mt Skene. A bulldozer was assigned to them to build new tracks, while horses were used to travel to more remote camps. This was followed by a second tour, also near Heyfield, camping at Murderers Hill before moving onto Cann River.
The days were long and hard in the bush, but his weekends were spent travelling to Creswick to see Joy whenever he could get away.
It was all pioneering work. The stakes were high, and it was critical for the Forests Commission to collect accurate timber volume figures because future decisions about new sawmill locations were to have long-term social and economic ramifications.
Athol was then posted to the Bruthen Forest District in East Gippsland (1952-54) working for Jim Westcott. It was while here that he befriended the famous bushman and fireguard Bill Ah Chow, who lived in the mountains east of Swifts Creek in the Moscow Villa hut.
Athol first lived next to the Bruthen office in a Spartan singleman’s quarters before he and Joy were married at Creswick on 4 April 1953. Athol needed special permission to take leave during the summer and after a short honeymoon to Mallacoota, the couple moved into a small cottage in the main street of the town in what later became the Bruthen Bakery.
On 25 August 1954, a RAAF Dakota took off on a routine flight from Canberra bound for East Sale, but it crashed at Cowombat Flat in the headwaters of the Murray River. A rescue mission was immediately mounted, and Athol maintained radio contact with the RAAF aircraft and ground search parties. The wreckage was later assembled into a makeshift hut by cattleman and FCV staff.
Athol began studies at the University of Melbourne in 1955 towards a Degree in Forestry. Being newly married, Athol claims he didn’t get too involved in the usual university student shenanigans.
Following his graduation from Uni, Athol returned to East Gippsland with a field posting to the Nowa Nowa Forest District (1956-58) working for Gerry Griffin. It was a busy place at the time with many sawmills and sleeper cutters in the bush. There were normal district roading and fire protection works learning from experienced forest overseers.
In late 1958, Athol somewhat reluctantly returned to his alma marter at the Forestry School as a lecturer to final year students – a role he said he would have preferred not to have been given. He was transferred because one of the main VSF lecturers, Alan Eddy, had secured a scholarship to study at Berkely University in America. Athol’s subjects included silviculture, forest products, forest mensuration, wood technology, forest economics, statistics and soils science.
When Alan Eddy returned from America, William (Billo) Litster, who was sometimes described as a dour Scotsman, was still the acting Principal. The school was going through a complex staff shuffle and there were some unsettling internal politics amongst the staff. Athol worked briefly at the nearby Daylesford District but still lived at Creswick.
Meanwhile, the Commission continued to invest heavily in the campus facilities and a new accommodation building, AVG House, named after a previous FCV Chairman, A. V. Galbraith, was constructed to replace the older and dilapidated student buildings.
Athol lectured at the Forestry School for a further period of five years but remained unhappy and was on constant lookout to find a more fulfilling role elsewhere.
He applied for numerous jobs and finally in 1962 was appointed as the FCV’s Fire Research Officer, after the incumbent Val Cleary was promoted. The Forests Commission was making a significant investment in practical scientific research at the time.
Athol then moved from Creswick to the Fire Protection Branch in Head Office and remained in this important role until 1971. He and Joy purchased a home in the southeastern suburbs of Melbourne for their growing family.
Because of his close involvement in the Stretton Royal Commission and his subsequent role as Chief Fire Officer after the 1939 bushfires, the Chairman of the Forests Commission, Alf Lawrence, was very supportive and closely followed Athol’s research progress.
Athol was a very hands-on type of fire researcher and during this time he became a driving force behind many significant innovations in the way the Forests Commission managed its bushfire responsibilities. His work included.
Setting aside 1,000 acres of State forest at Mollongghip near Daylesford to conduct experimental fires, similar to those done by Alan McArthur from the CSIRO at the Kowen Forest and Bulls Head Creek near Canberra.
Building on Alan McArthur’s work, Athol undertook some of the first definitive studies into fire behaviour, and together with Rus Ritchie used the results to develop an operational planned burning meter which was better suited to Victorian forests.
Conducting early studies into the effect of bushfires on flora and fauna.
Developing prescriptions for high intensity slash burns in pine plantations, and for the regeneration of native forests after logging.
Development of the operational use of helicopters and fixed wing aircraft for firefighting, aerial ignition and firebombing. This work came to fruition on 6 February 1967, when two Piper Pawnees from Benambra near Omeo, flown by aviation legends Ben Buckley and Bob Lansbury, made Australia’s first operational drop of fire retardant on a small lightning-strike. Meanwhile, Athol resisted the strong push from some US fire aviation companies to engage large fire bombers, and consistently advocated for smaller and more agile agricultural aircraft.
In 1968, Athol directed the use of Delayed Action Incendiary Devices (DAIDs) to aerially ignite a large 20,000 ha backburn in northeast Victoria, in what is believed to be a world first.
He was briefly seconded to the Commonwealth Department of Supply’s “Project Euroka” in Queensland which was commissioned by the Army. It was a study of mass fire behaviour during an era of fears of nuclear attack. Testing of dugout design was included in the experiments.
Experimenting with cloud seeding to increase rainfall across Victoria’s forests and water catchments.
Establishment of Mobile Support Crews (AKA – The Hotshots), which like their American counterparts, were based on the temporary employment of fit, young university students as mobile, highly trained, well equipped and well-led firefighters to give additional surge capacity to the FCV when needed.
In 1964, during his period as FCV fire researcher, Athol was offered a place with the legendary Alan McArthur at the Forest Research Institute in Canberra. Not wanting him to leave, the Commission responded quickly with a counter-offer which included a big pay rise and promotion to an A Class Officer, the equivalent of an Assistant Divisional Forester. Athol was only 34 and chose to stay.
But Athol felt the need to study further if he was to advance in his research career and made several applications overseas.
In 1965, Athol was awarded one of Australia’s inaugural Winston Churchill Fellowships to study fire management in North America and Canada. Alvyn Turnbull and David McKittrick kept the fire research program running while he was away for a year during 1966-67.
He took his family overseas with him where his study focused primarily on the use of fire to create and sustain habitat for wildlife on privately owned forests. He also found time to study remote sensing of forest fires, lightning detection, weather modification, mass fire behaviour and prescribed burning. Athol also graduated from the US Forest Service’s National Advanced Fire Behaviour School at Marana in Arizona.
Athol returned from America even more confident that Victoria was heading in the right direction with regard to fuel reduction burning on State forests.
He published many articles in scientific journals, produced operational guidelines and presented papers at Australian and overseas conferences. But even in his own words, Athol’s main role was “spreading the gospel” about bushfires and controlled burning to anyone who would listen.
In 1977, Athol was seconded to the State Electricity Commission Victoria (SECV) to assist with the study of the potential for overhead conductors on power lines to start bushfires. The results later assisted the Board of Inquiry into the “Occurrence of Bush and Grass Fires in Victoria”.
After FEAR Branch, Athol was promoted in 1977 to the Chief of the Division of Forest Management, a senior position he held until 1983.
His representation of the Forests Commission on the Land Conservation Council (LCC) led to many significant land use decisions and creation of new National and State Parks. He led the environmental assessment into wood chipping in East Gippsland and a proposed new ski resort on Mt Stirling.
Often during this period, Athol acted as FCV Commissioner while Dr. Ron Grose was assigned to the Head of the Public Service Board working directly for the Premier, Dick Hamer.
Athol was finally appointed a Commissioner in his own right in May 1983 when the Chairman Alan Threader retired. The other senior members of the FCV included Gerry Griffin and Ron Grose, who was elevated to Chairman.
But his promotion as a Commissioner was immediately after the catastrophic 1983 Ash Wednesday bushfires and at a time when the FCV was making way for the Department of Conservation, Forests and Lands (CFL) under a new Labor Government with Premier, John Cain, and Minister for Forests, Rod Mackenzie.
Conservation, Forests and Lands was the result of an amalgamation of the Forests Commission, Crown Lands and Survey Department, National Parks Service, Soil Conservation Authority and Fisheries and Wildlife Service into a single mega Department.
The formation of CFL was announced in State Parliament on 5 May 1983 and came into effect a few months later on 1 September with a short Act of Parliament. This was followed by a long and disruptive period of transition while the Forests Commission continued to exist as a legal entity.
The appointment of an outsider, British academic, Professor Tony Eddison, as the new Director-General of CFL took many by surprise.
The restructure led to an extended period of uncertainty for Athol, as he held out hope of being appointed as the Chairman of the newly formed Alpine Resorts Commission (ARC). After about 8 months in limbo, Athol was directly contacted by the Minister and asked to return to CFL as its Chief Fire Officer, replacing Stan Duncan who had elected to retire.
Meanwhile, Gerry Griffin was appointed the Regional Director of CFL while the ex-FCV Chairman Ron Grose reluctantly moved to another government role in April 1985.
Many more senior staff of the Forests Commission chose to leave or retire, which left big gaps in skills and corporate knowledge.
Moreover, some staff from the other agencies that made up CFL often had very different cultures from those of the Forests Commission. Some staff strongly resisted changes which included restrictions on their summer leave. And some were unhappy and what they saw as “conscription” into bushfire roles within CFL.
The first major test for CFL as a firefighting agency was during the summer of 1984-85 when lightning started 111 fires in the mountains of northeast Victoria. Over 3000 firefighters on the ground, including 500 volunteers from the CFA, 449 armed services personnel, 120 sawmill workers, 50 State Electricity Commission staff, 75 bulldozers, 400 fire trucks, 20 helicopters and 16 fixed wing aircraft were deployed. Remarkably, the fires were controlled within 14 days without the help of rain.
Athol was first to admit that the bushfires had a positive effect by bonding the staff into the new department and cementing them into an effective fire fighting force.
His experiences during the 1984/85 alpine fires prompted Athol to taking a high-level delegation of Australian bushfire controllers on a study tour to the USA and Canada.
The eventual adoption of the Australasian Interagency Incident Management System (AIIMS) was a direct result of this tour. Athol had previously supported Kevin Monk, also from the Fire Protection Branch, to undertake a preliminary study of the AIIMS idea on trip to North America in early 1984 on a Churchill Fellowship.
Athol retired from the Victorian Public Service in July 1987 but continued to lead a busy life as the Assistant General Manager of the NSCA (AKA – The Thunderbirds) where he was responsible for the organisations’ fire services and aircraft being offered to forest and fire agencies across Asia, Australia, Spain, North America and Canada.
However, the NSCA later collapsed in mysterious and spectacular fashion under the leadership of its charismatic Chairman John Friedrich in 1989. Athol and his family became embroiled in a lengthy and difficult supreme court case where creditors were seeking to recover lost funds in the subsequent liquidation action.
Other notable roles were as a fire consultant and expert witness to the Victorian, Tasmanian, NSW and Western Australian governments.
Athol was also a founding member of the Stretton Group, which was established in December 2003 following the disastrous southeast Australian alpine bushfires in 2002-03.
His ongoing frustration at what he saw as poor firefighting efforts led him to becoming one of the founders and President of Forest Fire Victoria together with Rod Incoll, Barrie Dexter, David Packham and other like-minded bushfire experts.
The group became strident and authoritative critics of the 2003 alpine firefighting efforts and the subsequent Bruce Esplin report. They highlighted failings of successive governments to focus adequate attention and funding to maintain fuel reduction burning programs in forests to protect life and property.
The group wrote substantial submissions about other major bushfires including the 2009 Black Saturday Royal Commission. They were undoubtedly an uncomfortable thorn in the State Government’s side.
In June 2012, Athol was deservedly made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in the Queen’s birthday honours “for service to forestry science, particularly the development of land management and bushfire risk reduction strategies, to emergency service organisations, and to the community of rural Victoria”.
Those who worked with Athol would unquestionably acknowledge his intellect and bushfire credentials, but also note him as a “good boss”. He was direct, tough, innovative, certainly not afraid to take a risk and very supportive of his staff.
Athol’s energy right up to the time of his death on 5 August 2018 was considerable. His legacy is clear and remains significant. His wife Joy passed away four years later in 2022.
Main image: taken with Barry Marsden in 2012 at Government House on receiving AM.
Thanks to Athol’s family for providing support and insights to write this tribute.
At the Victorian School of Forestry (VSF) – Creswick. Athol standing on left wearing school uniform of jodhpurs and riding boots.Creswick football team – Premiers 1950. Athol front row rightSinglemans quarters at BruthenJoy at BruthenThe second assessment camp at Murderers HillAthol leading the pack horses on assessment through Peter’s Gorge.Cowombat Flat Assessment camp made from the wreckage of the RAAF Dakota. Photo: Athol Hodgson.Athol’s desk at the Engineer’s Road Construction Camp north of BruthenAthol cutting a benchmark near Mt. SundayAssessment days. Athol and Jack Channon, working in their Tatong football guernseys.Assessment days wearing Tatong football guernsey.Athol’s photo of famous bushman and fireguard, Bill Ah Chow outside Moscow Villa in 1953. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_William_Ah_ChowDAIDs were struck on the side of this Bell 47G helicopter and dropped by hand. They were kept in a box outside of the door with a quick release mechanism. The rate of ignition approximately 300 acres per hour.Athol and others worked with Bryant and May at Richmond to develop DAIDs (Delayed Action Incendiary Device).DAIDs were used for the first time in the world to ignite a large backburn to control a large 20,000 ha bushfire at Mt Jack near Dederang in northeast Victoria in February 1968On 6 February 1967, two Piper Pawnees from Benambra near Omeo, flown by aviation legends Ben Buckley and Bob Lansbury made Australia’s first operational drop of fire retardant on a small lightning-strike.It was impossible to produce rain on demand, so research focused on increasing rainfall totals across entire water catchments. The Forests Commission contracted both the CSIRO’s Cessna 411 and Bib Stillwell’s Beechcraft Baron for a cloud seeding program. Photo: Athol Hodgson at Corryong – 1966.Athol and Russ Ritchie developed a control burning meter based on Alan McArthur’s models. Version 2 – 1970.FCV Fire retardant trial at Ballarat 1964 using a Ceres Aircraft dropping thickened water. (L to R) Athol Hodgson, Val Cleary, Ted Gill.A refreshment stop with students on the Mt Cole excursion 19 Mar 1959.The Mobile Support Crew – Ash Wednesday at Powelltown, 1983. Athol’s son, Andrew – back right. Photo: Athol HodgsonPhotograph taken in about 1986 (Source: B Marsden) : CFL Fire Protection Branch StaffCollection of Chief Fire Officers. Athol Hodgson (1984-87), Stan Duncan (1980-84), Rod Incoll (1990-96), Gary Morgan (1996-2005), Barry Johnson (1987-1990).On NSCA trip to outer Mongolia with Chinese military uniform. C 1988Athol and his family at the centenary celebration weekend at VSF in October 2010
The 1st of September marks the official beginning of Spring in the southern hemisphere, and wattles are starting to flower in the bush and in gardens around the country.
Wattles feature prominently in Australian ceremonies, literature, poetry, art and song from the 1830s to the early 1900s.
Noted naturalist Archibald James Campbell established the Victorian Wattle Club in 1899 and organised excursions each spring in search of wattle.
In the early days after Federation in 1901, arbor days, along with bird and wattle days, became popular in Australian schools.
Later in 1908, Campbell made an impassioned speech promoting wattle as our national floral emblem and momentum grew.
The first celebrations of Wattle Day occurred in New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia in 1910 and in Western Australia and Queensland in 1912.
By January 1913, the Commonwealth Coat of Arms was gazetted, with wattle featuring prominently in the design together with the iconic kangaroo and emu.
The rise of nationalism that began with Federation continued into the First World War, reinforced sentiment for home and country through images of wattle.
Wattle was a poignant reminder on postcards and letters send to the Diggers in the trenches.
But the push for a national wattle day petered out after the war ended in 1918 and remained more-or-less dormant throughout the rest of the mid-twentieth century.
However, there was a resurgence of national pride in 1975 when the golden wattle featured in the new Order of Australia medals which replaced the old British Imperial awards.
Green and Gold were adopted as our national colours in 1984 and have been worn proudly by Olympic teams ever since.
During the 1988 Bicentenary celebrations, golden wattle was officially gazetted as Australia’s national floral emblem.
There had been a confusion of dates used beforehand, as each state tried to coincide with local flowering patterns, but finally National Wattle Day was officially declared as the 1st of September by the Australian Governor General in 1992.
But despite all this, a National Day of Celebration for our magnificent wattles has never really taken hold…
This new self-guided walking map has been prepared to tell some of the story of the Forestry School and the grounds at Creswick. Its based on the 2017 work by Gerry Fahey from the University of Melbourne.
This new self-guided walking map can be used around Sawpit Gully at Creswick. Its based on the commemorative John la Gerche trail established in 1998 by VSF lecturer Ron Hateley and students of University of Melbourne.
Deadly bushfires in the summer of 1943/44, killed 51 people, injured another 700 and destroyed over 650 buildings.
In particular, the loss of 13 lives at Yallourn on February 14, 1944, and the impact on the State’s electricity supplies when the critical brown coal fields caught alight brought these bushfires into sharp focus.
There was justifiable public outcry at the lack of government action after the similar events five years earlier in 1939.
Premier Sir Albert Dunstan and Minister for Forests Sir Albert Lind, who had both delayed legislative changes in Parliament, decided there was no alternative but to ask Judge Stretton to chair a second Royal Commission.
Stretton’s report returned to his earlier themes and once again highlighted the lack of cohesive firefighting ability outside the Melbourne area.
After nearly six months of debate and argy-bargy in State Parliament, legislation to establish the Country Fire Authority (CFA) was finally passed in two stages on 22 November and 6 December 1944.
The Chairman and Board members were appointed on 19 December 1944. The Premier announced that Mr Alexander Mercer King of Ballarat was to be appointed Chairman of the CFA Board for the first year.
The Board of the new authority met for the first time shortly after on 3 January 1945.
On 2nd April 1945, the Country Fire Authority Act came into effect, and all previous urban and rural bushfire brigades in country Victoria ceased to legally exist.
But because of the complicated politics of the merger there were two CFA Chief Officers for a time, with Alexander McPherson representing urban brigades and Charles Alfred Daw for rural brigades.
The Forests Commission held two seats on the new CFA Board with Herbert Duncan Galbraith and Joseph Firth. The FCV Chief Fire Officer, Alf Lawrence, was appointed later in 1946.
It took another 13 years until 1958 before the Forests and CFA Legislation were revised which gave clarity to the roles of each agency as well as the Chief Fire Officers.
Main Photo: L-R: Back Row – Geoffrey Graeme Sinclair (Secretary), Angus A. Cameron, E. Buckland, George Stewart, Joseph Firth (FCV), Charles Alfred Daw (Chief Officer – Rural), Alexander McPherson (Chief Officer – Urban). Front Row – T. H. Grigg, W.S. Slater, Herbert Duncan Galbraith (FCV), P. Slouch, W. Charles Moyle, Alexander Mercer King (Chairman).
Australia had compulsory training in the Citizens Military Forces (CMF) at various times between 1910 and 1945, but after the Second World War it had two very different National Service schemes.
The first began in 1951, coinciding with the Korean War, and ran until 1959 with a total of 227,000 men passing through the scheme, which required six months recruit training in the Navy, Army or Air Force followed by five years as a reservist. Every 18-year-old was registered, and many Forests Commission staff and forestry school students were involved in some way.
The second, and more controversial scheme, operated from 1964 to 1972, with men aged 20 being eligible for conscription of two years of National Service by a birthday ballot, where numbered wooden marbles were drawn by lottery from a barrel.
A total of 63,735 were called-up and 15,381 Nashos served in Vietnam, with another 150 in Borneo. The remainder served in support units in Australia, Malaysia and Papua New Guinea.
Tragically, more than 200 Nashos were killed in Vietnam, plus another two in Borneo. More than 1200 were wounded on active service.
But unlike the records for other conflicts, the names of Forests Commission staff who served are patchy. I’m aware of the following 1960’s national servicemen:
Rob Youl – Graduated from the Victorian School of Forestry in 1964 and served for two years during 1965/66 in Australia with the Royal Australian Engineers at the Officer Training Unit at Scheyville in NSW. Rob continued to serve in the Army Reserve for many decades and rose to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel and as Commanding Officer of the 91 Forestry Squadron.
Peter Bray – Graduated from the Victorian School of Forestry in 1966 and served in Vietnam at Vung Tau in 1967/68 as a Captain the 1st Australian Logistic Support Group.
John Bywater – Graduated from the Victorian School of Forestry in 1966 and served in Vietnam during 1969/70 with 1st Australian Civil Affairs Unit.
Ray Borschmann – Graduated from the Victorian School of Forestry in 1966 and served for two years in Australia with Royal Australian Engineers – Fire Service.
John Morey – Served in Vietnam as a medic with 1st Australian Field Hospital in 1968/69. John returned to his previous job with FCV in sirex control and later joined 91 Forestry Sqn.
John Hosie – Served in Vietnam during 1967/69 with 17th Construction Squadron RAE. He later worked as Admin officer with FCV.
John Wilson – Served in Vietnam during 1967/68 with 32 Small Ship Squadron (AV 1353 Harry Chauvel). He later worked as a forest overseer at Stawell and retired in 1993.
Athol Sumner – Served in Vietnam 1967/68 as a Lance-Corporal with 7th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment. He later worked in FCV Research Branch and Assessment Branch as a technical officer. He measured forest growth research trials run by Bill Incoll.
Des Collins (pictured) – FCV machine operator at Daylesford – Served in Vietnam during 1966/67 with 1st Armoured Personnel Carrier Squadron. Was APC driver in the battle of Long Tan on 18 August 1966. Des died in the Greendale bushfire with Alan Lynch on 8 January 1983, just weeks before Ash Wednesday.
I’m certain I have missed a few so please let me know.
There has been a cold snap recently and everyone knows that the costs of home heating this winter have risen sharply.
Firewood has traditionally been a cheap fuel, particularly for country folk… but it’s getting expensive now and harder to source.
But how does firewood compare with mains gas or reverse cycle aircon?
Comparing apples with apples is tricky so I have calculated the energy running costs on a per Megajoule basis. I haven’t included the capital, maintenance or depreciation cost of various heating systems. Warning… mathematics ahead!!!
To give some context and putting aside the complex science of thermodynamics and energy loses for one moment, boiling one litre of water in an electric kettle uses about one-third of a Megajoule of energy.
Turning up the thermostat, or putting more wood on the fire, will put more Megajoules into your room per hour, and the running costs will go up.
And let’s not go down the renewability, sustainability, greenhouse emissions rabbit hole for the moment.
Firewood.
Buying firewood is problematic. I have always advocated buying air-dried firewood by weight rather than more dubious cubic metres or chords. And I’m also very wary when there is too much bark on it.
One cubic metre of solid wood in a standing tree or round log generally expands in volume up to 1.5 m3 when its cut into blocks, then split and neatly stacked. Or as much as 2.5 m3 when loosely chucked into a pile. That’s an awful lot of fresh air.
Therefore, what looks like one cubic metre of firewood in a tightly stacked, and slightly heaped, 6×4 trailer may only be equivalent to about three quarters of a cubic metre of solid wood.
Also, green wood can be more than 50% water, whereas air-dried firewood is ideally between 10-15%, while oven-dried wood has none. A large amount of energy is wasted trying to burn wet wood.
Getting a load of air-dried mixed species firewood cut, split and delivered to your home from a reputable timber merchant has recently increased in price from about $120 per cubic metre to about $300 per cubic metre. The dramatic increase has been caused by the closure of Victoria’s State forests to timber harvesting from 1 January, and firewood is now being imported from NSW forests.
Then there are always arguments about red gum verses mixed species, and you may find this a bit surprising… but it’s really important… ALL eucalypts have approximately the same calorific value, or energy content per kilogram, irrespective of species.
The energy content of eucalypt hardwood is about 18 Megajoules per kilogram @10% moisture content, or air-dried. Softwood pine has a high resin content and therefore has more energy per kg. And stinky brown coal briquettes had 26.6 Megajoules per kg.
But the density of air-dried eucalypts varies enormously from 673 kg/m3 for mountain ash up to 1121 kg/m3 for grey box. Mixed species firewood averages out at about 1000 kg/m3. So, a load of grey box in the trailer weighs nearly TWICE as much as the mountain ash for the equivalent amount of space.
So, if you are buying firewood on a volume or cubic metre basis it makes perfect sense to buy the heaviest, or densest, wood you can afford.
There are also a few other things to consider like ease of splitting and ignition, charring, tar content, burning time, coals, pesky splinters, manual handling, storage space, disposing of messy ash and potential smoke (mostly a problem from burning green wood).
Assuming you can still get the old delivered price of $120 per cubic metre (~750 kg of air-dried wood) which equals 16 cents per kg, then one Megajoule of energy from air dried firewood costs 0.89 cents (16÷18).
The more expensive wood at $300 per cubic metre (~750kg air dried wood) increases to 40 cents per kg, so one Megajoule of energy from air dried firewood costs 2.22 cents (40÷18).
By comparison, firewood in bags at the petrol station costs $1.50 per kg so one Megajoule is a hefty 8.33 cents (150÷18).
And a modern firewood heater burning air-dry wood gets about 70% efficiency. Open fires not so much – maybe only 20-30%.
So, the costs of one Megajoule of usable energy output from burning air-dry firewood in a wood heater varies from 1.27 cents (0.89 @70%) to 3.17 cents (2.22 @70%) depending on whether you paid $120/m3 or $300/m3.
A wood fire is not something you can turn on and off easily like gas or electricity. If it’s cold outside, and I’m home all day, with the wood heater settings on low and our large lounge room at a comfy 20 degrees, I might burn up to 50 kg of firewood (or 900 Megajoules). This equals 8 dollars of wood at the old price of 16 cents per kg, or less than one dollar per hour.
Natural gas.
For those fortunate enough to have access to natural gas, it retails about 3.7 cents per Megajoule (forget about the supply charges for a moment).
And a modern gas space heater can be about 78% efficient. The other 22% goes straight up the chimney.
Therefore, one Megajoule of energy from mains gas heating costs about 4.7 cents (3.7 @ 78%)
The large Rinnai 1005FT gas space heater in our family room puts out about 30 Megajoules of energy, and costs about 141 cents per hour (30 x 4.7) if its running on high. Obviously, if the thermostat gets turned down it uses a lot less gas.
Reverse cycle air conditioning.
Electricity prices vary throughout day, but in the evening until about 11 pm when off-peak kicks-in, they are about 66 cents per Kilowatt Hour (KWH) – excluding poles and wires charges.
And one KWH equals 3.6 Megajoules of energy. Therefore, one Megajoule of electrical energy costs about 18.3 cents (66 ÷ 3.6).
If you have a solar system with the old 66 cents/Kw feed-in tariff or a battery, the costs of electricity change considerably.
But here is the bizarre bit. A reverse cycle air conditioner acts as a “heat pump” moving heat from one place to another and can be 400% (or 4 times) efficient.
So, one Megajoule of energy output from a reverse cycle heating only costs about 4.6 cents (18.3 @ 400%).
Our Fujitsu 7.1KW split system is suitable for medium space and, on the maximum setting, puts out 25.6 Megajoules of heat, which costs about 118 cents per hour (25.6 x 4.6). And just like the gas heater, if the temperature setting is reduced the energy consumption goes down too.
Bar radiators.
The old-style bar radiators were 100% efficient because they converted all the electrical energy into heat.
And one watt equals one joule per second, so a 2400-watt radiator suitable for a small room puts out 8.64 Megajoules of energy (2400 x 60 x 60), which costs about 161 cents per hour (8.64 x 18.6 cents).
Summary – energy output.
So, there you have it …
Firewood in wood heater (@ $120 /m3) = 1.27 cents per Mj.
Firewood in wood heater (@ $300 /m3) = 3.17 cents per Mj.
Mains gas space heater = 4.7 cents per Mj.
Reverse cycle air conditioning = 4.6 cents per Mj.
Bar radiator = 18.6 cents per Mj.
If you still have access to a bit of bush and can legally cut firewood yourself, the costs might only be $20 /m3 to cover petrol for the chainsaw and your car to go and collect it.
However, for those without the means to collect wood themselves, the recent doubling in the retail price of firewood has hugely diminished the benefits of heating your home with wood, but it’s still one of the cheapest.
Buying cheap firewood on the back of a battered ute, or for cash from some bloke in the pub, or advertised anonymously on Facebook, must be of dubious origin – either knocked-off from State forests, National parks, or roadsides, or maybe cut without a council permit from private land. It’s worth asking where it came from rather than buying stolen goods. The demise of commercial firewood contractors in Victoria’s native State forests will undoubtedly return us to the lawless bad-old-days. But don’t get me started…
In practical terms, heating large rooms in my home with either mains gas, a wood heather or reverse cycle costs less than one dollar per hour. I accept that many other things come into play like how well the room is sealed from drafts and insulated from the cold outside.
A wise old District Forester once said to me… there are four jolly good “warms” in a load of firewood. First, you get to cut it, then you get to split it, then you get to stack it, before you finally get to burn it…
I’m absolutely certain someone will want to challenge my logic and arithmetic. But, in the meantime, try to stay warm as best you can…
Smokey Bear, the icon of the U.S. Forest Service, is the longest running wildfire prevention campaign in United States history.
The character was authorised on August 9, 1944, a date now celebrated as his official birthday.
He was originally drawn by Artist Albert Staehle complete with his trademark campaign hat and jeans.
Three years later, Smokey’s slogan — “Remember … only YOU can prevent forest fires” — made its debut.
Over the decades, several artists drew Smokey, and he evolved slightly in appearance.
Smokey Bear’s popularity skyrocketed in the 1950s and ‘60s. He appeared in children’s colouring books and kids could write to Smokey and receive a Junior Ranger kit, complete with a badge shaped like the Forest Service shield. He even had his own animated cartoon series on television.
In the spring of 1950, a bear cub was rescued from a fire in the Capitan Mountains of New Mexico, treated for his burns, and then transported to Washington, DC, to serve as the living symbol of Smokey Bear at the National Zoo. This bear received so much mail that the U.S. Post Office gave Smokey his own zip code—20252.
Smokey Bear made a goodwill visit to Victoria in 1977.
The E.C. Manning Provincial Park in the Cascade mountains of Canada was established in 1941 and named in memory of Ernest C. Manning, chief forester of British Columbia from 1936 to 1941.
During his time, Manning championed to set land aside for future generations to enjoy. The park was described as a “holiday land without peer”.
Then in August 1946, a carelessly unattended campfire escaped and burned for nearly three weeks.
In spring 1950, two park employees — Chester Lyons and Mickey Trew — and came up a dramatic fire awareness sign which was erected beside the highway on the western entry to the park.
ONE CAMPER MADE THIS 5,700 ACRES LOOK LIKE HELL! DON’T YOU BE CARELESS.
The blunt message was one of the earliest attempts at a public campaign to prevent forest fires in British Columbia.
However, the Department of Public Works objected to the sign because they had not given permission for it on their highway and also felt that the word “hell” was too strong to be displayed publicly.
The sign was taken down, but if Public Works had hoped that was the end of the matter, they were sadly mistaken.
An even more dramatic replacement sign went up in summer 1950 – this time a huge gallows, from which dangled a 10-foot-long cigarette in a noose.
THE ONE WHO DROPPED IT SHOULD ALSO BE HANGED.
It was later updated, but stayed on the highway until the 1960s.
I’m working with DEECA to have the Parnaby gallows signs replaced at Cann River… Hmmmm.
Seventy-five years ago today, twelve US Forest Service smokejumpers, and one USFS fireguard, lost their lives in a blow-up at Mann Gulch in Montana.
And people are still talking about it…
The smokejumpers landed at 4.10 pm, and at 5.56 pm a fire storm raced up the steep slope and swept over them.
It was a classic “Swiss Cheese” situation where several factors aligned to cause the disaster.
And remember, everything always seems inevitable in hindsight.
To their credit, the Forest Service drew from the hard-earned lessons of the tragedy and designed new training and safety measures. They also revisited wildfire suppression tactics as well as investing heavily in understanding the science of fire behaviour.
The story has been told many times and, in many ways, including books, music and film but, to my mind, the best critical analysis of what happened comes from the training material set out in the Staff Ride.
As soon as the winter snows melted, the Treasure family traditionally drove cattle from their home at Castleburn up to the Victorian Alps and the rich grasslands on the Dargo High Plains.
The pioneering family could trace its pedigree on the High Plains back to 1878, where they held long-term grazing leases over about 100,000 acres of unoccupied Crown Land and State forest.
Clare Freda Treasure was born at Bairnsdale in 1922 as the only daughter of Harry and Clara Treasure. She had older three brothers – Don, Jim and Jack.
Freda, as she was better known, was initially educated by correspondence with the support of her mother but later, during the 1930s, at the prestigious Methodist Ladies College (MLC) in Melbourne.
Harry took all his children into the family farming and grazing business, among them his daughter Freda who helped on the family property. Her father later gave Freda a paddock at Castleburn, known as Bryce’s.
Harry and his sons built a substantial weatherboard homestead on the High Plains from local timbers.
The 1939 bushfires inflicted heavy losses on the family, as it did for many others. They lost 700 stock, miles of fences, several huts and yards, but they saved the homestead complex.
Harry made impassioned submissions to the Stretton Royal Commission regarding the causes of the 1939 fires and his views about the lack of burning in the high country.
He was also an Avon Shire councillor for over thirty years.
After the 1939 fires, Harry gave Freda a 28,000-acre bush grazing block, known as Jones’, where she lived in an existing hut and used the cattle yards. She stayed in the hut throughout the winter and was occasionally visited by her mother.
Freda was said to be a magnificent horsewoman who could shoot a rifle, whistle her dogs, and crack a stockwhip with the best of them. She camped out on the Dargo High Plains miles from anywhere on her own, and she knew the land better than any other Victorian woman. It was also said she was a keen and expert skier and had never been lost.
Freda became a bit of a celebrity and was often pursued by newspaper journalists and became known as the “Maid of the Mountains”, or ”Cowgirl of the Alps”.
In 1957, Freda married Wally Ryder from another pioneering high plains family, and the couple moved over the Great Dividing Range to a property at the base of Mt Bogong near Tawonga.
In 1959, there was some trouble brewing in Dargo over the establishment of a new sawmill in the town and the commencement of alpine ash logging on the high plains by the Forests Commission Victoria (FCV).
Relationships were strained. Freda’s older brother Jack Treasure and other cattlemen expressed concerns about the impact of heavy log trucks on the Dargo High Plains Road (DHPR) and particularly interference with their traditional use as a cattle route.
The ownership and maintenance of the DHPR was the responsibility of the Avon Shire and they were a bit grumpy too. They wanted it reclassified as a “Forest Road” under the 1943 Legislation #4953, and for the Country Roads Board (CRB) to take over the maintenance, but that never happened.
Meanwhile, Freda never lost her passion and interest in the Dargo High Plains. She had a reputation for being gentle and generous but, when required, she could be very forthright and direct. In early 1960 she successfully lobbied her local MP, Sir Albert Lind, to protect several strips of alpine ash, or woollybutt, (E. delegatensis) from timber harvesting along the family stock routes she so often rode.
Freda’s letter was forwarded to the Minister for Forests, Alexander Fraser on 24 February 1960, for consideration. The Chairman of the Forests Commission, Alf Lawrence, noted his suspicions about the motives behind the letter and the links to the disquiet from the Treasure family about the new Dargo sawmill.
Despite the Chairman’s misgivings, Stuart Calder, the District Forester at Briagolong, was subsequently asked on 22 March to identify, map and assess the impact on timber resources for a possible new reserve.
Stuart dutifully responded on 8 April 1960 recommending a new reserve on State forest, 5 chains (100m) wide on each side of the DPHR (200 m total) in three parts –
The first area near Spring Hill junction set aside 90 acres of bush with a total length of 133 chains. It also covered the old Bandicoot Arms Hotel site on the road to Grant.
Another 100 acres of alpine ash was identified on a stretch of 60 chains further north near Mt Ewen springs.
A 5-chain buffer around the old Grant Cemetery was also recommended.
The Freda Treasure Tree Reserve, as it eventually became known, was subsequently excluded by the Forests Commission from logging along the edges of the DPHR. The manager of the Dargo sawmill, W. D. Downey, was subsequently advised.
But despite recommendations from the District Forester the Commission decided not to formally set the land aside as a Scenic Reserve under Section 50 of the Forest Act (1958).
However, a very clear instruction was issued to FVC staff in June 1960, not to organise logging within the strip, and this arrangement worked very effectively over the subsequent decades.
The Land Conservation Council (LCC) conducted a review of the Alpine Area in 1979, but the long-standing arrangements with the reserve were somehow overlooked.
In 1984, the Shire of Avon wrote to Graeme Saddington, the District Forester at Maffra, seeking clarification of the status of the land and suggesting it become known as the Freda Treasure Reservation. Local Commission staff once again supported the proposal, but there was still no action on a formal Section 50 Reservation, probably because the Forests Commission was going through a major disruption at the time to create the Department of Conservation, Forest and Lands (CFL).
Freda died on 25 April 1988, and just seven days later her husband Wally died too. On 8 December 1991, a plaque dedicated to Freda’s memory was unveiled in the bush near Spring Hill by the Mountain Cattlemen’s Association.
The original 1960’s Freda Treasure Tree Reserve was subsequently incorporated into a Special Management Zone (SMZ) during the Central Gippsland Forest Management Planning process in 1998. An extended reserve stretches along most the DHPR which was later ratified in the Federal Regional Forest Agreement (RFA), signed in March 2000.
Source: FCV file 84/1139. PROVUndated letter, probably January 1960, to Sir Albert Lind from Freda Treasure. Source FCV File 59/73 PROV
Sir Albert Lind, MLA, Dear Sir Albert
To whom this letter should really be written I am not just sure, but I will leave it to you if it should be sent elsewhere.
Yesterday I rode from Dargo to Mt Ewan with cattle. On the way I suddenly felt impelled to stop and look for something. I couldn’t find what it was and felt mystified. Yet I know that Our Lord intended me to see something.
Later in the day I was again called strongly to look about me, but again saw nothing. Early this morning I rode again down from Mt Ewan, and it was then at each place that I saw the reason. A beautiful forest of the greatest magnificent stands there, with cool gullies and tree ferns – undisturbed for many hundreds of years, now natures perfection.
Next time I ride along all this will be destroyed by the destructive hand of millers. I think that I am intended to ask that these two stretches of road be spared and left in their present glory, to reward nature lovers who travel far to see such beauty.
Perhaps a width each side of the road could be left stand. 4 chain wide.
Perhaps just a stretch of ¼ mile or better still ½ mile on each side should be left.
Warmest wishes to yourself, sincerely, (Mrs) F Ryder (nee Freda Treasure)
P.S. The first place of beauty is at the foot of the first cutting towards Dargo from the Grant turnoff.
The other place is starting up the first cutting on the Dargo side of the Mt Ewan water gully going towards Dargo.
The letter has illegible pitman shorthand markings written in pencil, and I suspect these were made by the Minister’s Secretary in preparing a response.
Albert Lind then wrote to the Minister for Forests, A J Fraser MLA, on 24 February 1960 asking that Freda’s proposal be considered.
In March 1938, the “Kyeema” from Australian National Airways did a publicity “mail drop” to mountain cattlemen on the Dargo High Plains. Newspapers reported “mail by air for lonely cattle musterers … who normally wait two or three weeks for mail”. Those on the ground included Freda Treasure, Jack Treasure, Mr and Mrs E.E. Treasure, Carl Wraith, Jim Treasure and T Evans. Sadly, the same aircraft crashed just a few months later into Mt Dandenong, killing all on board. https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/244593502
In 1906, prominent surveyor and geologist, William Baragwanath, was commissioned by the Public Works Department to identify a tourist track along the Baw Baw Plateau from Warburton to Walhalla.
In February 1907, the new 51-mile route was ridden by a small party of eminent dignitaries including the Governor of Victoria, The Hon. Sir Reginald Talbot and his aide-de-camp Captain Richard Crichton, together with the Minister for Lands, John Mackey and the Surveyor-General, Joseph Reed, accompanied by surveyor John Goodwin.
On arrival, the party were greeted on the Thomson River Bridge and made guests of the President of the Shire of Walhalla, John Finlayson, and Dr. Edwin Allester, President of the newly formed Mountaineering Association. They were hosted to a lavish civic reception at the Empire Hotel which was followed by a very convivial “smoke night” of port and cigars.
Several tourist huts were later built as staging points along the way including Yarra Falls, Mt Whitelaw and Talbot Peak – named in honour of the Governor.
Each hut was a simple structure with two rooms, walls made of spIit-timber palings or corrugate iron, a concrete fireplace, an earthen floor and a corrugated iron roof. Each hut was equipped with wire mattresses and cooking utensils and fenced paddocks were Iocated nearby for horses. The track was also marked and promoted with tourist maps.
In 1938, the Talbot Peak hut was destroyed in a storm while many of the others were destroyed later in the 1939 bushfires.
Walkers lost interest after the bushfires. The shutting of the route from Warburton through the Upper Yarra catchment in the 1940s and the closure of the Walhalla mine which forced the cessation of the passenger railway service, all combined to seal the fate of the track.
The current Alpine Walking Track begins at Walhalla and incorporates part of the original 1906 alignment along the Baw Baw Plateau including a camp site at Talbot Hut. It was developed in the 1970s by the Forests Commission which played a lead role in the planning and on-ground works.
Note – Talbot Hut is sometimes called Mt Erica Hut.
The Governor Sir Reginald Talbot and his party were met at the Thomson river bridge by Mr A. W. Craven MLA, Cr John Finlayson (Shire President), Mr J. Renshaw (Shire Sec), Cr Hartrick (Chairman of Railway Trust), Crs Bessell, Thomson and Frazer Anderson; Dr Edwin Allester (President Mountaineering Association), Mr H. Rawson (Manager of Long Tunnel Extended), Mr Chas Collins and other gentlemen, and escorted into Walhalla. The Governor is wearing a white pith helmet out the front. Source: Greg Hansford
The firestorm tore trees from the ground and scattered them like matchsticks across the landscape.
The devastation of the 1939 bushfires was unprecedented. Several towns were entirely obliterated leaving 71 people dead including four FCV staff, 69 sawmills were lost and over 3700 buildings destroyed.
Nearly two million hectares of Victoria’s State forests were burned. The intense bushfire killed vast swathes of mountain ash, alpine ash and shining gum, some for the second time since 1926 and 1932.
Salvage of the fire-killed trees became an urgent and overriding task for the Forests Commission. It was estimated that over 6 million cubic metres needed to be harvested, and quickly, before the dead trees split and the valuable timber deteriorated.
New roads and bridges were hastily constructed, sawmills and timber tramways rebuilt. A massive job made more difficult by labour shortages caused by the War and a bleak winter of 1939.
There was so much timber that many of the logs were stockpiled into huge dumps along creek beds and covered with soil and tree ferns or wetted down with sprinklers to stop them from cracking. Some logs were recovered as many as fifteen years later.
Mundic Wier was hurriedly built in 1941 of logs and earth on the Toorongo Plateau north of Noojee by Forests Commission engineer, Phillip Avery. The dam was a massive crib-log construction, with the upstream side faced with heavy planking. However, not long after its completion, a violent storm on the Toorongo Plateau filled Mundic Creek to overflowing; the planking failed and the dam burst. It was not repaired and, consequently, the dump remained only partially submerged.
Mundic Weir on the Toorongo Plateau – 1941. Information from Owen Salkin.
The remnants of Mundic Weir are still visible on the Toorongo Plateau. Information from Owen Salkin.Photograph taken in 1941 by W Flentje (Source: N Flentje) : Mundic Creek Dam under constructionPhotograph taken in 1941 by W Flentje (Source: N Flentje) : Mundic Creek Dam under constructionPhotograph taken by David Malady in June 2011 : Remains of the wall of Mundic Dam built for 1939 salvage, Toorongo PlateauPhotograph taken in 1941 (Source: FCRPA) : Mundic Creek Dam under construction on the Toorongo PlateauPhotograph taken in 1942 (Source: FCRPA) : Water take off for log dump sprays – West TanjilPhotograph taken by David Malady in June 2011 : Remains of the wall of Mundic Dam built for 1939 salvage, Toorongo PlateauPhotograph taken in 1941 (Source: FCRPA) : Mundic Dam under construction on the Toorongo Plateau
In the post war period, the State Government put a strong emphasis on buying British 4WD vehicles such as Series 1 Land Rovers.
They were light weight but pretty primitive and very prone to breakdown.
The files in the Public Record Office are thick with warranty claims by the Forests Commission about the reliability of Land Rover gearboxes and drive trains.
Meanwhile in the early 1950s, the Korean War created a big demand for light military vehicles, and the United States government tasked the Toyota Company to manufacture what later became the Land Cruiser.
In 1958, Sir Leslie Thiess imported Toyota Land Cruisers into Australia for the Snowy Mountains Scheme which proved they were robust and reliable.
But at the time, there was some outright community hostility towards vehicles made in Japan.
The Forests Commission took the matter direct to the Premier Sir Henry Bolte and State Cabinet to have the purchasing policy overturned.
The Victorian Government Motor Transport Committee (VGMTC) finally acknowledged the mechanical failure of Land Rovers was contributing to higher overall maintenance costs and lower resale values of the Forests Commission’s fleet. This problem was made worse by a chronic shortage, and long delays, in dealers sourcing replacement parts from England. In some cases, differentials from surplus WW2 Austins were being substituted.
Sir Henry grudgingly gave his permission in the mid-1960s for the FCV and other agencies to make a quiet switch to purchasing Japanese Toyotas.
This small brass plaque to the late Joe Trent can be found at the base of Toorongo Falls near Noojee.
It was Joe’s son Gregory who had been lost in the bush for 27 hours on July 16 and 17, during the middle of winter in 1967.
Joseph Charles Trent died of a heart attack two weeks later on 30 July 1967. It’s said the strain of the search contributed to his death. He was 54 and is buried at Rye.
His wife Rita and the family erected this plaque, which is a bit misleading because it gives the false impression that it was Joe that died in the bush.
Joe had been a truck and tractor driver and served in the Citizens Military Forces (CMF) during World War Two – which explains the smaller plaque from the Rye sub-branch of the RSL.
During 1966-67 the Forests Commission supported the Police in 35 search and rescue operations.
Another major search was mounted at Toorongo Falls for Kostya (Costa) Mezentseff, aged 5, who ran away during a family picnic on 27 August 1972. The search was scaled down by Police after five days, but local FCV staff and other groups such as the Scouts and St John Ambulance persisted until early September. But sadly, Kostya was never found.
A Victorian Search and Rescue committee was established in 1954 after the earlier successful rescue of a young couple, Kirk McLeod and Jennifer Laycock, at Mt Donna Buang near Warburton.
The committee was led by the Police, and included the Federation of Victorian Bushwalking Clubs, the Board of Works, the Forests Commission, the Country Fire Authority, the State Electricity Commission and the National Safety Council.
The history of organised search and rescue efforts can be traced back to when the Melbourne Walking and Touring Club banded together with other groups into the Federation of Victorian Bushwalking Clubs in 1934. And while their chief Interest was enjoying the bush, in 1949 a dozen walkers joined in the search for a man missing at Wilsons Promontory.
The Federation then formed a Search and Rescue Section to assist Police looking for people lost in remote or difficult terrain. In the early 1990s the name changed to Bushwalkers Search and Rescue.
The Forests Commission mainly took a supporting role to the Police by providing staff with local knowledge of bush tracks as well as provision of 4WD vehicles and drivers. The Commission’s field offices and radio system always played a key role.
The 1954-55 annual report describes the Commission’s role in the dramatic search and rescue of two men at Mt Baw Baw. One of the members of initial search party, 19-year-old David Hally, became lost himself and was rescued after 6 days in the snow, but the body of 21-year-old skier Mihram Haig was never found.
“The Commission’s radio equipment and organisation under the direction of the radio engineer were used effectively over a period of ten days in an intensive search for two persons missing in the Baw Baw mountains during the winter. Field communications were based on VL3AZ, Tanjil Bren, and fourteen stations were in operation.”
The Police formed a specialist Search and Rescue Squad not long after in 1957 while the State Emergency Service (SES) was formed in 1975.
Victoria’s Forests & Bushfire Heritage 