Forestry

Logging on the edge

In the heart of the Bellinger Valley, the Glennifer-Promised Land area is framed by a dramatic escarpment. This formidable landscape is defined by ancient, erosion-resistant rocks exposed from the Moonbil sedimentary beds, consisting of fine-grained siltstones, slate and chert. The escarpment forms a natural boundary, with the land dropping a staggering 970 metres from the plateau to the valley floor.

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Another flood, another poor response

Eugowra station was established in 1834, and the town took its name from the station when a village popped up in the 1860s on the station about 35 kilometres east of Forbes.

The town is most famous for a gold robbery in 1862 when Frank Gardiner and his gang of bushrangers pulled off the biggest gold robbery at Escort Rock just outside of town.

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The unsung timber product during war time

At the start of WWII, Australia was unprepared for a prolonged conflict, processing just enough petrol reserves for three months and limited storage capacity.

Though fuel rationing wasn’t immediately imposed, the government urged citizens  to conserve petrol, hoping to avoid drastic measures.

While the motor industry strongly petitioned against any fuel rationing, by 1 October 1940, however, fuel rationing became a necessity.

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Reflections on working in a hippy valley

“Bellingen continues to attract younger people with what they perceive as Bellingen’s ‘hippy’ and ‘alternative’ reputation, with love and peace in their hearts and wellness and wokeness in their souls.       Paul Hemphill

The Bellinger Valley has a long history of dairy farming and timber harvesting.

The devastating floods of the 1950s played a major role in the eventual decline of the dairy industry.

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The joy of being a tour guide

I have spent decades in our wonderful forests, witnessing their cycles of destruction and regeneration, and in all that time, I’ve seen one constant: public perception remains stubbornly fixed on a false image of forestry. Headlines scream of devastation. Activists show photos of freshly logged areas, convincing the public that this is a permanent state.

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Is too much pounding the table the problem with science today?

Science requires open debate. It does not advance by consensus or political pressure”.

What is science

The scientific method requires scientists to test all theories. Science progresses not by claiming a theory is true but by proving a theory is false”.

I will start this essay by clarifying what science is not.

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Can rangeland pastoralists survive by riding on the goat’s back? 

During our trip through western New South Wales in March 2022,  we saw significant numbers of feral goats. These goats were everywhere, spanning from Broken Hill east through Wilcannia and Cobar onto Nyngan, covering over 600 kilometres in mulga country.

We had an overnight stop on the Barrier Highway at the Meadow Glen Rest Area, about 60 kilometres west of Cobar.

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The best Hollywood script ever – the brumby cull in New South Wales

Any Hollywood film producer needing a blockbuster script should look no further than New South Wales and the aerial culling of brumbies. It is a highly polarised issue and has been for many years. After all, the concern about culling brumbies is not matched by concerns to kill other feral animals or pests, such as deer, pigs, rabbits, foxes and cats.

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Timber’s role in the rise of Australian butter 

While researching for my three-part series on the truth behind the rainforest wars in New South Wales (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3), there was a constant theme in the historical account of utilising one species of rainforest timber. While the cutting of hoop pine (Araucaria cunninghamii) was undoubtedly very extensive in New South Wales, the scale of utilisation in Queensland was even more significant, and one of its primary uses was for butter boxes.

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The 6th Mass Extinction Crisis – speculation without substance?

Unfortunately, conjecture based on limited facts has produced “research” trumpeting catastrophic fears of extinction”. Jim Steele

Introduction

Our planet now faces a global extinction crisis never witnessed by humankind. Scientists predict that more than 1 million species are on track for extinction in the coming decades”.

As the world commemorates another Endangered Species Day, you will undoubtedly read or hear claims like the above.

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