The prosperity of the Hastings Valley was shaped by the hard work of timber workers and the power of sawmills. It is a valley of vast forests, where towering blackbutts (Eucalyptus pilularis), tallowwoods (E.microcorys), Sydney blue gums (E.saligna), brushboxes (Lophostomen confertus) and flooded gums (E.
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.