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.
It seems that the people who came up with the plan to return all Western Australia’s and Victoria’s public land to a cycle of lockup and incinerate wilderness management know as much about forest management and timber supply timelines as an average kindergarten pupil. – Quote from South East Timber Association
When I started as a young forester in the late 1980s, I yearned for the opportunity to work in our native forests.
Ever since humans have worn garments, they have had to wash them. Where to put the garments to dry has a fascinating history. We always think that pegs hung them. However, clothes pegs only have a relatively recent past. Before the nineteenth century, laundry was hung on bushes, limbs or lines without fasteners to hold the clothes in place. … Read more
“Soon the haunting atmosphere of these forgotten farms will be a thing of the past and stately forests will reclothe these fertile acres”. Cath Lott
Introduction
Parrawe is located on the basaltic plateau immediately west of Surrey Hills, north of the Wandle River, and south of the Hellyer Gorge. This tongue of land ranges from 500 metres to 640 metres above sea level.
Introduction
Earlier this month, I outlined a historical account of the utilisation of rainforest timbers in New South Wales (NSW) and the challenges foresters faced to ensure the cut was sustainable. Rainforest timbers were in high demand for various purposes, such as fine furniture and cabinet work crafted from red cedar and rosewood or boats planked and decked with white beech, decorative veneer, furniture, sports gear, craft use and specialist military purposes. … Read more
Herbert Illichmann has provided some bits and pieces about a gentleman called Harry Fisher. Unfortunately, information about Harry is scant, but there are references to him in Kim McDermott’s excellent book Last of the Wildcats and the memoirs of Herbert’s father-in-law, Lindsay Wilson.
There are also a couple of newspaper articles about Harry, but because Lindsay didn’t provide specific dates, I cannot find them.
While researching for my book “Fires, Farms and Forests”, I came across quite a few caterpillar references in the correspondence of the Chief Agents of the Van Diemen’s Land Company (VDL Co.). The caterpillars were killing off improved pastures planted after clearing or logging and scrubbing operations.
The caterpillar problem was not unique to the VDL Co.… Read more
Because the forestry profession is far from simple and the work highly variable, I have tried to describe what a forester does by outlining the development of the profession in Australia. In Part 1, I outlined the broad principles of forestry and the development of the forestry profession up until WWII.… Read more
I grew up in a sawmill town on the edge of the buttongrass plain Beside a railway track in the town of Bulgobac Where the locos stop for water from the water tank It also fed the sawmill and the town of Bulgobac Gravel roads were twenty miles away and people very few With mountains all around us with panoramic views At night we sat at the table to a meal of wallaby stew And mother read the bible at night by the kerosene light its true Drivers wait from the loco as it headed south to Boco On the way north they passed our shack in the town of Bulgobac I was part of a big family with no power to our home The times are gone but memories live on living on the buttongrass plain Mother cooked from a wood fired oven Anzac biscuits she baked by the dozen Life was tough but we never complained living on the buttongrass plain I still recall the good old days and how we lived back then In the sawmill town called Bulgobac growing up on a buttongrass plain I’ll never forget with no regrets of life way back then The times are gone but memories live on living on the buttongrass plain The times are gone but memories live on growing up on a buttongrass plain Mott Ryan “Buttongrass plains” from his CD “The Boy from the Buttongrass Plains”
Introduction
Bulgobac is a small siding on the Emu Bay Railway at the 55 Mile.… Read more
This month is a guest blog from Morris “Mort” Bloom.
Some of my most memorable days in the bush were marking road lines with Mort. My role was to source timber mostly from private property for the logging contractors under my supervision. Some were easily accessible across grass paddocks in the summer.… Read more
