silviculture

Will the dominos fall across the country after Victoria and Western Australia ended the harvesting of native forests?

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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.

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Will the dominos fall across the country after Victoria and Western Australia ended the harvesting of native forests? Read More »

The truth behind the rainforest battles in NSW (part 1) – the historical background

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“History will be kind to me for I intend to write it” ― Winston S. Churchill

Introduction

One of the great joys I have experienced during my working career and travels around Australia has been the opportunity to walk through rainforests. There is no better feeling. While protected from the heat of the day, or from bitterly cold winds, the chance to walk beneath the towering trees under a closed canopy of large shady leaves allows the opportunity to listen to the cacophonous bird songs.… Read more

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Ignoring the legacy of active management to create a “wilderness”

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Introduction

The south-west forests of Western Australia have a rich history in timber utilisation, being one of the longest traditional industries in the state. Several timber towns that housed the timber workers and their families were established in the Darling Range close to the newly constructed Perth-Bunbury-Bridgetown railway line to utilise the timber from the jarrah forests.… Read more

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The McGowan logic – sustainable native forest logging is not acceptable for the environment, but the widespread clearing of jarrah for bauxite is

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Introduction

In September 2021, the Premier of Western Australia, Mark McGowan, made a shock announcement that all native forest logging would cease in 2024, at the end of the current 10-year Forest Management Plan. The decision was made without consultation with the timber industry, public, or government agencies. The reasons for the decision were to save the forests and preserve the carbon stocks.… Read more

The McGowan logic – sustainable native forest logging is not acceptable for the environment, but the widespread clearing of jarrah for bauxite is Read More »

Who are the real forest saviours in Western Australia?

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“Surely there can be no greater cathedral as forests such as those of the karri.” Vincent Serventy 

“If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools” Rudyard Kipling

The “defenders of the South West forests” are celebrating the recent announcement by the Western Australian Premier to cease native forest logging by January 2024.… Read more

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The aristocratic satinay

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Fraser Island is a beautiful place. It is the world’s largest sand island and vegetated dune system. I had the opportunity to work on Fraser Island in the mid-1980s and have had several recreational visits to the island over the years. I still pinch myself these many years later on how fortunate I was to spend two weeks bush-bashing through the satinay (Syncarpia hillii)-brush box (Lophostemon confertus) forests while doing regeneration surveys.… Read more

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A strange name for a tree

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While visiting Cardwell in North Queensland, we enjoyed the forest drive in Cardwell State forest. We stopped to look at Attlie Falls, and as I walked the short distance, my focus was towards the ground. I noticed bark on relatively large trees resembled a Pinus spp (an exotic pine tree). I had a brief but strange thought I was walking through a very mature pine forest until I looked up and realised I was looking at one of my favourite eucalypt trees.… Read more

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