Misplaced Pages

#813186

71-741: During the late 1960s the Forests Commission Victoria (FCV) started to deliver public information and schools’ education. Recreation and conservation on State forest was receiving greater focus, and a key moment for the Commission came in August 1970, then under the new chairmanship of Dr Frank Moulds, with the creation of the Forest Recreation Branch. This initiative was a first for any Australian Forest Service, but its brief soon widened and by 1971 it became

142-540: A business case, for the TFDC and the surrounding lands to be more broadly used by the community and for commercial purposes. The land is permanent Crown land and remains in public ownership. In the meantime (2023), the Toolangi Forest Discovery Centre remains closed leaving a huge void in much needed, hands-on, balanced and factual education materials about forests and bushfires for students and

213-605: A complete bridge across a narrow ravine" .... William Ferguson, The Melbourne Age, February 1872. In 1976, a monument was unveiled by the Hon Jim Balfour to the "World's Tallest Tree" near Thorpdale which in 1884 was measured by a surveyor, George Cornthwaite at 375 feet after it had been chopped down. This account was reported in the Victorian Field Naturalist many years later in July 1918 and

284-504: A continuous column of water up against the forces of gravity. The crowns of the tallest trees need to lift sap more than 10 times the surrounding atmospheric pressure by combining the complex physics of capillary action and leaf transpiration of the water pathway known as the Soil Plant Atmosphere Continuum . Contrary to popular belief, tree roots do not pump water. There had long been recognition of

355-413: A forestry position without completing a relevant course and passing a special examination, thus paving the way for the establishment of a forestry school. The Victorian School of Forestry (VSF) at Creswick was established in 1910 and was located at the old hospital which had been built in 1863 during the gold rush. The creation of VSF was one of the many recommendations of the 1901 Royal Commission and

426-725: A height of five feet above the ground and at 10 feet up its circumference was still 50 feet. He estimated its height to be 287 feet (20 feet shorter than his earlier 1895 measurements). There was some debate from the Healesville Tourism Association during this period about its name but either way the Mueller – Furmston Tree was a popular destination inside the Melbourne Water closed catchments until it collapsed in about 2000. Recent measurements between 2000 and 2002 of over 200 of Victoria's trees found

497-547: A long and proud history of innovation and of managing Victoria's State forests but in September 1983 lost its discrete identity when it was merged into the newly formed Victorian Department of Conservation, Forests and Lands (CFL) along with the Crown Lands and Survey Department, National Park Service, Soil Conservation Authority and Fisheries and Wildlife Service. After the amalgamation the management of State forests and

568-584: A new home. It leased space at Toolangi, but in 2007 moved to the Waterwheel Centre in Warburton. Some forest education programs continued until June 2012, when the department announced that forest education was no longer “core business”. By the beginning of 2013 one of Australia's oldest registered environmental charities, the Gould League , had also been trained to run existing programs at

639-472: A storm later in 1959. The tallest tree on the plot was reduced from 301.5 feet to about 276 feet after a large part of its crown was damaged. Another major storm on 21 December 1973 reduced it further to 267 feet. The Chairman of the Forests Commission, Alfred Vernon Galbraith studied mountain ash for his Diploma of Forestry (Vic) and wrote in 1937 that "they can make serious claims to be

710-474: A wide diversity of native forest, dominated by eucalyptus (often known as gum trees). These forests contain many diverse habitats and include those found in the cool, mountainous, high rainfall areas in the east of the state, and in the Otways and Strzelecki Ranges near the coast. These wet forests are dominated by stands of alpine ash , messmate , shining gum and mountain ash (the tallest hardwood tree in

781-557: A wide range of harvesting techniques such as clear-felling through to single tree selection. Much of the early silvicultural knowledge was unsuccessfully translated from Europe so in response to some difficulties achieving satisfactory regrowth after harvesting the Commission pioneered much of the early scientific research into the biology of the eucalypts and developed many innovative operational techniques for high intensity slash burning, aerial seeding, planting, thinning and tending. This commitment to silvicultural research continued throughout

SECTION 10

#1732779554814

852-408: Is influenced by species, genetics, age, stand density, soil type and depth, rainfall, aspect, altitude, protection from wind and snow damage, fire history and insect attack. Scientists believe that trees have a theoretical maximum height of 130 m (430 ft), even though there are many historical accounts of taller trees. The main physiological factor limiting tree height is its ability to suck

923-532: Is often considered the most reliable record of Victoria's tallest tree. The public remained fascinated by large trees and to celebrate the Melbourne Centennial Exhibition in 1888 offered a reward for the tallest tree. Parliamentarian and exhibition organiser, James Munro personally offered an additional £100 for anyone who could locate a tree taller than 400 feet. No such tree was ever found. The tallest tree reliably measured for

994-493: The Australian Natives Association (ANA) was formed and joined the campaign and were active on forest conservation for a prolonged period. The Field Naturalists Club of Victoria (FNCV) became involved in 1881. It is surprising and perhaps ironic that organised mining interests, including influential mining parliamentarians, were the early public advocates for forest protection, taking up the cause in

1065-613: The Geographical Society accompanied by renowned photographer John William Lindt who also was the owner of "The Hermitage" guesthouse on the Black's Spur . The tree was then "rediscovered" and renamed by Mr Harold Furmston, an employee of the Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works in the 1930s. It was remeasured once again by Mr A. D. Hardy in 1933 who proclaimed it to be still in good health, 62 feet in circumference at

1136-626: The Grampians. There were some concerns expressed about the TFDC location on the Healesville-Kinglake Road as being “off the beaten track”, and therefore generating limited passing traffic. However, the site had other big advantages of being within two hours of Melbourne schools and sited in an active “working forest” with a rich harvesting and sawmilling history. Toolangi also had proven credentials as being able to deliver education programs. The Toolangi Forest Discovery Centre

1207-695: The Great War including the famous hero at both Gallipoli and the Western Front – Albert Jacka , VC. Servicemen returning from the First World War renewed pressure on forest clearing with the expansion of various soldier settlement schemes. Between 1903 and 1928 the Crown estate was significantly reduced down to about one third of the State or 8.6 million hectares. Victoria is blessed with

1278-519: The Legislative Council which was dominated by pastoral and grazing interests and which had resisted land reform. Berry's election manifesto proposed a punitive land tax designed to break up the squatter class's great pastoral properties – about 800 men at this time owned most of Victoria's grazing lands. But separately, in a bold and visionary political move, the management of 157,000 hectares of Melbourne's forested water catchments of

1349-434: The 1860s. Their advocacy was based more on the profitability of their mining interests than forest conservation. The miners selfishly wanted well-regulated state forest reserves to ensure a plentiful future supply of mining timbers at reasonable prices. In 1871, local Forest Boards attempted to exercise some control, however the task of regulating wasteful clearing proved formidable and they were abolished in 1876. By 1873 it

1420-416: The 1918 Act are thought to have been derived from the earlier 1907 legislation and include: Significantly, the new legislation provided for the establishment of a Forestry Fund so the Commission could raise its own revenue from timber sales and enter into loans and therefore give it some capacity to implement its own policies and programs. Revenue from timber royalties and other sources grew five-fold within

1491-886: The Discovery Tree) under a three-year contract with the Northern Melbourne Institute of TAFE . At the conclusion of the TAFE arrangement, the forest education programs came back under the department's umbrella using up to 10–12 sessional teachers. During this period, the main TDFC building was sometimes open on weekends and public holidays, depending on available funding. In 2003, the Natural Resources Conservation League (NRCL) closed its nursery in Springvale and needed

SECTION 20

#1732779554814

1562-685: The Discovery Tree, which continue to this day. In about 2000 the proprietors of the Toolangi General Store approached the department to convert part of the main building into a coffee shop, the Crosscut Kiosk. The existing staff tearoom was extended and some of the displays were removed to make space for tables. However, the proposal did not ultimately succeed, and the Toolangi Tavern was built instead, next to

1633-598: The Federal Government and another $ 200k being contributed from the State. The ongoing operating costs for teaching staff and building maintenance were to be met by DCNR. The visionary TFDC project was led by DCNR forester Kevin Wareing as the Head of Forest Commerce Branch, while on-site construction was managed over two of Toolangi's notoriously wet and cold winters by forester John Cunningham. The exhibition design

1704-491: The Forest Environment and Recreation (FEAR) Branch under the stewardship of Athol Hodgson, and later Stuart Calder. This move was accompanied with the appointment of some specialist ranger and planning positions in the field. During the 1970s, local FCV district staff were encouraged to bring school groups into the bush and organise other ad hoc tours. Toolangi developed into an innovative forest education hub under

1775-477: The House in 1895, it was "so frank and outspoken that it has never been published". I am very unfavourably impressed with the state of the forests .... I am surprised that some effectual measures have not been taken to prevent further waste .... present arrangements are quite puerile and so ill-conceived that they can scarcely be discussed Later on 14 June 1888, the first Conservator of Forests, George Samuel Perrin

1846-476: The Imperial Forest Service. His report prompted yet another Royal Commission which commenced in 1897 and produced 14 separate reports before closing in 1901. "State forest conservancy and management are in an extraordinary backward state" .... Inspector-General Berthold Ribbentrop, Imperial Forest Service – 1896. Departmental restructuring and uncertainty is not new. Between 1856 and 1907

1917-682: The State Government's first "Overseer of Forests and Crown Land Bailiff " who was appointed in 1869. In a letter written in the Melbourne Age newspaper from Ferguson to the Assistant Commissioner of Crown Lands, Clement Hodgkinson , dated 22 February 1872 he reported trees in great number and exceptional size in the Watts River catchment but his account is often disputed as unreliable. "Some places, where

1988-613: The Upper Yarra were vested in the Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works (MMBW) in 1891 but with a controversial closed catchment policy where timber harvesting and public access was not permitted. Perhaps exemplifying the influence of Indian forestry throughout the British Empire , in 1895 the Commissioner of Crown Lands and Survey, Sir Robert Wallace Best , invited Inspector-General Berthold Ribbentrop , from

2059-492: The Water Supply Dept in 1889, it was found to be only 219 feet 9 inches. Its girth had also shrunk from 114 feet to 48 feet. Poor measurement techniques in thick scrub may partly explain the anomalies. In 1982, Ken Simpendorfer, a senior officer with the Forests Commission undertook a search of official Victorian archives. He unearthed a forgotten report from more than a century ago and a claim by William Ferguson,

2130-721: The Yarra Valley, Otways and Dandenong Ranges reaching "half a thousand feet". Doyle was later savagely criticised by Melbourne newspapers in 1889 about a tree he had named "The Baron" in homage to his friend von Mueller. The tree was growing at Sassafras Gully in the Dandenong Ranges and Doyle had initially measured it in 1879 at 522 feet tall. It was later remeasured for the Melbourne exhibition in 1888 where it had reduced in size to 466 feet. However, when properly measured by Commissioner Perrin and surveyor Mr Fuller from

2201-481: The complexities, controversies and contradictions of forest and bushfire management, endangered species conservation, timber harvesting and timber sustainability, ecotourism and forest ecosystems. The project also produced the video “Forests of Ash” in 1993. Meanwhile, several sites for a new education centre were considered including Barmah , Marysville , Macedon , Toolangi , the Dandenong Ranges and

Toolangi Forest Discovery Centre - Misplaced Pages Continue

2272-468: The conservation and aesthetic values of Victoria's large forest trees. As early as 1866 Baron Ferdinand Von Mueller , the Government botanist published some astonishing, and probably exaggerated claims of a mountain ash ( Eucalyptus regnans – monarch of the eucalypts) on the Black's Spur near Healesville being 480 feet high. There were reports from nurseryman David Boyle and others of trees in

2343-589: The curriculum at the Victorian School of Forestry. They received valued support from Governor-General Sir Ronald Munro-Ferguson during the war years over political interference in forest management, securing adequate funding, reducing waste, expanding softwood plantations and addressing growing international concern at impending timber shortages. The new Forest Act (1907) also recognised that effective management of forests required appropriately skilled staff, stipulating that no person could be appointed to

2414-403: The development of plantations, reforestation, nurseries, forestry education, the development of commercial timber harvesting and marketing of produce, building and maintaining forest roads, provision of recreation facilities, protection of water, soils and wildlife, forest research and making recommendations on the acquisition or alienation of land for forest purposes″. The Forests Commission had

2485-543: The early 1800s, around 88% of the 23.7 million hectare colony of what was to become the State of Victoria in 1851 was tree covered. However, the Victorian gold rush of the 1850s combined with widespread and indiscriminate land clearing for mining, agriculture and settlement became one of the major causes of forest loss and degradation. This caused alarm amongst early foresters and the wider community. Forest management in

2556-541: The education programs and it proved a huge success with between 10,000 and 12,000 students each year and many repeat visitors. A highlight in 1996 was the International Sculpture Festival and the establishment of a trail leading from the centre through the bush. But sudden departmental funding cuts at the end of 1998 caused the closure of the main TFDC building, although the education programs continued to operate from an adjacent tin shed (AKA

2627-693: The enthusiastic direction of Rod Incoll, the District Forester, with strong support from the Divisional Forester at Healesville, Ken Harrop. By the early 1980s, Rod Incoll had convinced the Forests Commission that a modern office and depot complex was needed at Toolangi. The new building included, in-part, the FCV's first purpose-built community education centre. After the election of the Cain Labor Government in 1982, and

2698-833: The exhibition was the "New Turkey Tree" reported to be near Mt Baw Baw (but probably closer to Noojee on the New Turkey Spur which is not far from the Ada Tree) at 326 feet 1 inch with a girth of 25 feet and 7 inches. Around the turn of the century, Nicholas John Caire named and photographed many on Victoria's remaining giant trees including King Edward VII at Marysville. Some of his photos were displayed in Victorian Railways carriages and made into postcards. However, by this time most of largest and straightest trees had already been removed by timber splitters . A more authoritative list "Giant Trees of Victoria"

2769-455: The first five years. The Commission was also authorised to recruit, employ and manage its own staff. Prior to the 1918 legislation, forest areas were reserved by the Minister of Lands and Agriculture who was also responsible for alienating Crown Land for farming and towns. There were obvious conflicts in administering these competing responsibilities. As a result, permanent forest reservation

2840-621: The forestry profession continued but the tempo of change accelerated, with many more departmental restructures occurring over the subsequent three decades. Responsibilities are currently split between the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP) , Parks Victoria , Melbourne Water , Alpine Resorts Commission, the State Government-owned commercial entity VicForests and the privately owned Hancock Victorian Plantations (HVP). Before European settlement in

2911-514: The forests is being used to find remaining stands of tall trees. The tallest regrowth mountain ash in Victoria is currently named Artemis which can be found near Beenak at 302 feet (92 m) while the Ada Tree at 236 feet (72 m) is thought to be between 350 and 450 years old, but with a senescent crown and is a popular tourist destination in State forest east of Powelltown . Australia's

Toolangi Forest Discovery Centre - Misplaced Pages Continue

2982-461: The general public. Forests Commission Victoria The Forests Commission Victoria ( FCV ) was the main government authority responsible for management and protection of State forests in Victoria , Australia between 1918 and 1983. The Commission was responsible for ″forest policy, prevention and suppression of bushfires, issuing leases and licences, planting and thinning of forests,

3053-441: The iconic wooden building had been neglected, and the structure slowly deteriorated, while the costs of repair and restoration to modern building and fire protection standards began to climb into the millions. Sadly, by August 2018 the Toolangi Forest Discovery Centre once again fell silent. A second Committee of Management was appointed and in 2021 began a planning scheme amendment process with Murrindindi Shire , as well as writing

3124-572: The internet. Currently the world's tallest living tree is a Sequoia sempervirens , named the Hyperion , discovered in California in 2006. It is believed to be between 700 and 800 years old and was measured at 380.3 feet. Silviculture is defined as the art and science of controlling the establishment, health, growth, quality, protection and use of forests. It can involve a range of treatments such as planting, seeding, thinning, together with

3195-475: The late 1800s was chaotic. As early as 1865, the Argus Newspaper took up the cause of ‘protecting our forests’ arguing the substantial benefits of timber production, avoiding the wasting of soil, conserving natural streams, avoiding adverse climate impacts and beneficially distributing storm runoff. Later on 16 September 1869, the first "Overseer of Forests and Crown Land Bailiff ", William Ferguson

3266-476: The native forest which had suffered from indiscriminate cutting. However, frustrated at the lack of progress in forestry and broader forest conservation, several foresters and scientists formed the Australian Forest League (AFL) in 1912 which stayed active for the next 34 years. The inaugural President was notable botanist, Professor Alfred James Ewart from Melbourne University, who oversaw

3337-560: The purposes of agricultural settlement. For nearly 50 years there had been Government inquiries, three independent reports from D'A. Vincent (1887), Perrin (1890), Ribbentrop (1895), the Royal Commission (1897–1901) together with impassioned speeches and separate pieces of legislation calling for the conservation of the states forests which had all been brought unsuccessfully before the Victorian Parliament. It

3408-498: The release of the ground breaking Timber Industry Strategy (TIS) later in 1986, the idea of a dedicated forest education centre began to take hold. In 1990, an education project to produce school curriculum materials was formalised. The group had strong representation from the Victorian Education Department and school teachers. The materials were deliberately designed to challenge students to think about

3479-492: The responsibility for administration of Victoria's forest estate shunted back and forth at least eleven times between three Government Departments including Lands and Survey, Agriculture and Mines. In 1900 State forests were still commonly regarded by the general public, and by most of their parliamentary representatives, as the inexhaustible "wastelands of the Crown" and ready for disposal via alienation into freehold property for

3550-539: The results of forest management under the great European foresters Brandis , Schlich and Ribbentrop , the Government invited Conservator Frederick D'A. Vincent from the Imperial Forest Service in India to visit in 1887 and make recommendations. But to seek advice was one thing; to take it was another, and while Vincent's scathing report was available to subsequent inquiries and was eventually tabled in

3621-528: The school became the first of its kind in Australia. In December 1918, a comprehensive amendment to the Forests Act created the Forests Commission Victoria (FCV) with three Commissioners to lead a new independent organisation. The new Commission first met on 1 October 1919 and the chairman was a young Welsh Forester, Owen Jones while the first Minister was William Hutchinson . The key principals of

SECTION 50

#1732779554814

3692-650: The significance of forests for public purposes but the budget allocation was a paltry £4000. La Gerche established a nursery at Sawpit Gully in 1887 near what is now the Victorian School of Forestry at Creswick. He went onto become one of the founding Inspectors in the new State Forest Department in 1907. At the urging of the Governor of Victoria , Lord Henry Brougham Loch , who had served in Bengal cavalry and maintained an interest in forests, and had seen there

3763-543: The site of the general store. There had been grave fears for the wooden building during the 2009 Black Saturday bushfires when part of the adjoining departmental offices and State forest were destroyed. Between 2015 and 2018 there was an unsuccessful effort by a community group to establish a Committee of Management under the Crown Lands (Reserves) Act 1978 and revive the main TFDC as a tourist information centre, gallery and Ecology Café. But critical maintenance of

3834-461: The status-quo and introducing restrictive forest legislation. Matters had come to a head previously on Black Wednesday (9 January 1878) when the State Government sacked over 300 senior public servants and judges suddenly overnight without warning. The sackings were in part directed at the desire of the Premier, Graham Berry , to penalise those in the public service who backed the intransigence of

3905-517: The tallest measured living specimen of mountain ash, named Centurion , stands 100.5 metres (330 feet) tall in Tasmania . Whether a mountain ash over 400 feet high ever existed in Victoria is now almost impossible to substantiate but the early accounts from the 1860s are still quoted in contemporary texts such as the Guinness Book of Records and Carder, as well as being widely restated on

3976-422: The tallest specimen of mountain ash was inside Melbourne Water's Wallaby Creek Catchment at Kinglake being over 300 years old and 301 feet (92 m) high. The height was accurately determined using a ground-based laser rangefinder and then verified by a tree climber with a tapeline, however it later perished along with 15 other tall trees during the 2009 Black Saturday bushfires . Modern Lidar imagery of

4047-497: The tape line one huge specimen that lay prostrate across a tributary of the Watts and found it to be 435 feet from the roots to the top of its trunk. At 5 feet from the ground it measures 18 feet in diameter. At the extreme end where it has broken in its fall, it (the trunk) is 3 feet in diameter. This tree has been much burnt by fire, and I fully believe that before it fell it must have been more than 500 feet high. As it now lies it forms

4118-426: The trees are fewer and at a lower altitude, the timber is much larger in diameter, averaging from 6 to 10 feet and frequently trees to 15 feet in diameter are met with on alluvial flats near the river. These trees average about ten per acre: their size, sometimes, is enormous. Many of the trees that have fallen by decay and by bush fires measure 350 feet in length, with girth in proportion. In one instance I measured with

4189-487: The world's highest tree". His successor, Finton Gerraty personally measured a fallen tree near Noojee after the 1939 bushfires at 338 feet and with "its top tantalisingly broken off". The Mueller Tree grew on Mount Monda north of Healesville , measured 307 feet, and was made famous after a visit in 1895 by a party including Baron Von Muller , Mr A. D. Hardy, from the State Forests and Nurseries Branch, members of

4260-400: The world). They remain the major source of high-quality seasoning timber for furniture, flooring, joinery and pulpwood. The dryer foothill forests contain mixtures of messmate and other commercial species, whereas the Murray River has extensive stands of durable red gum along its banks. Large tracts of mallee desert and box- ironbark woodlands are found in the drier northwest. Tree height

4331-506: The years to come. Nonetheless, the challenges facing the new organisation were formidable, including protecting ecosystems about which little was scientifically understood, and responsibility for vast areas of rugged, remote country about which little was known. The next ten years saw a steady expansion in staff numbers, promulgation of controlling regulations, increased production from the forest, thinning and fire protection works such as fire break construction, together with rehabilitation of

SECTION 60

#1732779554814

4402-599: Was Hugh Robert Mackay who had been both a Senior Inspector and Secretary to the Royal Commission of 1897–1901 while the first Minister was Donald McLeod and the first Secretary was William Dickson, who was also Secretary for Mines. The creation of the State Forest Department represented the most significant institutional development in Victoria's history of forest management to that point. The fledgling department had 66 staff on 31 December 1900 including, 1 Conservator, 1 Chief Inspector, 1 Inspector, 23 Foresters and 40 Forest Foremen but foreshadowed that it expected to increase over

4473-455: Was also acquainted with the Government botanist Ferdinand Von Mueller who named, Eucalyptus perriniana after him. Meanwhile, the gold rush was petering out and Melbourne's land boom of the 1880s was inevitably followed by a financial crash in 1891 , which combined with the Federation Drought from 1895 to 1902, depressed economic conditions for a decade or more. Not surprisingly, the Colonial Government had little appetite for changing

4544-448: Was appointed. He had previous experience in South Australia and Tasmania and despite having little power or authority, was able to appoint a number of foresters over the next 12 years. He produced a report containing a number illustrations to Parliament on 30 June 1890. This visionary report clearly identified the issues and set out reforms to ensure Victoria would have a healthy, diverse and extensive forest estate 130 years later. Perrin

4615-426: Was appointed. The second progress report of a Royal Commission on Foreign Industries and Forests in 1872, included a recommendation for the establishment of a State nursery near Macedon railway station "with the object of raising useful timber trees for distribution to selectors, and for the planting of reserves denuded of indigenous timber". Ferguson then established the first State Nursery at Macedon in 1872. By 1871

4686-433: Was by Rosemary Simons with many others in support. Once it became operational the responsibility shifted to Forest Management Branch in Melbourne, headed by David Holmes. A Forest Environment team, led by Mike Leonard, worked closely with the staff at Toolangi and North East Region of DCNR to implement the education programs. In the early years of the operations of the TFDC, qualified sessional teachers were recruited to run

4757-400: Was designed by Victorian Government architect Peter Pass to match its surroundings using many local timbers. It was deliberately nestled into the messmate bush near the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) offices and the cathedral-like building has a roof shape resembling overlapping gum leaves lying gently on the forest floor. The building was funded with a $ 1.5m grant from

4828-419: Was estimated that were some 1150 steam engines in the gold mining industry, devouring over one million tons of firewood. In October 1882, the pioneering forester John la Gerche was appointed as one of sixteen Crown Lands Bailiffs and Foresters within the Agriculture Branch of the Department of Lands. Their appointment held out a promise to end the forest destruction under the 1884 Land Act which recognised

4899-454: Was later compiled by Mr A. D. Hardy from the State Forest Department in 1911 identifying numerous trees over 300 feet at Fernshaw and Narbethong with similar heights recorded in the Otways and Baw Baw Ranges. In 1929, the Forests Commission set aside a "sample acre" within the Cumberland Scenic Reserve near Marysville . The site only narrowly escaped the 1939 Black Friday bushfires but unfortunately 13 of its big trees were destroyed during

4970-483: Was not until the former British colonies combined in 1901 to become the states of a Federal Australia that a Victorian Forest Bill was finally passed. Despite spirited opposition by agricultural and grazing interests the Forest Act (1907) No. 2095 finally constituted the State Forest Department (SFD) which came into effect on 1 January 1908, formally setting aside timber reserves and providing for rehabilitation after mining and logging. The first Conservator of Forests

5041-469: Was slow and limited for the period of Victoria's first seven decades. Reservations had been made in 1862, 1873, 1898 and 1903 and the Conservator of Forests, George Perrin, reported the total forested area in 1888 was 4.8 million ha most of which was inaccessible. Only a small proportion was permanently reserved, and some was in Melbourne water supply catchments closed to harvesting and visitors. Twenty Forests Commission employees are known to have enlisted in

#813186