usffanainrolrest History Australia's Ever-changing Forests V Proceedings of the Fifth National Conference on Australian Forest History Australian Forest History Series Piibiisned oy Department or Geograpny and Oceanograpny, Australian Derence Force Acaaemy: Australia's ever-changing forests: Proceedings of the First National Conference on Australian Forest History Edited by Kevin J. Frawley and Noel M. Sample, 1988 PuDusnea oy Centre for Resource ana Environmental Studies, Tne Australian National University: Australia's ever-changing forests II: Proceedings of the Second National Conference on Australian Forest History Edited by John Dargavel and Sue Feary, 1993 Australia's ever-changing forests III: Proceedings of the Third National Conference on Australian Forest History Edited by John Dargavel, 1997 Australia's ever-changing forests IV: Proceedings of the Fourth National Conference on Australian Forest History Edited by John Dargavel and Brenda Libbis, 1999 Perfumed pineries: Environmental history of Australia's Callitris forests Edited by John Dargavel, Diane Hart and Brenda Libbis, 2001 Australia's ever-changing forests Y: Proceedings of the Fifth National Conference on Australian Forest History Edited by John Dargavel, Denise Gaughwin and Brenda Libbis, 2002 i 4, J Australia's Ever-changing Forests V Proceedings of tne Fifth National Conference on Australian Forest History Edited by John Dargavel, Denise Gaughwin and Brenda Libbis Published by Centre for Resource and Environmental Studies, The Australian National University in association with the Australian Forest History Society Inc. The publishing program of the Centre for Resource and Environmental Studies is designed to present the results of the Centre's research and the proceedings of conferences and workshops. Views expressed in CRES publications are the views of the authors and are not necessarily those of the Centre or any associated institution. Director: Prof RJ. Wasson Executive Officer: Valda Semets Publications: McComas Taylor © in diis collection, CRES 2002 © in the papers, the authors 2002 ISBN 086740 530 9 This book is copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of study, research, criticism or review as permitted under the Copyright Act, no part may be reproduced by any process without permission. Enquiries should be made to the publisher. All CRES publications are available from: Publicadons Section Centre for Resource and Environmental Smdies Australian National University (Building 48) Canberra ACT 0200 Tel. 02 6125 4277 Fax 02 6125 0757 Email: publications(a),cres.anu.edu.au URL: cres.anu.edu.au Design: Fiona Edge, DesignEdge, Dickson, ACT, from images of: • Tree ferns in the Huon forest, photograph by Montgomerie; • Bullock team and piles in southern Tasmania, Beattie collection (30/4821), by permission of State Archives of Tasmania. • Cootamundra watde, from A J. Campbell Golden wattle, our national floral emblem, Melbourne: Osboldstone, 1921, courtesy of Ian Campbell; • Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker, [188?] from Portraits of Great Botanists, Rex Nan Kivell Collection (NK7438), by permission of the National Library of Australia- and • Philip MacMahon, photograph (neg. 94328) by permission John Oxley Library Brisbane. Printed by Instant Colour Press, Belconnen, ACT Contents List of authors vii Preface ix Tnemes in lorest nigtory 1 Chinese poems on forests and trees 3 Mark Elvin 2 lUFRO forest history research: stages and trends 15 Elisabeth fohann 3 Themes in European woodland history 28 fan Oosthoek 4 Sources and silences in Australian forest history 39 fohn Dargavel 5 Localism in Victorian forest conservation before 1900 49 Stephen M. Eegg Forest science 6 Joseph Dalton Hooker and Tasmanian flora 73 Sybilfack 7 Wollemi pine: tree find of the 20th century 85 f.C.G. Banks 8 Micro-structure of Araucariaceae 90 Roger Heady I asmania 9 Government sawing establishments in Van Diemen's 105 Land, 1817-1832 PeterMacFie 10 Watde bark in Van Diemen's Land, 1803-1830 132 Kaye McPherson II Life in a lost Tasmanian rainforest, winter 1827 146 Brian Rollins 12 Save the Forests: forest reform in Tasmania, 1912-1920 163 Stefan Petrous 13 A land reborn: 'Lorinna over the bridge' 184 Robert Onfray CONTENTS 14 Old forests and Tasmania's early national parks movement ^J' Debbie Quarmhy 15 Conservation, timber and perceived values at Mt Field, 20>> Tasmania Kevin Ydeman 16 Hard work to starve: a Tasmanian play 2^° fohn Dargavel Otner States ana Territories 17 Historical records of tree density in the 'Big Scrub' 253 Brett f. Stubbs and Alison Specht 18 Long Creek: from lo^ng to World Heritage 274 fane Eennon 19 Ecological changes to forests 289 in the Eden region of New South Wales Daniel Lunney and Alison Matthem 20 Forest communities: real or imagined? 311 Peter Davies 21 Days of nature in Australia 324 Ubby Robin 22 Early Queensland forestry: George Board 342 and Philip MacMahon Peter Hol^orth 23 Kim Kessell: a first class sensible bloke 357 Jenny Mills 24 Saying goodbye to heritage trees 366 Robert W. Boden 25 Wombat Forest Society: tactics, talk, audits and action 375 Anitra Nelson Beyona Australia 26 Thinking about New Zealand's forests, 1900-1914 399 Paul Star 27 Allied logging and milling in Papua New Guinea during 410 Worid War II Judith A. Bennett 28 A short history of fire management in the USA 432 Datnd Ryan Autk ors J.C.G. Banks School of Resources, Environment and Society, Australian National University Judith A. Bennett Department of History, University of Otago, New Zealand Robert W. Boden Heritage Consultant, Swinger Hill, ACT John Dargavel Centre for Resource and Environmental Studies, and School of Resources, Environment and Society, Australian National University Peter Davies Archeology Program, La Trobe University Mark Elvin Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, Australian National University Denise Gaughwin Forest Practices Board, Tasmania Roger Heady Electron Microscopy Unit, Australian National University Peter H0I2worth Ferny Hills, Queensland Sybil Jack Department of History, University of Sydney Elisabeth Johann St Margareten, Austria Kevin Kieman Forest Practices Board, Tasmania. Stephen M. Legg School of Geography and Environmental Science, Monash University Jane Lennon Heritage Consultant, Hamilton, Queensland Brenda Libbis Mt Waverley, Victoria Daniel Lunney NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service Alison Matthews NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service viii AUTHORS Peter MacFie Public Historian, Dulcot, Tasmania Kaye MacPherson Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, University of Tasmania Jenny Mills Darlington, Western Australia Anitra Nelson Social Science and Planning, RMIT University Robert Onfray Gunns Ltd, Ridgley, Tasmania Jan Oosthoek Department of History, University of Stirling, Scotiand (now Georg-August Universitaet, Germany) Stefan Petrow School of History and Classics, University of Tasmania Debbie Quarmhy History Programme, School of Sociel Inquiry, Murdoch University Libby Robin Centre for Resource and Environmental Studies, Australian National University Brian Rollins Consulting Surveyor, Bumie, Tasmania David Ryan Forestry Consultant, Boambee, NSW Paul Star Department of History, University of Otago, New Zealand Alison Specht School of Environmental Science and Management, Southern Cross University Brett J. Stubbs School of Environmental Science and Management, Southern Cross University Prereracf e This is the fifth volume in a series that records Australian forest history across time, place, topic and approach. The series was started in 1988 at a time when the public's interest in the forests was quickening but could turn to only a few books for deeper understanding. Most notable were Eric Rolls' 1981 history of the Pilliga forests of New South Wales, A million wild acres, and Les Carron's 1985 A history of forestry in Australia. Beyond these were journal articles, local histories, a few theses, several portrayals of timber tramways and an increasing number of studies in the 'grey' literature of government agencies. The Australian Forest History Society was formed to enable people to share their research and knowledge in national conferences and publish a series of proceedings. Australian forest history embraces all the interactions between people and forests or woodlands. Aboriginal use and management, biographies, envi­ ronmental change, fire, forestry, heritage studies, historiography, industry, land use, politics/policy, science, social history, social values and transport history are all topics which forest historians have addressed. This diversity reflects that of the forests and their historical patterning, and the varied approaches and experience that the authors bring. The fifth national conference of the Society was held in February 2002 in Tasmania. Although much of the landscape has been transformed by human action over the last two centuries, Tasmania remains proportionately Australia's most forested State. It has a rich forest history: its Aboriginal heritage is poignant and continuing; extensive areas have been placed in conservation reserves and its wood-using industries have flourished. Eight of the papers in this volume record aspects of this and twelve deal with forests in other parts of Australia. Forest historians here are also alert to the work of those elsewhere and themes in forest history internationally include papers on New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and the United States. A long perspective in forest history starts this volume with a set of Chinese poems,