AFHS Newsletter No. 82 April 2021
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Australian Forest History Society Newsletter No. 82 April 2021 "... to advance historical understanding of human interactions with Australian forest and woodland environments." Lake Corangamite looking south-west from the top of Red Rock near Alvie Unattributed painting, State Library of Victoria image H11609. Painted about a decade after "Brighton Bill" and "Jack the Gooser" were operating their timber barge on the lake. The dark line of forest on the distant left is the location of the Stony Rises, the source of the fence posts to be transported. See "Lake Corangamite Timber Barge" (p4) Newsletter Editor: Peter Evans [email protected] Series Editor: Fintán Ó Laighin [email protected] AFHS Address: PO Box 5128, KINGSTON ACT 2604 Web: www.foresthistory.org.au Twitter: https://twitter.com/AustralianFHS ISSN 1033-937 X Australian Forest History Society Inc. Newsletter No. 82, April 2021 2 MEMBERSHIP IN THIS ISSUE Membership of the Australian Forest History Society Series Editor's Note ....................................................... 2 (AFHS) Inc is A$25 a year for Australian and New A Word from the President ......................................... 3 Zealand addressees or A$15 a year for students. For Robert Onfray's Monthly Blogs – Surrey Hills, other overseas addressees, it is A$30. Forestry and Travel .................................................... 3 These prices do not include GST as the AFHS is not Lake Corangamite Timber Barge ................................ 4 registered for paying or claiming GST. Membership Tropical Logs by Train – How the Puffers Pulled the expires on 30 June each year. Pines .............................................................................. 5 Payment can be made by cheque or money order, or A Ship Called Eucalyptus ................................................ 6 through Electronic Funds Transfer. Questions of Stag ........................................................... 7 Cheques or money orders should be made payable to The Politics of Plantation Establishment in the the AFHS and sent to: Cotter Catchment ....................................................... 8 Australian Forest History Society Inc. More Tall Stories of Tall Trees .................................. 12 PO Box 5128 Phil Hadlington, OAM, 1924-2021 .......................... 14 KINGSTON ACT 2604 Norm Houghton, OAM ............................................. 14 Electronic Funds Transfer can be paid into: On Air ............................................................................ 14 Commonwealth Savings Bank Richmond Park National Nature Reserve ............... 15 BSB 062 911 New Books and Publications ..................................... 15 Account No: 1010 1753 Please also return this form if you pay by EFT or send an SERIES EDITOR'S NOTE e-mail to the Treasurer advising that you have joined/renewed – By Fintán Ó Laighin [email protected]. Thank you very much to Peter Evans for compiling this issue of the newsletter. I always enjoy his contributions, both as an editor and as a writer, not just for the Name: Australian Forest History Society, but also for the Light Address: Rail Research Association of Australia. His own website is at www.peterevans.com.au. This issue has an introductory article from our new president, Juliana Lazzari, who was elected at our AGM in November last year. She is the fifth person to take the reins, after John Dargavel (1988-2004), Brett Stubbs Tel: (2004-2011), Gregory Barton (2011-2014) and Sue Feary (2014-2019). The position was vacant in 2019-2020. Fax: In her article, Juliana notes that the society is looking for E-mail someone to take over as our website manager – please contact her if this sounds like you. Juliana also invites Please mark the box if you would like a receipt members to volunteer to edit an issue or two. I'd also – otherwise an acknowledgment will be sent by extend that to inviting people to contribute articles. The e-mail. society is quite broad in what constitutes "forest history" but try as we might, the newsletters tend to be a bit narrower in focus as they reflect the interests of the editors and the contributors. If there's an aspect of forest history that you think isn't being adequately represented in the newsletter – and I'm sure that there must be – now's your chance! The last newsletter included a call for contributions to a planned "Islands" issue that will be published later this NEXT ISSUE year, probably as a special issue. That call elicited a few contributions, so it's falling into place, with an article on The newsletter is published three times a year and Kangaroo Island (SA) provided and a pointers to one or the next issue should be out in August 2021. two others, such as the Tiwi Islands (NT). I also came Input is always welcome. across something on the pigeon post service that operated from Great Barrier Island (NZ) from 1898 to Contributions can be sent to 1908. Special "pigeon-gram" stamps were issued for the [email protected]. service. There might not be much forest history on Great Barrier Island, but I thought it was interesting. Australian Forest History Society Inc. Newsletter No. 82, April 2021 3 A WORD FROM THE PRESIDENT Looking forward to the rest of the year, I encourage By Juliana Lazzari members to keep sending through items for our I am delighted at taking on the role of newsletter. No story or contribution is too small! I'd also president of the AFHS and thank Sue encourage members to put their hand up to be a guest Feary who filled the role for several editor for one or two issues. It isn't an onerous task and years. I have been involved with the allows the editor the opportunity to provide their AFHS since 2000, the year I attended individual flair and stamp to the issue. Editors will the Perfumed Pineries conference in continue to be ably assisted by Fintán Ó Laighin as Coonabarabran and have had minor "series editor" to compile and copy-edit the newsletter. roles on the committee and served as I also would like to thank Jan Oosthoek who will be public officer over the years. handing over the reins as our website manager. Jan has During this time, I have often been reminded what a managed our website for several years uploading our well-informed and passionate group of people are our newsletters and other items, and managing our Twitter members. The dedication to the topics that fall under the site. Before retiring from these roles, Jan has committed broad umbrella of forest history is reflected in our to redeveloping the website over the next couple of newsletters and our conferences and associated activities months (by June/July), including finding out the cost of and, most notably, the range of backgrounds, interests updating the AFHS hosting plan. The aim is to have the and expertise. In spite of the unfortunate "brakes" placed site based on a content management system such as on many of our activities due to COVID19, in particular Wordpress which will make it easier to manage, maintain our proposed return to Coonabarabran for a and update – coding experience won't be necessary to 20th anniversary Perfumed Pineries conference in 2020, use Wordpress or a similar platform. I am looking for a the benefits of remaining connected has meant that our member to take over Jan's role and for a second person newsletter has been able to continue unabated, and to be their buddy so that the role is shared. Please indeed with renewed vigour. A positive outcome from contact me if you are interested – the enforced "slow-down". [email protected], and if you have a view and While I am neither a forester nor a historian, in the early experience of other platforms besides Wordpress that 1980s I did spend a few influential weeks on work you think we should consider, let me know. experience at CSIRO Forestry in Yarralumla with Martin Benson who had a large-scale experiment at the Pierces ROBERT ONFRAY'S MONTHLY BLOGS – Creek pines near Canberra, measuring the respiration rate SURREY HILLS, FORESTRY AND TRAVEL of radiata in response to different soil inputs. This was By Fintán Ó Laighin during my matriculation year at Narrabundah College in Robert Onfray is well-known to society members, having Canberra. presented papers at a number of our conferences, been a My own PhD research was on fire ecology in mallee frequent contributor to the newsletter, and served on our landscapes in the northern Eyre Peninsula of committee. More recently, he has become a published South Australia. In particular, reptile and small mammal author with last year's release of his book, Fires, Farms and responses to fire interactions with fragmented Forests. A human history of Surrey Hills, north-west Tasmania. landscapes, in and near Pinkawillinie Conservation Park. A review of the book is included in the newsletter of While my thesis had an ecological focus, it included the December 2020 (pp17-18). investigation of fire history. The importance of fire or On his website – www.robertonfray.com – Robert disturbance history in forests to enable our describes himself as a "Retired professional forester and understanding of species responses to different times experienced land manager" and that he "write(s) blogs on since fire means we are then able to use fire as a tool to three different topics each month – stories about Surrey manage those landscapes accordingly. Further research Hills, Travelling around Australia, and about (his) was coupled with developing a method to predict time forestry career". The blogs commenced in August 2020 since fire where there is no forest fire history recorded, and are published monthly. such as in many small isolated remnants. The direct links to the blogs are: I also have a personal association with forest history www.robertonfray.com/category/surrey-hills, through my father, Orlando Lazzari. Although my www.robertonfray.com/category/forestry and recollection is rather fuzzy, I remember him recounting www.robertonfray.com/category/travel stories about working in the forests at Pierces Creek in the 1950s/1960s.