The evergreen yearsThe evolution of forestry in Queensland ranges from the overexploitation of an apparently limitless resource during the early years of settlement, through the first hesitant steps of forest conservancy and improved forest management, to the steady consolidation of the modern era with its explosion in technology, rapid strides in research and development and greater concern for ecological and environmental issues. Milestones in Queensland's forest historyEarly Settlement (1823 to 1860)
In 1823, Surveyor-General John Oxley sailed into the Brisbane River and saw "timber…of great abundance". In 1842, after 17 years as a penal depot, free settlers began to colonise areas to the north and west of Brisbane. Much timber was needed in the colony for housing, boat-building, fencing, and other development. William Pettigrew contributed to the production of sawn timber by opening the first sawmill in Brisbane in 1852. Forests were heavily logged for pine, cedar and other hardwoods. Forest Conservancy Awakens (1860 to 1900)Slowly the effects of severe utilisation of many forests began to be seen as unplanned and indiscriminate and concerns were raised. The Government proclaimed its first timber regulations in 1860, which were amended in 1862 with the accompanying threat of seizure of logs if timber-getters were found not to be complying with the regulations. The first timber reserves were gazetted in 1870. Within the Department of Public Lands, a senior officer had become an advocate of forest conservancy. Archibald McDowall, District Surveyor at Maryborough and later to become Surveyor-General of Queensland, showed great vision on many forestry issues. His views on silviculture and conservancy were much ahead of the times and, to an extent, he foreshadowed later forest management practices and the drive for forested land reservation early in the next century. The slow but steady push for protection of forests from overcutting and wastage continued during the closing stages of the 19th century. In 1890, the Government called for reports on forestry matters from a group of four Commissioners, who recommended a plan of forest management emphasising three aspects of forestry:
In 1900, a Forestry Branch was created in the Department of Public Lands and an Inspector of Forests, Leonard G. Board, was appointed, along with two forest rangers in supporting field roles Forestry's First Steps (1900 to 1920)At the time of Board's appointment, the area of forest reservation in Queensland was about a million and a half acres. Within two years, this had doubled and, by the end of 1904, the figure had risen to well over three and a half million acres. The extent of the forest estate was rapidly increasing but rampant exploitation of Queensland's forests for timber continued. A further positive move in the first decade of this century was the enactment of the State Forests and National Parks Act of 1906. Effective from 1907, Crown lands for the first time could be reserved as State Forest or National Park by the Governor-in-Council. In 1902, in north Queensland, natural regeneration of red cedar was noticed in gaps in the rainforest and attempts were made to re-establish this valuable and rapidly diminishing cabinetwood. The first National Parks were declared in 1908 - at Bunya Mountains and Tamborine Mountain. In 1911, under the new Director of Forests N. S. Jolly, the need for a “determination of annual cut permissable" was boldly proclaimed. This was formalised in 1926 when the Forestry Branch regulated the amount of timber that could be cut by the industry in State Forests and Timber Reserves. During the tenure of Jolly, from 1911 to 1918, forestry began to take on a professional image for the first time. The seeds of a new "Forestry" were being sown - forest inventory surveys, yield calculation, silvicultural research trials, timber technology and rudimentary fire protection. The exploitation of the forests of Queensland had diminished the "great abundance" of Oxley's day, but the forest management changes about to be made by the new forestry men, the modern foresters and rangers, were about to redress the imbalance. The Developing Years (1920 to 1945)Native Forest Silviculture: The 1920s saw some standardisation of silvicultural techniques and the expansion of activities in places such as Fraser Island, Atherton, Dalby, Benarkin, Goodnight Scrub and coastal areas from Brisbane to Gympie. By 1935, some 140 000 acres of mostly eucalypt and cypress pine forests had been treated silviculturally, which increased to more than 224 000 acres within two years. In 1928, the Rural Fires Act came into being and a Rural Fires Board was appointed. This legislation was designed to make landholders more responsible in the use of fire. Rules covering the prudent logging of hardwood forests were introduced in 1937 and allowed for the removal of marginal trees, which would otherwise have been left behind in the forest to interfere with and suppress the growth of younger stems. By the end of the 1930s, large scale native forest silvicultural operations were under way in at least 12 areas in south-east Queensland. Rules were now adopted based on research and experience gained. Little was to change in the basic concept of "assisted natural regeneration" and its application from 1940 to more recent times. Regulated Fire Control: Controls were introduced to prevent the deliberate burning of newly gazetted State Forests and Timber Reserves during the 1925 to 1940 period. Construction of firebreaks to control wildfires began in the 1930s. Acknowledgement that uncontrolled fires could prevent regeneration of forests led to attempts to prohibit the deliberate lighting of fires on commercial forest land under the control of the Queensland Forest Service from 1940 to 1958. Industry and Employment: In 1927, the State had 257 sawmills in operation of which a small number were Government-owned. The plywood industry began during the First World War. By 1926, there were eight plywood plants in the State, using six million super feet of timber, mostly hoop pine. The Sawmill Licensing Act was passed in 1936 regulating the sawmilling industry when there were 600 sawmills registered in the State. During the Depression of the early 1930s, various relief programs were provided to save people from the dole. During World War II, massive quantities of timber were cut for the war effort and the industry was declared a "protected" trade organisation. Hoop Pine Plantations: The beginning of the native conifer planting program in the 1920s was a logical response to Queensland's rapidly diminishing softwood resource. The early plantations were of native species such as hoop pine, which required very fertile sites and which also were in demand for agriculture and settlement. Encouraged by the successful results of several years of silvicultural experiments, the Queensland Forest Service in 1920-21 launched the first of its commercial plantations. During that season, more than 60 000 nursery-raised seedlings, mostly hoop and bunya pine, were planted on 113 acres in three areas of the State - the Mary Valley, Atherton and Fraser Island. By 1929, it was apparent that the Mary Valley and areas around Yarraman were destined to become the principal centres for growing these conifers. By 1930, 12 forest stations had plantation programs in operation and Queensland had a total of 4400 acres of plantation softwood resource. By the end of the 1930s nearly 20 000 acres of softwood had been planted with stock raised at 19 nurseries. Native conifers now accounted for about 80 per cent of the annual softwood program and hoop pine was by far the biggest component.
Tins of tubed hoop pine seedlings ready for transporting to Queensland's first major native conifer plantations
Log punting at McKenzie's jetty on Fraser Island in 1929. Fraser Island was the site of early exotic pine plantations in Queensland
A steam tractor hauls sawn hoop pine from a Benarkin sawmill, c. 1923 Exotic Pine Plantations: The hoop pine plantation program began 10 years before the exotic program and it was logical to use similar nursery and field establishment techniques for the exotics. But while high-shade hoop pine nurseries and the use of tubed stock for planting were suitable for that species, new procedures were needed for the exotics. Early plantings of exotic pines (mainly Pinus species) at Fraser Island, Atherton and Imbil prior to the 1920s were established to trial the suitability of various species and compare them with native conifers in terms of adaptability, survival and growth rates. The trials once again were part of the continuing effort to find appropriate timber species that could be grown to offset dwindling natural supplies as a result of clearing, ringbarking and overcutting of forests for settlement and agriculture. In 1923, the coastal lowlands between Brisbane and Bundaberg came under consideration. This "wallum" country, as it was called, was largely infertile and not especially productive for agriculture, but it had the advantage of being close to major timber markets. Directors Jolly and Swain played pivotal roles in the development of the modern forestry program. Swain's use of matching species around the world, using similar climatic patterns, was very successful in identifying slash (Pinus elliottii) and loblolly (Pinus taeda) pines as being suitable for Queensland. Caribbean pine (Pinus caribaea) would show great promise in trials in the mid-1970s and eventual success later in areas north of Beerburrum. Important research work on thinning, spacing and pruning of the now well-established plantations was carried out in the 1934 to 1936 period especially. Modern Progress (1945 to the Present)Industry: After World War II, chainsaws became the main implement of tree felling and productivity in the bush skyrocketed. The early chainsaws, although cumbersome and somewhat dangerous, heralded a motorised revolution in timber cutting, but axes, crosscut and chainsaws were a far cry from the computerised, air-conditioned feller-bunchers of today. By the mid-1930s, caterpillar tractors were displacing teams in snigging, although until 1965 it remained Forestry policy to use horses for this purpose. Mechanical movement of thinnings with skylines in the mid-1970s and the use of forwarders, skidders, etc quickly replaced the horse and bullock in snigging. Motor lorries were able to haul more cheaply than bullock teams by 1934. The days of the teamsters were coming to an end. Freeholding: Various governments supported a freehold policy, which allowed private citizens to purchase large tracts of Crown-owned land. The Forestry Department was pressured into challenging these freehold applications to retain the best segments of land as State Forests, in the public interest, and tens of thousands of hectares were acquired during the boom land purchase days of the 1960s, 70s and 80s. Forestry Act of 1959: A fundamental legislative change occurred in 1959 with the promulgation of the Forestry Act and, for foresters working in the Department over the past 40 years, this mandate has been the driving force behind forest management. The intent of Section 33 of the Forestry Act 1959-1982 (the original Act plus amendments) is enshrined in the following cardinal principles of forest management:
And under these multiple use guidelines:
Research: The past 90-plus years have seen the accumulation of a vast wealth of well-organised technological and research data which has underpinned the management of State Forests. From early trials to more recent sophisticated research in such areas as forests, timber utilisation and harvesting, the excellence of the results has been recognised within Australia and internationally. Fire Protection: Following the 1940-1958 fire exclusion policy, the concept of periodic burning of forest fuel began to emerge. From 1958 to 1971, edge burning of large blocks of forest was carried out during relatively 'safe' periods, such as evenings when the colder night air would extinguish the flames after the forest fuel had been burnt. Grid ignition was introduced from 1971. Small fires lit by ground crews on a 40- to 50-metre grid allowed much of the forest to be burnt before weather changes could start large forest fires. Aerial ignition using fixed wing aircraft from 1975 saw incendiary devices dropped on a predetermined grid. Areas of up to 300 hectares could be lit in a day, far larger than could be done by ground crews, and from 1981, helicopter aerial ignition was introduced. Commonwealth Softwood Agreement Act: During 1963-64, the cut of plantation grown hoop pine exceeded that of natural hoop pine for the first time. Forestry officers, however, believed the planting rate should be increased by 50 per cent, The Australian Forestry Council was inaugurated and recommended the annual softwood planting program be increased to 10 000 acres. Funding from the Commonwealth Softwood Agreement Act allowed the planting rate to be boosted. National Parks and Wildlife Service: The National Parks section of the Department of Forestry became a separate entity in 1975 under a new name - the National Parks and Wildlife Service. The Service was formed to manage the National Parks estate of just over one million hectares, which had been managed since 1906 by the Department of Forestry under the State Forests and National Parks Act. Conservation Movement: In the early 1970s, criticism from conservationists about the clearing of forests for plantation establishment began to mount, although disapproval of forestry activities had begun some time before that. Struggles for ownership and stewardship of the forest estate became more vociferous and widespread than ever before. The Regional Forest Agreement process in the late 1990s placed decision-making procedures on a more scientific and knowledgeable basis. Last Decades: Through the 1980s, 1990s and in the first decade of the 21st century, the timber industry in Queensland has become much more innovative and market conscious, with the increasing use of high technology in the larger companies. In 2001, commercial plantation forestry operations and native forest operations were split with the former being managed by a Queensland Government plantation forestry corporation – Forestry Plantations Queensland – and the latter by Forest Products, a business group within the Queensland Department of the Environment & Resource Management. This culminated in 2010 with the sale of the Forestry Plantations Queensland business to Hancock Queensland Plantations, a privately owned company managed by Hancock Timber Resource Group.
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