Forests Department (Western Australia)

Forests Department (Western Australia)

Logo on Western Australian Forests Department's vehicles.
Agency overview
Formed 1 January 1919
Preceding agencies
Dissolved 21 March 1985
Jurisdiction Government of Western Australia
Agency executives
Child agency

The Forests Department was a department of the Government of Western Australia created in 1919 under the first Conservator of Forests Charles Lane Poole, that was responsible for implementing the State's Forests Act (1918-1976) legislation and regulations.

The Forests Department was incorporated all together with National Parks Authority and the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife on 21 March 1985 forming[1] the Department of Conservation and Land Management.

Status (at dissolution - 21 March 1985)[2]

Forest policies covered by the Forests Department involved the following management objectives:

The Department had also several tree nurseries to help with these objectives in Hamel, Manjimup, Narrogin, Broome and Karratha for a total seedling production of 7 307 000 in 1985.

The Forests Department had management responsibilities in:[2]

Some of the most severe West Australian bushfires, in chronological order, that the Department had to suppress:

Fire Location Area burned
(1 ha ≈ 2.5 acres) 		Date Human fatalities Livestock death/Properties damaged
1961 Western Australian bushfires[3] Western Australia 1,800,000 ha January – March 1961 0 160 homes, town of Dwellingup destroyed.
1978 Western Australian bushfires Western Australia 114,000 ha 4 April 1978 2 6 buildings (drop in wind in early evening is said to have saved the towns of Donnybrook, Boyup Brook, Manjimup, and Bridgetown.)

Preceding agencies

Earlier forms of forest management in Western Australia were under:[4]

Equipment

Around 1968, The Forests Department then was in full control of its destiny as mentioned[5] by a former forester and General Manager of Department of Conservation and Land Management: "We were more akin to an old Army regiment, with our regimental headquarters in Perth and our divisional centres in the field, our long traditions and powerful culture. Back then, the Forests Department was largely independent of Treasury (our revenue came from royalties from timber cut on State Forest), we recruited and trained our own field staff, had our own gangs of forest workmen, purchased and maintained our own vehicles, fabricated our own fire equipment, made our own maps, had our own private telephone system which spanned the entire South West, and even had our own settlements, complete with streets of houses and blocks of single men's hut."

The Department maintained and coordinated a range of specialist equipment and emergency response vehicles. This included pumpers and tankers and other equipment relating to operations involving fire spotting and firefighting.

In 1984-85, the Forests Department’s fleet of 9 Piper Super Cub aircraft was flown for approximately 5 600 hours to provide aerial surveillance of the State Forest and nearby Crown Lands and private properties.

Four lookout towers were used to maintain a continuous watch on important pine plantations, whilst another 20 towers were maintained as a back-up to spotter aircraft.

Notes

  1. ↑ Proclamation on 21 March 1985 of the Conservation and Land Management Act No. 126 of 1984.
  2. 1 2 Forests Department. Western Australia: Annual report, 1 July 1984 to 21 March 1985.
  3. ↑ Matthews, H (2011) Karridale Bush Fires 1961, Karridale Progress Association Inc. ISBN 978-0-9871467-0-0
  4. ↑ Information from the Aeon database at State Records Office of Western Australia.
  5. ↑ Underwood, Roger (2006): Old growth foresters: the lives and times of West Australian foresters: a personal account, ISBN 0 646 45878 7
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