Forests Department (Western Australia)

Forests Department (Western Australia)

Logo on Western Australian Forests Department's vehicles.
Agency overview
Formed	1 January 1919
Preceding agencies	Department of Lands and Surveys Wood and Forests Department
Dissolved	21 March 1985
Jurisdiction	Government of Western Australia
Agency executives	Charles Lane Poole, Conservator of forests Mr P.J. McNamara, Acting Conservator of forests
Child agency	Department of Conservation and Land Management

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 the Department of Conservation and Land Management.

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:

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

Earlier forms of forest management in Western Australia were under:

Around 1968, The Forests Department then was in full control of its destiny as mentioned 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."