Wombat State Forest
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Wombat State Forest Victoria |
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Entering the Wombat State Forest, south of Blackwood
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 Wombat State Forest
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| Nearest town or city | Daylesford (formerly Wombat) |
| Coordinates | 37°27′S 144°17′E / 37.450°S 144.283°ECoordinates: 37°27′S 144°17′E / 37.450°S 144.283°E |
| Established | 1871 |
| Area | 700 km2 (270.3 sq mi) |
| Managing authorities | Department of Sustainability and Environment |
The Wombat State Forest (locally: Bullarook) is located 50 kilometres (31 mi) west of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, between Woodend and Daylesford, at the Great Dividing Range. The forest is approximately 70,000 hectares (170,000 acres) in size and sits upon Ordovician or Cenozoic sediments. The Bullarook Wombat State Forest was proclaimed in 1871.
The only initiative in Australia to introduce community forestry, within the internationally understood context, is in the Wombat State Forest. It is managed by the Department of Sustainability and Environment. The management plan covers several areas such as firewood and other products; protection of water supplies, conservation of biodiversity, and conservation of landscape. Other areas of importance include cultural heritage, research, education, tourism, recreation, mineral exploration, mining, and grazing.
The forest is probably named after the Wombat township (now Daylesford) where it sits geographically.
"This forest was the testing ground for techniques, ideas and attitudes that shaped resource management and sawmilling well into the twentieth century." (Forest historian Norm Houghton)
The Dja Dja Wurrung peoples inhabited the area that is now state forest land. In its early days prior to European settlement, it probably extended to a much larger area than it does today.
Much of the forest lands was logged out during the gold rush era of the mid-1800s. During this time, the forest was intensively logged, the wood products used as tunnel supports, sleepers for tramways, lining of mining shafts, to fire mine boilers, piles for piers and docks, electric poles, heavy construction timbers and fuel wood. It was only in 1860 that the 1860 Land Act (Section 80) was created, prohibiting the slashing and subtraction of trees. Eleven years later, in 1871, the Wombat State Forest was established.
By 1884, there were 36 saw mills in operation in the Wombat and Bullarook Forests, the wood having been shipped to Melbourne, Sandhurst, and Ballarat. There was little or no reproduction and the young trees were burned. This eventually resulted in what is termed as "ruined forest", the forest remaining in that state for several decades without any agricultural operations allowed.
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Wikipedia