Forest Production - an Overview
Building Victoria
Imagine. You drive for 90km and alongside you all of the way is a cuboid (a box-shaped object) of solid wood one metre high and one kilometre wide. This cuboid approximates the volume of sawlogs (90 million cubic metres) extracted from Victoria's native forests between 1900 and 2022. Or to put it another way, the cuboid covers an area of 9000 ha. Most of this wood will have gone into buildings as framing. Victoria depended on this supply for residential development well in to the 1990s.
But in the earliest days sawn timber would not have been as critical to development as other forest products. On this site there are reports (The Early Years) that illustrate the mismanagement of Victoria's forests from the time of settlement in the 1830s to the early 1900s. Perhaps mismanagement is the wrong term - lack of management is probably more appropriate. And yet our forests, those that weren't inappropriately "sold off" for agriculture or settlement development, were being heavily exploited (indeed, extensively clear felled )for mining timbers , fuel, fencing material,building materials, wharf development and, from 1854, building railways. The exploitation was such that by the early 1900s the Wombat Forest, as we now know it, was known to be the "ruined forest", and by the time of the FCVs first Annual Report in 1919/1920 future sleeper supply was a concern.
"Upkeep of existing railways and further extensions of the railway system cause a heavy drain upon the sleeper-yielding forests, which it is becoming increasingly difficult to meet from the ironbark, grey box, and red gum areas. In this connexion there are already clear indications that it wi11 soon become necessary to be content with less rigid specifications as regards both species and dimensions."
Keeping important forest areas out of the hands of the greedy was also a continuing focus of the newly-created FCV.
Our earliest plantations, and not just softwood plantations, were generated from about the 1860s with the first forest Nursery at Macedon established in 1872, and softwood plantations being established at Macedon and Creswick, and Sugar Gum plantations in the You Yangs. (At least some of this original plantation was still there in 2024.) Softwood plantation development continued at a relatively low level and at those levels were never going to meet the demand for wood volume, let alone the continuing need for durable timbers. (Preservative treatment of softwood to improve durability did not start until the 1960s.) It was the 1960s Plantation Extension (PX) Program which really allowed plantation timbers to begin to play a key role in housing and other traditionally hardwood uses from the 1980s.
Prior to the first FCV Annual Report (1919/20) statistics related to forest production are sparse to non-existent. But for the next seven decades or so we have relatively good production figures from both Victoria's native forests and softwood plantations. With the move of forest management into the direct control of Ministers, and into larger State govenment departments, fewer production figures tend to be available in the Annual Reports we have been able to locate so far.
Australia was "riding on the on the sheep's back" was a term once used to describe the reliance of our economy on wool production. In Victoria it could easily be said that "Victoria rode, to a significant degree, on the products supplied by our native forests".
So What do the Figures Tell Us?
Information gathered from Annual Reports (AR) has been used to provide a snapshot of production at about 10 year intervals up until the 1990s.You can of course go to the Annual Reports we hold for more detailed analysis if required. This Spreadsheet also contains a good annual series of production figures for both hardwood sawlogs and sleepers.
Some significant statistics from the relevant AR have been included in the tables below. If sawlog volume is concerned then any figure given in super feet is presumed to be sft HLV (Hoppus Log Volume). You will soon see that the description of products and the units used in measurement change throughout time. And, for example, what is a "load" of firewood, and what is the weight of a "bag" of charcoal, or indeed the standard length of a telephone pole. Time series of production for more products, if we ever get that far, will be a long process.
If you look closely you will see changes in the products coming from our forest, their rise and fall (or in the case of softwood timber - just their rise), and changes in the species groups (hardwood or softwood) used to meet demand for certain products.
1919-1920
- Sawn Timber - 79342239 sft
- Mining Props (Round) - 384392 lineal ft
- Fencing (Posts & Strainers) - 406203 number
- Poles (Ordinary) - 27417 number & 11000 lineal ft
- Poles (Telegraph) - 1267 number and 500 lineal ft
- Beams & Piles - 828848 linel ft & 145136 sft & 1200 number
- Sleepers (Hewn 1) - 242783 number & 7599 lineal ft
- Fuel - green split - 216121 tons, dry split - 197121 tons, 12176 loads
- Charcoal - 110950 bags
- Wattle Bark - 471 tons
- Eucalyptus Oil - 599417 lbs
1 An extremely wasteful way to produce a sleeper.
There is nothing in the 1919-20 Annual Report about softwood production statistics for some reason.
However, the Report sets the direction the new management team will take in a Policy Statement.
The production of wattle bark for local use and for export was a major industry in our public and private forests from the 1860s.
1929-30
- Sawn Timber - 71109877 sft
- Mining Timber - 15075 linel ft & 1053564 sft
- Fencing (Posts & Strainers) - 328021 number
- Poles (Telegraph & Telephone) - 25350 number
- Beams - 1341035 sft
- Sleepers - 387181 number
- Firewood - green & dry split & improvement wood (thinnings)- 243785 tons, tops & dry longwood - 197,121 tons, 25750 loads
- Charcoal - 336 tons
- Wattle Bark - 424 tons
- Eucalyptus Oil - 272894 lbs
1929/30 Annual Report. "13,100 cases were milled locally from Creswick Plantation material, which output, together with miscellaneous sales, realized an aggregate return of £676. 6,600 cases milled locally from pine logs at You Yangs Plantation, 254,294 super feet of pine timber from Frankston, and 13,000 super feet from Mount Macedon Plantation, were sold during the year. Total sales of pine timber and cases manufactured from pine timber realized £1,863." At last, something to note from the plantation estate.
Agreement reached between Australian Paper Manufactures (APM) and the FCV to establish a paper-making industry. See: The Wood Pulp Agreement Act 1936.
Peak sleeper production occurred in 1933/34 when 919509 sleepers were produced.
1939-40
- Sawn Timber - 53594152 sft
- Mill Logs, hardwood - 82981329 sft
- Pine Logs - 6596791 sft
- Pulpwood - 5123 cunits
- Mining Timber - 1832 sleepers (number) & various 344645 lineal ft & 159832 sft 1053564 sft
- Fencing (Posts, Strainers & Stays) - 557757 number
- Poles (Telephone, Telegraph and Electric Light - 1801 number
- Beams - 756308 number
- Sleepers - 281196 number
- Firewood - green & dry split & improvement wood (thinnings)- 435036 tons, tops & Tops & dry longwood 16141 loads
- Charcoal - 38583 bags
- Wattle Bark - 796 tons
- Eucalyptus Oil - 311162 lbs
The 1939 fires require a timber salvage program of unprecedented extent which continued into the early 1950s. The sawlog volume alone recovered approximately 4.3 m3
Two other emergency programs were introduced to meet the demands of WW2 - Emergency Firewood & increased Charcoal Production.
1949-1950
- Sawn Timber - 26376682 sft
- Mill Logs & case logs, hardwood - 289714306 sft
- Logs, softwood - 12279347 sft
- Pulpwood - 33319 cunits
- Mining Timber - 95163 lineal ft
- Fencing material (Posts, Strainers & Stays) - 1866319 number
- Poles (Telephone, Telegraph and Electric Light - 250536 Lineal ft and Micscellaneos incl spars 740868 lineal ft
- Beams - 701223 sft
- Railway Sleepers - 414779
- Firewood - green & dry split & improvement wood (thinnings)- 924485 tons measure; tops & dry longwood 156483 loads; Emergency firewood - 62520 tons wt
- Charcoal - 336 tons
- Wattle Bark - 424 tons
- Eucalyptus Oil - 150188 lbs
1956/1957 delivers the highest annual sawlog production ever achieved - 1381000 m3
1959-1960
- Mill Logs - hardwood: 452415259 sft HLV
- Mill Logs - softwood: 21651166 sft HLV
- Veneer Logs - hardwood : 125586 sft HLV
- Veneer Logs - softwood: 668121 sft HLV
- Pulpwood - 7528600 cu ft
- Mining Timber - 133291 lineal ft & split 10491 pieces
- Fencing material (Posts, Strainers & Stays) - 1324281 number
- Poles (Telephone & Electric Light - 1246135 lineal ft and Micscellaneous 178377 lineal ft
- Beams & Bridge timbers - 68880 sft
- Railway Sleepers - 75739
- Firewood - Green & dry 322170 tons measure; Milled blocks 2855 tons wt; Tops & dry longwood 2458 loads
- Charcoal - 142 tons
- Wattle Bark - 23 tons
- Eucalyptus Oil - 128105 lbs
Logging operations increasingly move into the east of the State - alpine ash forests accessible from Heyfield and Mansfield following, and in conjunction with, major road construction programs.
1969-1970
- Sawlogs, hardwood - 405650025 sft HLV
- Sawlogs, softwood - 47823293 sft HLV
- Veneer logs, hardwood - 769234 sft HLV
- Veneer logs, softwood - 3774310 sft HLV
- Pulpwood, hardwood for paper - 9169351 cu ft
- Pulpwood, softwood for paper - 1738005 ft3
- Pulpwood, softwood for particle board - 338800 cu ft
- Pulpwood, hardwood for hardboard - 74096 tons
- Mining Timber - Round 38424 lineal ft; Split 27380 sft
- Fencing material, hardwood - Posts, Strainers & Stays - 872628 number
- Fencing material, softwood - Posts, Strainers & Stays - 443874 number
- Poles & Spars - Transmission poles, hardwood - 998916 lineal ft; Miscellaneous, hardwood 405632 lineal ft; Miscellaneous, softwood 61102 lineal ft
- Beams & bridge timber - 193226 sft
- Railway Sleepers - 337080 number
- Firewood - Stacked & longwood - 8864850 cu ft; Milled blocks - 1152 tons
- Charcoal - 779 tons
- Eucalyptus Oil - 90764 lbs
- Christmas trees - 11680 number
1972 - Bowater-Scott Agreement - an Agreement was provided to Bowater-Scott for supply of logs for a new integrated mill at Myrtleford.
Softwood fencing material appears on the list.
"Pulpwood, hardwood for hardboard - 74096 tons" is wood going to CSR at Bacchus Marsh to produce Masonite.
From the 1970s, East Gippsland forests will become a major producer of sawlogs.
1979-1980
- Sawlogs, hardwood - 1118255 m3
- Sawlogs, softwood - 4293993 m3
- Veneer logs, hardwood - 811 m3
- Veneer logs, softwood - 21244 m3
- Pulpwood, hardwood for paper - 266513 m3
- Pulpwood, softwood for paper - 49616 m3
- Pulpwood, softwood for panel products - 50789 m3 cu ft
- Pulpwood, hardwood for panel products - 33894 tons
- Fencing material, hardwood - Posts, Strainers & Stays - 872628 number
- Fencing material, softwood - Posts, Strainers & Stays - 443874 number
- Poles & Spars - Transmission poles, hardwood - 113990 lineal m; Tramsmission poles, softwood - 5342 lineal m; Miscellaneous poles, hardwood 558958 lineal m; Miscellaneous poles, softwood - 17331 lineal m
- Beams & bridge timber - 3732 lineal m
- Railway Sleepers - 122272 number
- Firewood - Stacked & longwood -88167 m3; Milled wood - 2521 tonnes
- Charcoal - 378 tonnes
- Eucalyptus Oil - 40195 kg
- Christmas trees - 30668 number
1980 - Pulpwood Supply to Australian Newsprint Mill – the supply of pulpwood to the new mill at Albury provided an outlet for pulpwood from Upper Murray plantations.
1992-1993
- Sawlogs, hardwood - 981105 m3
- Sawlogs, softwood - 489931 m3
- Veneer logs, softwood - 34984 m3
- Residual logs, hardwood - 253059 m3
- Pulpwood, hardwood for paper - 556011 m3
- Pulpwood, softwood for paper - 255686 m3
- Pulpwood, softwood for panel products - 92252 m3 cu ft
- Pulpwood, hardwood for panel products - 51592 m3
- Fencing timbers, hardwood - 1177000 number (est based on revenue)
- Preservation timbers, softwood - 37280 m3
- Poles, harwdood - 19400 lineal m (est based on revenue)
- Heavy timbers 3300 m3 (est based on revenue)
- Railway Sleepers - 35814 number
- Firewood - 193600 m3
- Charcoal - 18 tonnes (est based on revenue)
- Eucalyptus Oil - 52070 kg
- Christmas trees - 7785 number
- Salt - 85182 tonnes
Still only about 33% of the sawlogs produced from public land come from softwood plantations.
Residual logs appear on the list as a consequence of the Timber Industry Strategy - an attempt to better utilise low grade material in places where a pulpwwod market was not available. Get what you saw from it and chip and sell the rest - mostly to Harris Daishowa at Eden for export to Japan to make paper.
Responsibility for softwood plantation management is moving to the Victorian Plantations Corporation which is eventually acquired by Hancock Victorian Plantations.
Does salt really grow on trees?