The Warra Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) site was established to facilitate understanding of ecological processes and biodiversity functions in Tasmania’s southern cool temperate forests. The site contains both working forests and conservation reserves. The events documented in this paper constitute the earliest formal contact with the area in the context of systematic forestry assessment. The Forestry Act 1920, passed by the Tasmanian Parliament, came into force on the first of January 1921; this event marked a significant recognition of the need to manage the State’s forests for the long-term benefit of Tasmanians. It was ‘An Act to establish a Forestry Department and to provide for the better management and protection of forests’. This Act repealed those clauses of the Crown Lands Act 1911, under which control of forest operations had previously been exercised. The new Act authorised the formation of a Forestry Department headed by a Conservator of Forests. Section 17 of the Act stipulated that by the first of January 1928 there should be in Tasmania an area of approximately not less than 1,500,000 acres of land dedicated as State forests. Section 13 of the Act provided for the classification of the forest lands of the State in order to determine those suitable for dedication as State forests and those suitable for reservation from sale as timber reserves.

History of early forestry surveys

In the annual report for the Forestry Department for the year ended 30th June 1925, reference is made to explorations which had been undertaken that year; in particular, reference is made to the Weld Valley, Southern District: ‘An inspection was made from the junction of the Weld and Huon Rivers for a distance of about seven miles up the Weld Valley, and extending for an average distance of two miles on either side of the Weld River. This river proved a serious obstacle to the exploration of the country on its right bank, being a swiftly moving stream, in places over two chains wide’ (Forestry Department 1925). The preparation of the topographical and timber distribution map was noted as sufficient to indicate the extent of timber in the locality traversed.

The exploration was part of a concerted effort at that time to assess the resources of Mount Anne and the Weld River Valley which were at the edge of substantial European penetration. The following details are drawn from a paper by A.N. Lewis with the title “Notes on a geological reconnaissance of Mt Anne and the Weld River Valley, South-Western Tasmania” which was read at the April 16 meeting of the Royal Society of Tasmania and subsequently published in the 1923 Papers and Proceedings of the Society. At the same meeting, Major L.F. Giblin delivered an illustrated lecture on the Mount Anne District, but no transcript of this lecture exists. In the summers of 1920, 1921 and 1922, Major L.F. Giblin, D.S.O., and A.V. Giblin organised and led three successive trips into the country surrounding Mount Anne. In December 1921, a party attempted to reach Mount Anne via the Weld Valley from the Huon. The party was forced to turn back after about four and a half days, having taken three and a half days to penetrate 18 miles through horizontal scrub up the Weld River Valley from its junction with the Huon River. The 1920 and 1922 expeditions had reached Mount Anne via the Tyenna–Port Davey track.

The main outcome of the endeavours had been the production of the notes and accompanying geological maps of the area traversed. The maps which were reproduced in the Lewis paper were drafted by Colonel D.A. Lane whom Lewis thanked for assistance rendered. It was the same Colonel Denis Lane who led the foray of the Forestry Department team into the Weld River Valley in April 1925. The photographic documentation of the forestry team, held in the Forestry Tasmania Library in Hobart, allows us to view the landscape as it was, to view the camp which the team set up, and to view some of the men who carried out the survey. Unfortunately, no copy of the report which almost certainly would have been written has been located. However, we have the diary of Colonel Lane, courtesy of his family, and the daily record of the expedition is transcribed here.

The map and photographs

A hand-drawn map of the area of approximately 14 square miles was one of the outcomes of the survey. It describes in considerable detail the stands of timber and the topography, and provides an insight into fire history of the area. It exists in microfiche form only and the copy is located in the Resources Branch of Forestry Tasmania. The photographic images reproduced below are from original prints, several of which are quite small in format (typically 3.8 cm x 6 cm). They are digitally scanned copies (some enlarged) of the originals and they reflectsome of the minor deterioration which has occurred in the 75-year life of the photos. We have not attempted to digitally ‘improve’ the images as we prefer the more organic result.