School Endowment Plantation Scheme

Malcolm McKinty (bio)

The School Endowment Plantation Scheme was established in 1922 as a joint venture between the Education Department and the FCV. It was administered by the Education Department with technical supervision by the Commission. While some plantations were established on private land donated or leased for the purpose, most were established on Crown Lands or Reserved Forest made available, without cost, by the State.

The following summary of the program, written by W E Graver, Supervisor, School of Forestry, Education Department was published in the Forestry Technical Papers, No.7. He notes that, as at 1961, there were 492 school endowment plantations in Victoria covering a total of some 4,300 acres (1,740 ha) and involving 546 schools.

By 1966, more than 600 schools in Victoria were participating. In that year the school plantations were producing annually about 2 million super feet (6000 cubic metres) of mill logs and 800 cunits (more than 2000 cubic metres) of pulpwood; yielding some $30,000 in profits for the school endowment program. See Forestry Technical Papers No.17.

See also:

The school endowment plantation scheme of Victoria, AustraliaThe School Endowment Plantation Scheme of Victoria - W. W. Gay (Empire Forestry Journal, Vol. 17, No. 1, July 1938)