"The early colonization of Victoria was based on pastoral activities commencing around Portland in 1835. The discovery of gold near Clunes in 1851 saw the beginning of a series of major gold discoveries and the subsequent influx of miners throughout State, but particularly in central Victoria, around what is now Ballarat, Creswick, Bendigo, Maryborough, Castlemaine and Daylesford. Surface alluvial mining soon petered out and was followed by deeper and more sophisticated mines necessary to follow the gold bearing leads to increased depth."

"The source of timber and fuel to support the mines and towns was obtained from the apparently limitless nearby forests, which inevitably meant the box-ironbark and the low elevation mixed species forests. The rapid destruction of these forests, particularly in west-central Victoria, and the lack of control exercised by the Mines Department, prompted the Victorian Parliament to conduct an inquiry to determine if controls and regulations on forest activities were warranted. The inquiry ⁴ reported that timber cutters working for the mining industry felled the best trees and destroyed more than they used, producing unnecessary waste. In addition, it was common practice to strip bark from standing trees for cladding buildings, leading Ligar et al. ⁴ to conclude that if this practice was prohibited and the forests properly managed, there would he an abundance of timber to supply the mines."

"The inquiry concluded by proposing that large forested areas in west and central Victoria be reserved as State Forest ⁴. These forest areas were to become known as the Bullarook, Wombat, Mt. Macedon and Mt. Disappointment Forests and were later described as containing, in the virgin state, many clean stemmed trees, 12 to 24 metres to the first branch and 90 to 180 cm in diameter. The predominant species were messmate stringybark with narrow-leaved and broad-leaved peppermints, red stringybark, swamp gum and mountain grey gum." ⁵

"This reserve (known for many years as the Bullarook Forest) is situated in the counties of Bourke, Grant, Talbot, and Dalhousie. By far the largest area, however, is in the counties of Bourke and Grant, the forest extending along the slopes and foot-hills of the Great Dividing Range from Mount Macedon, on the east, to the neighbourhood of Rocky Lead, a station on the Daylesford and Creswick railway line, on the west."

"For a period of over 40 years Wombat reserves have been the main source of supply for sawn hardwood and fencing material to the Melbourne, Ballarat, Castlemaine and Bendigo districts ; and for a considerable, though shorter, period for laths, slabs, and mining props, to all the chief gold-field towns in the central district. From 1852 up to the year 1897 it is estimated that timber to the value of seven millions sterling had been taken out of it. Some twenty years ago the annual output of sawn timber alone was over 60,000,000 superficial feet, but in 1896 this yield had dwindled to 7,000,000 feet. The output for last year shows further signs of shrinkage, being only 4,450,000, and this includes several hundred thousand feet cut from logs obtained on private lands. Only eight mills are now established within or on the borders of the forest, and their yearly output ranges from 300,000 to 850,000 feet."

"We have thought it well to deal at considerable length with the present condition of this reserve, because from several aspects it must still be considered our most important forest. Its situation in the central district on both sides of the Dividing Range, the immense supplies of young timber which it contains, and the great repro¬ductive power of its principal tree (the messmate), wherever the influence of soil and rainfall is favorable, give it advantages which are not possessed in the same degree by any other reserve in the colony. Its value as a source of supply, in connexion with the development of mining in the central district, served as it is by three lines of rail¬way, can hardly he over-estimated, and for this reason alone the annual output of timber should be so regulated as to secure a continuous yield. But if the ravages of past years are to be repaired, and the forest brought to such a condition that it will furnish regular supplies of both milling and mining timber, strict conservation, together with the closing for a period of selected areas of the best immature timber to all cutting except improvement fellings, will be absolutely necessary."