History of ForestrySA


1873 “Forest Trees Planting Encouragement Bill” to encourage tree planting in S.A.
1875 First Forestry Board appointed with G.W. Goyder as Chairman.
1876 Planting begins at Bundaleer, Wirrabra and Mount Gambier.
1882 South Australian Woods and Forests Department formed.
1889 First Arbor Day in Australia in Adelaide (20th June).
1899 Planting begins at Kuitpo in the Mount Lofty Ranges.
1902 Milling commences at Wirrabara in the Mid-North.
1907 Planting of large areas of Radiata pine in the South East.
1909 Planting begins at Mount Crawford.
1910 Government land purchases for forestry totals 45,290 Ha.
1931 Government sawmill at Mt. Burr commenced operation.
1935 S.A. Forestry Royal Commission.
Expansion of plantation Reservation and management of native forest areas.
1939 Zinc deficiency in soils identified as cause of dieback and rectified.
1941 First annual surplus of income over expenditure payment to South Australia Treasury.
1942 Wood pulp production commences using small logs from thinning operations.
1957 Particle board production begins in South Australia.
1958 Wandilo Fire, eight employees killed in a fire storm event.
1960 Kimberly-Clark Australia opens its first tissue plant at Millicent.
Pressure preservation timber used for electricity and communication poles.
1970 Start of implementation of solutions to stop second rotation productivity decline.
1973 ForestrySA stops clearing of native forest for new plantation establishment, ahead of the South Australian Government’s Native Vegetation Act in 1985.
1982 First RFW Fire trucks put into service.
1983 21,000 hectares of pine plantation destroyed in Ash Wednesday fires. Thousands of tonnes of wood salvaged and stored in Lake Bonney.
1985 Native Vegetation Act stops the clearing of native forest in South Australia.
1992 Bleached pulp produced from plantation Radiata pine at KCA mill in Tantanoola.
First softwood chip exports.
1993 State owned sawmills sold to Carter Holt Harvey.
1995 First use by ForestrySA of aerial water bombing in fire control.
1999 First Bundaleer Forest Festival Weekend.
2001 South Australian Forestry Corporation established (trading as ForestrySA).
2002 Certification to international environmental standard ISO 14001.
2004 Record harvest of 1.8 million cubic metres of log from ForestrySA plantations.
Certification to Australian Forestry Standard (AFS) AS 4708.
First ForestrySA Wood Sculpture Competition.
FireKings replace RFW fire trucks.
2007 New ForestrySA Head Office opened in Mount Gambier.
Commencement of use of containerised seedlings.
2008 Increase Green Triangle sawlog harvest to 1 million cubic metres.
Pioneered use of LiDAR for plantation productivity assessments.
2010 Reviewed silvicultural strategy and increased target sawlog harvest in Green Triangle to 1.1 million cubic metres.