2016-06-07 - P&E Agenda - Item 5, Attachment 1 - Agriculture and Agricultural Land Study

Forestry
Early land holdings were taken up at Cootharaba and Kin Kin in the latter 1800s for timber. In the
late 1860s sawmilling operations commenced next to Lake Cootharaba and timbergetters worked
the area through the next four decades with portable sawmills relied upon. The timber industry
was active at Cootharaba, Cooroy, Ridgewood, Tewantin, Ringtail Creek, Cooran and Pinbarren.
The industry eventually declined with much cleared lands in the hinterland turning to dairies.

The banana boom of around 1920 led to a resurgence in makeshift milling operations where there
were stands of good softwood timbers (including Kin Kin and Pinbarren) to construct banana
cases.

The timber industry survived for some time longer into the mid-1900s with sawmills at Cooroy, Kin
Kin, and Cooran.

In the 1990’s farm forestry gained momentum as a positive and sustainable use of rural lands.
Incentives offered by the Government encouraged many rural land owners to plant timber on their
otherwise unproductive properties. Eucalypt species particularly dominated in areas around
Cooran and Pomona with lesser numbers of cabinet timbers. In lowlands where soils are less
conducive to hardwood, softwoods like pines prevail. Non-native species such as bamboo,
Paulwenias or Pongamia have also been planted although these require management to prevent
weed spread.

The 1999 South East Queensland Forest Agreement led to the closure of the two mills at Cooroy
as the supply of timber from Crown land would no longer warrant the operations. State plantation
timber resources at Ringtail and Yurol Forests continue to be selectively harvested in small
numbers.




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