Cooloola and its Hinterland

This e-book is based on perusal of old files relating to the Gympie Forestry District. The author had been District Ranger of the Cooloola National Park, Cooloola, now part of the Great Sandy National Park and has maintained an interest in the Park extending over more than 40 years.

The Cooloola sand mass is a triangular complex of giant sand dunes and lesser undulating sand hills roughly bordered by Tin Can Bay Inlet to the north, Noosa River to the west and south and east to the Pacific Ocean. There is evidence that the Cooloola sand mass existed as an off-shore island.

Logging of the forests had commenced by the 1870s, particularly the evergreen vine forests yielding kauri pine (Agathis robusta) hoop pine (Araucaria cunninghamii) and white beech (Gmelina bichardtii) as well as some stands of hardwood eucalypts.

This book outlines the influence of white man on the area with his varied attempts to exploit or utilise its resources. The author has explored the area’s economic and social history. The research examined early land use – grazing and timber production – and the influence of the decisions of Widgee and Noosa Councils in relation to land-use issues. A review of old files has revealed the early struggles between private enterprise and the public good with, up to the 1960s, a largely uninterested, un-enlightened public on the sidelines. This changed dramatically when sand mining companies asserted a right to mine the area, and the MV Cherry Venture was left stranded on Teewah Beach in July 1973. Public attention was focused on the area as never before.
The last Australian application to the Privy Council in England finally resolved the issue of mining in the area, leading to the setting aside of 23 030 ha as Cooloola National Park in 1975.

One glaring deficiency is revealed in the file record. Regrettably, no person living will see and enjoy trees approaching the former majesty of the early giants that grew in the Cooloola area.

Format

Book

Geographic Coverage

Queensland

Copyright

Self-published as e-book on private server; author approved to re-publish in PaRC on 3 Jan. 2022

Source

Ron Turner: 2020

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