Forester Peter Murray oversees harvesting in the western parts of NSW –  an area totalling more then 100000 square kilometres and a lot of gravel roads. Photo by Howard Spencer

Fifteen years ago forester Peter Murray  breasted what passes for a hill near Balranald and wondered where all the trees  were that he was supposed to look after.

Coming from Tamworth, he was used to seeing the soaring  straight trunks of the Walcha highland species that grow as high as 30 and 40  metres and more.

What trees he saw appeared stunted and twisted, mostly  with multiple skinny stems.

It was mallee, which he came to learn was the principal  species he would find here and around Dareton, the village where his office now  is across the Murray River from the thriving far north west Victorian fruit and  grape growing town of Mildura.

And down near the river and along the water courses were  the other major species, the majestic river red gums.

Peter came to Dareton to take up the position of district  forester. He found he was also the only forester, and is the last man standing  for Forests NSW in this part of the west.

“I have one staff member, John White, who is the  supervising forestry officer at Balranald, two and a half hours away to the  east by car,” Peter said.

“Between us we look after forestry interests in ten per  cent of the state of New South Wales.”

That ten per cent encompasses the area from the South  Australian border near Renmark through Dareton and along the river past  Balranald to Booligal and then north to Packsaddle, a locality about 130km  north of Broken Hill. The area is part of the Western Region of Forests NSW  with the regional office at Dubbo.

The area is roughly 100000 square kilometres, of which  only 32000 ha is State forest. About 90 per cent of the remainder is made up of  Western Lands Leases, where Forests NSW is the custodian of the timber  resources.

Red gum sawlog is the premium product, with around 12000  cubic metres a year of timber processed through the only ‘local’ sawmill,  Merbein Sawmills, just across the Murray River in Victoria, west of Mildura.

Residues from sawlog operations make up the next product  group, and this is sold principally as firewood, with 12 operators removing  around 15000 tonnes a year.

Charcoal from agricultural residues is third, with seven  operators producing about 1500 tonnes.

Peter’s role is to ensure that the operators in his patch  are complying with the regulations that govern each part of the industry.

He is involved in harvest planning in the State forest  areas as well as harvesting on the leasehold land.

He and John together fight fires with the cooperation of  the local Rural Fire Service volunteers, without whom they would be all but  lost as the next nearest Forests NSW backup is at Deniliquin, some four hours  east by road.

The trip to Adelaide is closer, at four hours, and  Melbourne is five and a half hours away. Broken Hill is a mere three hours  away. To visit his parents in Brisbane is 17 hours away.
  “After 15 years I still find this job rewarding,” Peter  says.

“Unlike some forestry positions today which tend to  specialise in one aspect, I am dealing with most parts of the job every day.

“But I guess some people would see it differently. There  are a lot of kilometres between changes of scenery.”

This article appears in the Spring 2008 edition of Bush Telegraph Magazine.