Forestry through the Fifties. A young forestry officer’s journey with the Western Australian Forests Department.
By Kevin Coate.
[ISBN 978-0-85905-977-3], (New, 2021). 175 x 250, 262 pages, heavily illustrated, indexed, 730 grams, $50.00*
This interesting book provides a fascinating insight into how an aspiring young forest officer gained knowledge and skills through practical experience, working and camping in the bush.
Kevin Coate started work in 1951 at Margaret River and was stationed at settlements from Mundaring Weir in the north to Walpole in the south.
It was an era when steam powered timber mills still operated and power saws had just begun to take over from axes and crosscut saws.
A gem for all interested in the forests and the south west.
This book was published without any input from shire, company or state coffers. Nevertheless it outshines any literary eructations from those structures.