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Millions of years ago the earliest trees to evolve included some of the native conifers such as the genera Lagarostrobos - represented today by Huon Pine; the first pollen records of which date back 135 million years.
Huon Pine reaches a great age - trees over 2,000 years old have been dated, placing the species among the longest lived organisms on Earth. Some specimens still growing could be well over 5,000 years old.
Huon Pine is commonly associated with rainforest vegetation such as myrtle, celery-top pine, sassafras, leatherwood and blackwood.
In its natural state, Huon Pine grows to 20 or 30 metres high - some may reach 40 metres.
Huon Pine was the first of Tasmania's conifers to be commercially exploited, particularly for shipbuilding and fine furniture making.
As early as 1815 major river valleys of the rugged and inhospitable South-West Tasmania were explored for this species and convict slave gangs were formed to exploit the resource.
Today, Huon Pine still remains the most prized Tasmanian rainforest timber.
The timber itself is a mellow, extremely fine textured wood with a characteristic, pleasant fragrance. It seasons readily, has a very low shrinkage, is soft and easily worked and is light in weight.
These, together with its stability and high resistance to attack by rot and marine organisms, have earned Huon Pine the highest regard as a shipbuilding material. It is also highly prized for furniture making, joinery, woodturning, sculpting, woodcarving and by the craft industry.
The durability of the wood is due to the presence of an essential oil which gives Huon Pine its unique odor. The oil can represent as much as 7% by weight of the wood and can be extracted by steam distillation.
Today, Huon Pine is a very limited resource.
Even rarer are the licenses granted by Forestry Tasmania.
Only that Huon Pine which is either dead fallen or from impoundments
created for hydro-electricity generation can be harvested...live Huon Pine is illegal to be taken and those caught with illegal pine in their possession face either jail terms or huge monetary fines.
The Huon Piner is one of the few contractors who is LICENSED by Forestry Tasmania to recover this highly prized resource.
Working in Tasmania's rugged and spectacular South-West World Heritage Area and using nothing but the techniques used by convicts a century ago and in strict accordance with policies designed to preserve and protect this pristine wilderness, the Huon Piner extracts this precious timber by sheer physical strength without the use of normal forest machinery. |
