Arrested twice in the Upper Florentine

Forestry Tasmania's destruction of the wilderness of valleys such as the Upper Florentine is an echo of the HEC's assault on the Franklin River 27 years ago.

The Franklin is part of one of the world's great temperate wilderness areas. The river carves canyons through glaciated mountains before flowing serenely through a great primeval rainforest. On these wide lower reaches, the river's banks are lined with limestone caves which provided homes for Aboriginal people during ice-age times 20,000 years ago. Here, when there were glaciers on the surrounding mountains and ice bergs not far off the sores of Tasmania's south coast, the island's original inhabitants hunted wallaby in great grasslands.

At the same time, they occupied caves in the valleys of the Florentine. Permanent snow and ice mantled the surrounding peaks of the Mt Field West, the Thumbs and Mt Mueller. Evidence of those glaciations is well preserved in the spectacular landscapes enjoyed by so many bushwalkers today. The Florentine is riddled with caves and sinkholes, being part of of one of Tasmania's greatest karst systems - the Junee-Florentine. In the 20th century, human remains dating back many thousands of years were found in one of these caves.

Despite these extraordinary values, the Florentine has been subjected to ruthless exploitation. In the 1930s, the last thylacines to be captured alive were snared in this valley. In 1950, a large chunk of the Mt Field National Park was revoked to allow the logging of towering oldgrowth forests for newsprint. The valley has now been logged from side to side and almost end to end. Amongst the remaining stands of forest, the giant tree El Grande was discovered and named in 2002. It was Australia's most massive known living thing and in 2003 it was incinerated by a Forestry Tasmanian burn-off.

Now, Forestry Tasmania is pushing new roads and logging into the pristine stands of oldgrowth in the Upper Florentine. The protest group Still Wild Still Threatened has resisted this invasion with great tenacity and resourcefulness, maintaining their non-violent philosophy in the face of brutal provocation, including the torching of some of their cars and several physical assaults.

I've attended at least three of the protests in the valley that have occurred this year and as a result have been twice charged with trespass. I'm pleading not guilty. As far as I'm concerned, it is Forestry Tasmania that is trespassing in this wilderness. This organsisation, which has shown reprehensible indifference to the natural values of the places it 'manages', frequently resorts to the same sort of spin used by the HEC and Gray Government over a quarter of a century ago to excuse their own destructive activities in the valley of the Franklin River.

Back then, the government exploitative forces claimed that only a tiny proportion (from memory, less than 2%) of the South-West wilderness would be affected by the Gordon-below-Franklin dam. Of course, that 2% related only to the area threatened with actual inundation and paid no heed to the broader impacts on wilderness not just of the impoundment but also of roads, construction villages, quarries, transmission lines and associated spread of pathogens, weeds and bushfires. And the 2% would have submerged the rapids, riverside caves and riverside Huon pines (a tree renowned for its longevity) of the lower river.

So it is today that Forestry Tasmania and the state government make the equally disingenuous claim that '90%' of the Upper Florentine will not be logged. Of course, that 90% includes all of the areas of treeless alpine plants and rocks, the buttongrass plains and the scrub. Do the anlaysis and maths and you discover that over 50% of the valley's remaining tall-eucalypt oldgrowth forests will be destroyed by logging. This includes trees that are over 65 metres in height and three metres in diameter. Over 80% of the wood extracted will be exported as woodchips - probably to papermaking companies such as Oji and Nippon in Japan.

And that comes on top of the fact that most of the rest of the valley as a whole has already been flattened by large-scale clearfelling operations and, in many cases, converted to plantations.

Those of us who have been experiencing places such as the upper Florentine for the last 20-30 years are not just appalled at this ruthless exploitation. We're also sickeningly bemused that this behaviour is tolerated in 21st-century Australia. This situation occurs because governance of Australia is dominated by Labor Governments whose preoccupations are primarily managerial. They are obsessed with the day-to-day management of media and budgets. A long-term vision involving an ethical relationship with Australia's natural environment - indeed, with the environment of Planet Earth itself -is something way outside their thinking.

This ethically sterile standpoint has affected Australia's conservation movement as well. We are seeing less and less moral leadership and more and more pragmatism. Just look at the recent performances of WWF (its 2004 sell-out of places such as the Upper Florentine in Tasmania, its backing of nuclear power, and its acceptance of the Rudd Government's pathetic emission targets) and the ACF.

Personally, I can't see the necessary changes in government policy arising from ever more pragmatic alignment of conservation advocacy with the managerialism, spin and amoral strategies of today's governments. The environment of Australia and the world actually require more of the conviction, passion, risk-taking and adventure demonstrated in the battle for the Franklin River. The young people who have stood up for valleys such as the Florentine in Tasmania are showing the necessary spirit.

Hopefully they will receive more backing and collaboration from those of us with experience of successful past campaigns.

A very generous endorsement

"When i returned to Tasmania in the early 1980s, the Franklin River dam issue was being fought by many brave and determined people. Unfortunately, at that time i could not participate and only knew what was happening through the media which hardly told the real story i had always wanted to hear.

'Just recently i was honoured to meet Geoff Law whose book 'The River Runs Free' was recently published. Geoff kindly gave me a signed copy and i became engrossed. It was written with a no-holds-barred discourse which had humour and passion and at times took on the form of a thriller, finishing all too soon.

'Geoff is now on a journey to walk Tasmania from east to west and then from north to south and to take us with him by writing a book that i would like to help sponsor so that i, too, can enjoy the Tasmanian bush that i would otherwise not see."

Jay Yulamara, March 2009

As Jay says in her very generous endorsement, I am indeed walking Tasmania from end to end. This project (which I am completing in stages) will form both a framework and springboard for a book about the battle to protect Tasmania's forests.

I will visit Tasmania's forest hot spots - past battlefields and icons, magnificent places that have been protected, destroyed or remain under threat. Places such as Farmhouse Creek, the Lemonthyme, Jackeys Marsh, the Styx Valley, the Tarkine, Blue Tier and Beech Creek.

So far i've walked from the beautiful Bay of Fires to the Mersey valley. This journey has taken me from the dry forests of the eastern granite hills across the top of the moist, rainforested Blue Tier, over the rugged tops of the north-east highlands and the exhilarating open alpine plateau of Ben Lomond, down boulder-strewn gorges on the Nile River (including some of Tasmania's finest swimming holes), across the woodlands, paddocks and long long roads of the Midlands, up and down the slopes of the spectacular Great Western Tiers three times, and along the wet, lake-studded Central Plateau.

I've walked through extraordinarily beautiful forests and seen mile upon mile of devastating logging, sometimes in seemingly remote locations such as the eastern spurs and gullies of Ben Lomond, and sometimes on the most precipitous slopes, as in the headwaters of the South Esk River near Mathinna.

Congratulations to all those who are battling to protect these wonderful forests from greedy companies such as Gunns and disingenuous, calculating, self-centred organisations such as Forestry Tasmania.

In particular, on behalf of the forests of the Blue Tier and North-East Highlands, thank you to Lesley Nicklason for her unstinting efforts to promote and protect these stunning wild places.

I've now reached the Mersey Valley. How wonderful to have experienced the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area at first-hand again. I'm really looking forward to resuming my journey with a trek through the Lemonhtyme forest and the Forth valley to Cradle Mountain. Thereafter, it will be the Tarkine.

For now, my walk is suspended. The nights are just a bit too long in June and July. But some snow in August and September when I'm back on the trail would be nice.

What People Say About 'The River Runs Free'

I just wanted to say I got your book yesterday, started reading it and ended up reading it compulsively in one go. It’s bloody great. It’s the only Australian book on being a greenie I’ve ever read which is actually readable, personable, gives a real feel of what it’s like to campaign, and isn’t written to vindicate the author’s seminal role in victory. Dr Barry Traill, July 2008


Plus a few weekends ago read The River Runs Free, cover to cover, in one sitting cuddled up next to wood heater on a cold and rather bleak Canberra winter evening. It was a treat and a half. Really really enjoyed it. Clare Henderson, Consensus Productions, July 2008


I've just finished the copy of your book which you gave to the Sydney Campaign Centre and I enjoyed it immensely. A damn fine read (as it were) and beautifully told. Perfect combination of personal story and campaign events. I honestly couldn't put it down and have recommended it far and wide. A superb read although of course tinged with a certain amount of sadness over what's been lost. If it doesn't walk of the book shop shelves there's something wrong with the reading public. Colin Maltman, TWS Sydney, July 2008


Have just read his book on the Franklin River blockade and would ask that you pass on my sincere congratulations for a wonderful, heartfelt read. I was moved to tears towards the end of it......what a victory I remember it well. In particular the chapter on his trek through the Walls of Jerusalem NP resonated...having done that with my partner, although in part in snow, in not quite so arduous conditions! Once again...congratulations, the battles go on. Our fight here in Vic to stop Brumby's folly down on the Bass Coast and the pipeline hopefully will bear some fruit. Daryl Glover, July 2008

Geoff,
Thanks very much for your book. It is inspirational. What a great thing you have written. I finished it this morning before dawn. It was a bit of a decision. There was a half moon and therefore enough light around 5:30 to go for a bit of a stagger around the bush up here at my place. Yet your book was so easy to read, the mixes of campaign and being in the bush, the river and the snow. I decided that I'd forgo the moonlit ramble and jump in the bath with two coffees and keep reading till the end. The sun has now 7:41 just lit up the trees around the house. It starts up on Taytitikitheeker and works its way down the slopes in a matter of seconds. A few clouds are coming from the south east almost, perhaps SSE, and there is outside the house just the sound of shrike-thrushes, and distant creeks. It will be a sunny morning.

Congratulations
Garry Stannus, July 2008

Hey Geoff,

I LOVED your book. I had the flu last week and read your book in 3 sittings. You are an excellent story teller and best of all you didn't paint yourself in a heroic light and were happy to share your own insecurities over what your invovlement was. One of my favourite bits was "I guess they didn't write folk songs about building dams" Leanne Minshull, July 2008

I greatly enjoyed reading the book, and Sandy is looking forward to it. You gave very interesting insights, combined with deft narrative touches and an inspiring epilogue. Stephen Mattingley, July 2008

Hi Geoff,

After reading a review in The Age, I bought a copy of your book, The River Runs Free on Saturday afternoon and have just finished it at 11:40am Sunday morning. WOW!!!

In January1983 my husband and I went to Tasmania for a two-week holiday. We had been very aware of the campaign to stop the damming of the Franklin and joined the Wilderness Society in 1982. As mainlanders we had not been exposed to the negative sentiments toward those who were against the dam and were horrified when we were spat on in Strahan and refused service in several business establishments. On returning from holidays we convinced family members to begin a letter writing campaign condemning the damming of the Franklin - arguing although they may never see the Franklin one day our children might want to; once convinced they became very committed.

We have always been enjoyed camping and have spent many hours under canvas. Our children joke frequently about their cheap holidays, but even now as adults the girls still find some time to join us briefly in the bush. Over the years our commitment to the environment has continued to grow as we realise the importance of wild places to our sense of well being.

In 1994 we returned to Tasmania with our children. We showed them places of incredible beauty and magnificence. We encountered animals so unafraid of humans they were almost tame. We watched enviously as bizarrely clothed people wondered off into the distance behind Cradle Mountain and emerged from the undergrowth around the edges of Lake St Clair. My third trip was very brief, accompanying an America student teacher to Hobart for a long weekend. We did manage a road trip to Cockle Creek, stopping at Dover for dinner. Even in that short amount of time she was able to appreciate Tasmania’s specialness. It wasn’t until 2002 I became initiated into the wilds of Tasmania and walked the Overland Track with my husband and our 17 year old daughter. It was quite bizarre to find a NO DAM triangle on a large tree at Frog Flats and to think it may have been there for 20 years. The triangle has since been removed. This is a link to “Our Hiking Blog” where she catches up with the tree again. http://frankinoz.blogspot.com/2007/07/day-6-pelion-hut-to-windemere-hut.html

I/we have returned to Tassie many, many times since, to go walking in wild places and will continue to do so. Both of us chose to celebrate our 50^th birthdays in Tasmania - my husband with a small group, walking the Overland. While I invited a group to walk the circuit around Cradle Mountain via Scott-Kilvert Hut. My brother-in-law at 52 had never seen snow until then. In December, we are planning to do the walk you describe in chapter 25 with our 17 yo son (having done it in June 2007 with our eldest daughter).

In November our eldest daughter will complete her studies in Outdoor Education and her final “trip” will be to raft down the Franklin. It is amazing to think without the dedication and hard work of so many, this wouldn’t be possible. How prophetic was the statement I made to my parents and siblings in 1983. We take pride, that we in some very small way helped to make this possible and we would like to express our admiration and to say thank you to all who work so tirelessly to keep wild places wild.

Sue Wall (and Frank), July 2008

THE RIVER RUNS FREE
Exploring and Defending Tasmania’s Wilderness
Geoff Law
Viking… rrp $32.95
Publication/Embargo Date: 30 June 2008
GEOFF LAW IS AVAILABLE FOR INTERVIEW
‘Law is one of Australia’s great outdoor adventurers, authors and advocates.’ Bob Brown
Geoff Law first rafted the dangerously beautiful Franklin River on a whim. He was inexperienced and in a leaky raft, but it was this eventful trip that drew him into the historic battle to save the Franklin from being dammed. It was a struggle that brought down a federal government, and one whose ecological reverberations, twenty-five years on, are more commanding than ever.
In The River Runs Free Geoff Law gives a lively and witty account of that flagship campaign, weaving it around stories of his wilderness travels.
He writes powerfully about the connection between humans and landscape, the source of inspiration for his life’s work. Travel with him and you never know what’s coming next – but you’ll arrive exhilarated.
Geoff Law has been working on campaigns to save Tasmania’s wilderness and forests for over 25 years. He has worked for the Australian Conservation Foundation, Wilderness Society and Senator Bob Brown. In 2002 he was named Wild magazine’s Environmentalist of the Year and in 2004 became one of the ‘Gunns 20’.
For more information please contact:
Shelley McCuaig, Publicist - Penguin Group (Australia)
Ph: (03) 9811 2312 or email: shelley.mccuaig@au.penguingroup.com