Henry Steers interviewed by Gregg Borschmann in the People's forest oral history project [sound recording]
- Bib ID:
- 1440860
- Format:
- Audio
- Author:
- Steers, Henry William, 1921-, interviewee
- Access Conditions:
- Access open for research and personal copies; written permission required for public use.
- Description:
-
- 1994
- 2 digital audio tapes (ca. 175 min.)
- Series:
- People's forest oral history project.
- Summary:
-
Henry Steers, a logger and sawmiller, speaks of his early childhood growing up near Cradle Mountain in north east Tasmania; leaving school in 1934 at nearly 13 years of age to work with his father on contract timber cutting jobs; mother being the one to teach him how to crack a whip and carry an axe; how he helped his father to train animals to become bullocks. He recalls how as a young boy he studied bullocks & bullock drivers, developed a close affinity with the animals; business as a contract timber cutter and hauler in the 1950s running a six man team, including four men on axes and one man on cross-cut saws; fifteen years later (mid 1960s) when he finished the job, he had only one cutter with a chainsaw, while he did the loading and hauling with a bulldozer and truck.
Steers made the change to machinery when it became more economical and faster to use it as logging contractors were expected to increase their volume of timber cut, bullocks being limited in their working hours per day. Steers made regular appearances at Show Days, hoping to pass on the skills needed to be a bullock driver and those of a timber splitter. He saw a future need, i.e. an environmental benefit for the return of bullocks to logging operations. Steers argued that the high cost of using machinery created the need for a greater volume of timber to be harvested in an attempt to recoup expenses before any profit could be made. Steers, an experienced bushman and logging contractor held grave concerns for forest resources, which he felt weren't being managed properly. The skills of the old bushman were being lost to an industry which he felt could benefit from them greatly.
- Notes:
-
- Recorded on Mar. 23, 1994 in Sheffield, Tas.
- Digital master available National Library of Australia;
- Index/Finding Aid Note:
- Timed summary and corrected transcript (typescript, 47 leaves) available.
- Subject:
- Occupation:
- Other authors/contributors:
- Borschmann, Gregg (Gregg John), 1955-, interviewer
- Related Records:
-
This belongs to the People's forest oral history project.
This collection contains 93 records. - Copyright:
-
In Copyright
Contact us for information about copying. For access conditions return to the record display above.
- Reason for copyright status:
- Until 2064 [Created/Published Date + 70 Years]
Copyright status was determined using the following information:
- Material type:
- Sound Recording
- Published status:
- Unpublished
- Creation date:
- 1994
Copyright status may not be correct if data in the record is incomplete or inaccurate. Other access conditions may also apply. For more information please see: Copyright in library collections.
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