Murrindindi Forest, Victoria Australia

(Click image to enlarge)

I captured this photograph during my first ever visit to Murrindindi Scenic Reserve at the end of a hike I never intended to take. A wrong turn put me on a trail that had some truly frightening segments and gained 460 meters (1509 feet) in just a couple of kilometers. My vast stupidity was rewarded with a unique view of the surrounding terrain and legs that had apparently turned into rubber.

The dead trees in this photograph were killed in the Black Saturday bushfires on February 7, 2009. The predominant tree specie here is mountain ash (Eucalyptus regnans), which in the the 16 years since the fire would typically grow to more than 25 meters (82 feet) tall.

There is a proposal to merge this place along with Kinglake National Park, Yarra Ranges National Park, Lake Eildon National Park, Baw Baw National Park, Bunyip State Park, and Cathedral Ranges State Park, along with existing state forests and special protection zones. This would add 355,000 hectares to the existing 170,000 hectares of protected areas in Victoria's Central Highlands and provide uniform management, rules, and protections for lands that are currently governed by a hodge podge of different agencies.This new 525,000 hectare (1,297,303 acre) entity would be named Great Forest National Park.

The proposal is supported by 30 environmental and scientific groups, including the Royal Society of Victoria, Australian Conservation Foundation and The Wilderness Society. Prominent environmentalists supporting the park include David Attenborough, Jane Goodall, Tim Flannery and Bob Brown. It is opposed by greed, short sightedness, and Victoria's long history of deforestation. After being kicked around for roughly ten years by politicians who are experts at doing nothing, it briefly seemed to be alive again. With parks that need an engineering study to fix a picnic table and will close rather than maintain a foot trail, I'll be happily surprised if it ever happens.