The Untrained Environmentalist: How an Australian Grazier Brought His Barren Property Back to Life

Description

Title page -- Contents -- Foreword -- Acknowledgments -- Author's note -- Map of Victoria and Far Western District -- 1 Lanark's story -- 2 A bold experiment -- 3 In the beginning -- 4 A 1715-acre triangle -- 5 Slow but reliable -- 6 A race against Hector Hogan -- 7 Trees across the Tasman -- 8 Cicely -- 9 A faded squattocracy -- 10 Lanark as it was -- 11 Trees and more trees -- 12 No spare time for footy -- 13 Room for wildlife, too -- 14 No need for chemicals -- 15 A wetland restored -- 16 The return of the birds -- 17 Farm forestry -- 18 More thoughts on farm forestry.;Fifty years ago a young farmer named John Fenton took over his family's run-down sheep property in Victoria. Named Lanark, the property was barren, windswept and environmentally all but dead. Fenton set about bringing the property back to life by bringing the environment back to life. He planted trees. He reinstated wetlands. He created wildlife reserves. Other farmers thought he had gone a little mad, but Fenton pressed on. As time went on, he came to realise he had stumbled on something extremely important for the Australian landscape as a whole: an integrated, sustainable farming system. Title page -- Contents -- Foreword -- Acknowledgments -- Author's note -- Map of Victoria and Far Western District -- 1 Lanark's story -- 2 A bold experiment -- 3 In the beginning -- 4 A 1715-acre triangle -- 5 Slow but reliable -- 6 A race against Hector Hogan -- 7 Trees across the Tasman -- 8 Cicely -- 9 A faded squattocracy -- 10 Lanark as it was -- 11 Trees and more trees -- 12 No spare time for footy -- 13 Room for wildlife, too -- 14 No need for chemicals -- 15 A wetland restored -- 16 The return of the birds -- 17 Farm forestry -- 18 More thoughts on farm forestry. 19 'You're off your bloody rocker' -- 20 A taste of fame -- 21 A corporate venture -- 22 Hard times -- 23 Is Lanark a model for farmers? -- 24 Stewardship: the key to the future -- 25 How many trees are enough? -- 26 Alley farming -- 27 The amazing value of shelter -- 28 Trees look good, too -- 29 Going it alone -- 30 Sixty-five wild acres -- 31 Blue gums -- 32 Natives versus deciduous -- 33 The art of planting farm trees -- 34 The mighty river red gum -- 35 Life after Lanark -- Appendix 1 Botanical names -- Appendix 2 Review of Lanark. Appendix 3 Reflections on irrigation for sheep and wool production in the 1960s on the Basalt Plains -- Appendix 4 Lanark bird list (1956-96) -- 1840 -- 1956 -- 1966 -- 1976 -- 1986.