1840's : Cedar getters - The first logging of the Big Scrub

Cedar Getters

In the 1840’s pioneer loggers came to cut red cedars to export for their beautiful colour and light yet strong timber.

Cedars where spotted  from viewing trees by the Bundjalung Nation people who would climb up strangler figs towering sometimes 100 feet above the forest canopy. The information was traded for rations. 

The cedar getters used the buoyancy of the wood to float it down the creeks and rivers to Ballina where it was shipped to England and USA.

Once the land was logged settlers arrived and cleared more of the Big Scrub believing that the soil was rich in nutrients and therefore good for agriculture.  in 1861 The Crowns Land act was passed that allowed new settlers to claim any piece of land as long as they cleared 90 % of it. These activities led to a loss 99% of the big scrub.