12 years of growth

She Oak Hill tree coverage 12 years apart ... images from Google Earth
She Oak Hill tree coverage 12 years apart … images from Google Earth

She Oak Hill is located on the upper settled part of the Huon Valley in Judbury.

These two satellite images are from the north face, which is the drier, warmer side of the hill.

The zoom level and location are roughly the same.

It appears the hill was cleared some time before 2005, perhaps by fire, or for farming – I do not know which.

She Oak Hill was presumably named after its Tasmanian casuarina cover.

Today, the she oak canopy is extremely thick.

Many of the large eucalypts that poke above the she oak “blanket” were damaged or killed in a fire some time around 2009/2010, and stand as skeletons.

Locals have told me that “back in the day” they would have burned such a dry hill before the undergrowth got so thick.

“Why not burn it now?” I ask.

Apparently organising such things is no longer as simple as it was.

The sheep like eating the casuarina, probably an important addition to their diet.

The wood burns well in a heater, although it seems wasteful to burn such an attractive, workable timber … see it here.

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Tasmanian Life