Background to being the first Director of the TPNG Dept of Forests

9

Background to J McAdam becoming the first Director of the TPNG Dept of Forests

10Les Carron described the situation in which Jim McAdam became the first Director of the Department of Forests in PNG. In 1919, C E Lane Poole1 commenced a role for the involvement of the Federal Government in forestry that was to extend over thirty years. In a long article in 1919 titled “A forest policy for Australia” –he saw the remedy in the adoption of a forest policy for the whole of Australia and nominated what he saw as the most important items for it, including land classification and forest reservation, the compilation and implementation of working plans by professional foresters, one professional forestry school, a training scheme for subordinate staff, research institutes for forestry and forestry products and an extensive publicity campaign. In 1924 the Commonwealth Government took a positive step towards involvement in forestry by the appointment of Lane Poole as its Forestry adviser. After his resignation from the Western Australian Service in 1921, he was commissioned by the Commonwealth in 1922 to report on the forest resources of Papua. This commission was extended to the Mandated Territory of New Guinea in 1923. A report prepared by Lane-Poole in 1925 recommended a policy to regulate access to forests. This was not implemented at the time, but a gold rush in the 1930s and resulting exploitation of the forest eventually produced a forest ordinance. However, with the gold rush of the 1920’s, Lane Poole’s investigations as the Commonwealth Forestry Adviser (Bulolo Wau Report 1925) into the exploitation of the forest resulted in a forest ordinance for controlling utilisation, for establishment of a Forest Authority and for the acquisition and management of a forest estate. In 1938 Jim McAdam and Jim Cavanaugh were appointed. Then came the war years. In 1937-1938, although nothing had eventuated in Papua or the Northern Territory, an Assistant Forester had been trained in Canberra and a forest policy had been initiated for Norfolk Island; and a qualified forester J B McAdam had been appointed to the Mandated Territory of New Guinea.

With the threat of war in the Pacific, McAdam enlisted in the Australian Military Forces on 19 September 1940 at Wau. He began full-time duty with the New Guinea Volunteer Rifles on 22 January 1942 and was promoted Sergeant within a fortnight.

9 Carron L T 1985 A History of Forestry in Australia ANU Press ISBN 0080298745. 10 Lane Poole C E Part B A-L page 375-394.