plantations In what is believed to be the largest, most sustained and expansive reforestation project of its type in Australia the Forests Commission Victoria (FCV) began purchasing farming properties in the early 1930s, and increasingly through the 1940s and into the 1950s, reaching a peak between 1944 and 1951. However, it seemed not all the community was pleased about the acquisition of farmland. The project ran for over 60 years with fluctuations of investment but essentially ended with the creation of the Victorian Plantations Corporation in 1993. Albert Lind was the Minister for Forests and local Member in Legislative Assembly for the seat of Gippsland East from 1920 to 1961 and was instrumental in advocating for State Government funding of the reforestation program. Around the same time, and with the support of Lind, the Forests Commission Chairman A.V. Galbraith and Sir Herbert Gepp from Australian Paper Manufacturers Ltd (APM) finalised a pioneering legislated agreement for pulpwood supply from State forests and from softwood plantations including the Strzeleckis. The company then proceeded to establish a plant at Maryvale in LaTrobe Valley for the manufacture of Kraft papers which came into production in October 1939. Before the end of the Second World War, the Forests Commission began making additional plans to reforest and rehabilitate the Strzeleckis and establish a timber supply. It was joined in the venture by APM. The company announced the formation of a subsidiary company, APM Forests Ltd, in 1951 and planned an enormous reforestation scheme to supply softwood and hardwood pulp to the mill. They also began purchasing properties to establish plantations that would eventually supply the new mill. Meanwhile, research indicated that the best softwood to plant in dryer areas was Pinus radiata and the best hardwood in the wet sites was mountain ash, Eucalyptus regnans and shining gum E. nitens. One of the first initiatives was to establish softwood and hardwood plantations and during the 1930s Depression and considerable planting work was carried out as part of unemployment relief measures. At the same time, programs were developed to reforest previously cleared land in the Strzelecki Ranges that had been abandoned by failed settlement schemes. This plantation program was expanded after the Second World War to meet the unprecedented demand for sawn timber that was a result of the severe housing shortage experienced at that time. The Commission initially purchased derelict farmland at Allambee (1947–49), Childers (1946–48)