had been a tragic mistake, a slow blight settled. The first world war broke out, and many young men left their farms to serve, leaving older people confronted with the reality and hardships of the land. Farms were ill-equipped and when the soldiers returned butterfat prices collapsed and never recovered, the steep hills were not suited to agricultural machinery and later there was the Great Depression of the 1930s. Over the next fifty years, farmers and their families progressively sold their land and moved on or simply abandoned them and walked away. The scrub, blackberries, rabbits and weeds then took over, and the area became known locally as the Heartbreak Hills. Today there are many place names on a map that are names only – all the homes are gone, leaving little trace. Forest industries The early development of the timber industry was haphazard and it was not until the establishment of the Forests Commission of Victoria (FCV) in 1918 that a more coordinated approach to harvesting and management of forest resources was initiated. The FCV played an important role in the development of the forest industry by providing infrastructure and capital to support activities such as sawmilling and, perhaps more importantly, developing long term strategies to manage and sustain Victoria's forest resources. With selectors moving into the Strzeleckis and railway construction beginning in the hills, the timber industry developed. The railway line to Boolarra opened in 1885 and the line extended to Mirboo North in 1886. At Boolarra and Mirboo North several sawmills operated and paling splitting was also widespread. The palings and blackwood logs were transported out by rail. The sawmills operating at Darlimurla from the 1880s also produced significant numbers of sawn logs. Sawmilling was also an important industry at Yinnar. The mills were located in the forest and tramways linked them to the railway station. Henry Collins set up his mill in Mill Road south-east of Yinnar around 1911 and built a tramline along Whitelaw's Track. Higher in the Strzeleckis, where mountain ash forests grew, settlers burnt the trees they had ringbarked and felled, although some were split for palings. During the 1920s, there were advances with kiln drying mountain ash and it became highly sought after as a building timber. Small sawmills such as the Duff sawmill operated in the higher part of the Strzeleckis until the timber became too difficult to extract. Reforestation and