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Jim Gasteen

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Jim Gasteen
Gasteen in 1942 (Aged 20)
Born
Wrixon Jim Gasteen

1922
Brisbane, Australia
Died2017
Lismore
SpouseMarj Pearce
Awards
  • Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for nature conservation and as an advocate of balanced land use management (1993).[1]

Jim Gasteen AM (1922–2017) was an Australian farmer and conservationist, responsible for the establishment of a number of National Parks in Queensland and New South Wales.

Early life

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Wrixon James Gasteen was born in Brisbane, Queensland in 1922.[2] He grew up on farms around Thrushton, Queensland where his father used the mulga lands as feedstock. Gasteen educated himself in a number of subjects including land management, geology, botany, biology and wood-turning. The family farm completely regenerated over time and Gasteen petitioned the Queensland government to make it a national park.[3] Gasteen's book Under the Mulga (2005) reflected his early life on the land.

Career

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In the 1960s and 1970s Gasteen was involved in surveying and promoting National Parks proposals across Queensland. This was unpopular with many graziers and politicians.[4][5] He worked to protect remnant patches of Central Queensland scrub but also surveyed land from the Gulf of Carpentaria in Queenland's north to the Scenic Rim on the Queensland/New South Wales border.[6] His survey work or reports led to the establishment of Expedition National Park, Nuga Nuga National Park,[7] New England National Park, Rinyirru National Park, Boodjamulla National Park, Northern Rivers National Park[8] and Border Ranges National Park.[9][10][11]

Memberships and awards

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Gasteen also wrote They All Left Tracks (2003) and Back to the Bush (2011).

Gasteen died in Lismore, New South Wales in August 2017 [8] He was married and had four children. Ten boxes of Gasteen's notebooks, photographs and correspondence are held in the University of Queensland Fryer Library.[12]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Wrixon James Gasteen". honours.pmc.gov.au. Retrieved 5 December 2019.
  2. ^ "UQP - Jim Gasteen". www.uqp.uq.edu.au. Retrieved 4 December 2019.
  3. ^ Sattler, Paul (2014). "Five million hectares: a conservation memoir 1972-2008" (PDF).
  4. ^ Stanton, J. P. (James Peter); Borschmann, Gregg (1994), Peter Stanton interviewed by Gregg Borschmann in the Environmental awareness in Australia oral history project, pp. 109, 110
  5. ^ Curtis, Syd (Herbert Sydney); Borschmann, Gregg (1994), Herbert Sydney Curtis interviewed by Gregg Borschmann in the Environmental awareness in Australia oral history project, p. 162, retrieved 22 February 2021
  6. ^ Somerville, James G. (2005). "Saving the rainforest: The NSW Campaign 1973 – 1984" (PDF).
  7. ^ "Lake Nuga Nuga |". Retrieved 4 December 2019.
  8. ^ a b McCue, Kevin and Lenz, Sonja (September 2018). "Jim Gasteen – a remarkable man, a remarkable life" (PDF). NPA Bulletin. 55 (3): 12.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  9. ^ Gribble, Jill (25 February 2010). "Jim Gasteen tells of a life well-lived". Ballina Shire Advocate.
  10. ^ Stanton, J. P. (James Peter); Borschmann, Gregg (1994), Peter Stanton interviewed by Gregg Borschmann in the Environmental awareness in Australia oral history project, pp. 109, 110
  11. ^ Sattler, Paul (2014). Five Million Hectares – A Conservation Memoir – 1972-2008. pp. 40, 41, 51, 75, 79, 85, 90.
  12. ^ "Jim Gasteen Papers - Fryer Manuscripts". manuscripts.library.uq.edu.au. Retrieved 6 December 2019.